Re: Key Brass HOn3 D&RGW C18 2-8-0 #318 - won't run - help needed

There were two runs of this locomotive. The first, as Dave said, was a poor runner. It also had the wrong tender - when the locomotive was measured up for the model at CRRM it happened to be attached to 346's tender and that how the model turned out. Nobody mentioned it at the time! But the 346 was measured at the same time so if you have a Key 346 you can swap tenders and you have the correct set up.

You can tell between the two runs as the drivers were compensated (sprung) on the second (they were much better runners). Yes, check for shorts by putting both locos on the track and powering up - if there's a short neither will move - and also loose connections. Can you get to the motor terminals themselves with probes? Checking for binds is a little more complex - I normally remove the side rods and start adding pair of wheels at time.

One of the most common failures of these types of locos that they rely on the drawbar to provide one leg of the power supply. There is a piece of spring wire on the drawbar that is supposed to rub against the tenders drawbar pin but is sometimes loose or even missing. Whatever else you find, replace or clean both the pin and the hole in the drawbar. Better still put a wire between loco and tender - you can get miniature plugs and sockets at some model rr stores. Also remove the tender trucks and clean the tops of the frames and the bolster. BTW the first place to look if you have a short is to see whether someone has reversed one of the trucks - a perfect short and not uncommon.

Mark Kasprowicz



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2018 10:15AM by Marowicz.