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Good afternoon.  First, I apologize if I posted in the wrong forum.  Recently I purchased a used MTH RailKing "Christmas 4-6-0 Steam Freight Set".  I wanted an inexpensive train to run around the Christmas tree.  It is a beautiful set.  However, when hooked up, it goes and goes, it appears at full speed.  The remote does nothing, no change in speed, no emergency stop, no bells, etc.   Batteries were changed to brand new, no change.  I can decrease the throttle until the light is off on the remote lock-on, but again no change.  The light on the lock-on does blink when buttons are pushed on the remote.  The train has been running in the little circle for about half an hour.  The only way to stop, is to unplug.  No matter how long I wait, when I plug it back in, it takes off at full speed again.  I really like the looks of this little train and dont want to have to return it.  Any assistance would be appreciated.  Thanks, Don.

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Thanks Chessie.  I dont believe this is a DCS unit, it is older and cheaper.  To reset, I have to be able to put the locomotive in neutral, but the remote wont do that.

Another comment/question to anyone.  I have put just the caboose alone on the track and the lights are on.  If I decrease power using the remote until the lock-on's green light goes out, the lights stay on in the caboose.  Should decreasing voltage until the green light is out turn the lights off in the caboose, or is there still enough  voltage to continue to run the lights?

 

Mth catalog says it was delivered in Aug. 2001. The features are shown to be:

- Die-Cast Boiler and Chassis - ABS Detailed Tender Body - Metal Wheels and Axles - Operating Metal Coupler - Track Voltage Operating Headlight - Precision Flywheel Equipped Motor - Operating ProtoSmoker System - LocoSound Sound With Chuffing, Whistle and Bell Sounds - Die-Cast Steam Locomotive - 3-Car Freight Consist - 31" x 31" 8-Piece RealTrax Circle - Z-750 Transformer With Wireless Remote - Infrared Track Lock-On - RailWare Interactive CD Rom With Track Layout Software - Intricately Detailed Durable ABS Bodies - Metal Wheels and Axles - Die-Cast 4 or 6-Wheel Trucks - Colorful, Attractive Paint Schemes - Fast-Angle Wheel Sets - Needle-Point Axles - Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers - 75-watt Power Supply With Wireless Remote - AC/DC Cassette Player - 1/8" Mini-Jack Cable Unit Measures:loco: 19" x 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" cars: 10 3/4" x 2 5/16" x 3 1/8" Operates On O-31 Curves

(AC/DC Cassette player? Odd addition.) 

DonEM posted:

Good afternoon.  First, I apologize if I posted in the wrong forum.  Recently I purchased a used MTH RailKing "Christmas 4-6-0 Steam Freight Set".  I wanted an inexpensive train to run around the Christmas tree.  It is a beautiful set.  However, when hooked up, it goes and goes, it appears at full speed.  The remote does nothing, no change in speed, no emergency stop, no bells, etc.   Batteries were changed to brand new, no change.  I can decrease the throttle until the light is off on the remote lock-on, but again no change.  The light on the lock-on does blink when buttons are pushed on the remote.  The train has been running in the little circle for about half an hour.  The only way to stop, is to unplug.  No matter how long I wait, when I plug it back in, it takes off at full speed again.  I really like the looks of this little train and dont want to have to return it.  Any assistance would be appreciated.  Thanks, Don.

I missed a portion of what your saying. This can be a direction lock in fwd, speed control turned off.  Those can be corrected with a conventional transformer.  The other issue can be a pinched motor wire (white) causing it to run at power up.  Certainly the board can be bad also.   G

This comment bothers me:

Another comment/question to anyone.  I have put just the caboose alone on the track and the lights are on.  If I decrease power using the remote until the lock-on's green light goes out, the lights stay on in the caboose.  Should decreasing voltage until the green light is out turn the lights off in the caboose, or is there still enough  voltage to continue to run the lights?

 

My experience with LOCO-SOUND engines is that the loco will start in forward as soon as power is applied to the track. I am interested in why the track is not losing power when being commanded to do so by the remote. This engine will never slow down or reverse direction if the power can't be adjusted or interrupted. The loco could be perfectly fine and the problem might be with your your remote lock-on unit.

Does the engine make chuff sounds?
How is the power attached to the track and how many buttons does your remote have?

Most Likely GRJ is correct, but is it possible the volume is turned down? 

I've only had two loco-sound engines. The first didn't work at all which made a great parts engine and the second one was somewhat unreliable. The glimmer of hope comes from the fact that it will move, the parts unit of mine just sat in place and buzzed from the speaker. 

It really bothers me that he is unable to decreased the track voltage from the remote, that caboose should go dark. I wanted to make sure that he didn't have a DCS Remote Commander or have the brick plugged directly into the track somehow. 

I guess one way to test the directional control is to rapidly unplug the brick from the wall and plug it back in. This should cycle the power long enough for the loco to drop into neutral. 

The volume was down, I increased it somewhat and now have a statically growl, not puff puff, more like a bad radio station.  I apologize, I don't believe I mentioned that I cannot add the locomotive with the transformer plugged in, it will spark and flip the circuit breaker.  This happens with the lock-on green light on or off.  I tried several times plugging and unplugging rapidly and slowly, no change.  I also plugged in the cassette player into the lock-on and turned the sound down on the tender.  It does play the music through the tender.

Interesting, if the board was bad, I would think the audio cast from the player wouldn't work all. 

I have had several of those IR lock-ons go bad to produce some very erratic result from any engine placed on the track. That Lock-on should be able to shut the power off to the track, and if it is producing "dirty" power to the track it can cause these erratic results. The one Loco-Sound engine of mine that works is very picky about its power source. It would make the same static sound you heard with the IR lock-on and then work perfectly from a known good transformer.

You really have me confused now.  You say it runs, but now you saying it causes sparks and high current?

I am going to restate you can turn off speed control and lock the engine in one direction.  That would cause what you describe in your first post.  You just need to unlock it and turn speed control back on.

As far as the lock on light, that could also be a part of all this.  It runs full speed because it has full track voltage all the time.

You need to either send it to a tech, or go return it and get another type.  Frankly if you get a PS-2 version you will be real happy with sounds, performance.  G

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