How to tell if Atlas N Gauge Locomotive is a Dummy

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Dug out an old N Gauge train collection and have a Atlas The Milwaukee Road Locomotive that does not run. The light bulb in the front does light up and I can hear faint electric spark sounds when I push the train on the track. How do I know if this is a dummy or just not working? Here are the pics

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwns7f1Ly3k1cVF5a2xhX3dfajg

2

Your locomotive is the old Atlas first generation FM C-Liner. It was made by Riverossi for Atlas. It has the Riverossi pancake motor. How long since you ran this locomotive. They were terrible runners, but you can try lubricating the gears. Take the shell off, turn it upside down and apply power to the wheel and see if it will loosen up after lubing.

3

Thanks, got the motor running. The problem appears to be electrical contacts in the rear truck. Tiling the truck at a specific angle makes a good contact. Problem seems to be that springy contact to the metal plate that is soldered to the black wire at top. Will look more into that area to see if I can get a more consistent good contact.

4

thx, took it apart and got the motor running. Problem is the electrical contacts in the rear truck. Only makes contacts at certain angles. Will look into this further. Thanks again.