I just bought a Broadway ltd. Prr K4 Paragon Platinum. The lights were non functioning and it consistently shorts on 20 " turns as well as over turnouts. Furthermore, the connection between the engine and the tender consistently became disconnected despite a solid engagement when I re connected them.
The train is advertised to be able to take 18" turns. I must say, the sound quality is superb. I paid 400 for this and now I have to travel 50 miles to return it.
Has anyone else experienced problems with this engine? Patrick S.
Patrick,
As far as shorting, turn the tender over and check the pickups to the wheels. Mine were too loose on my BLI Mike and it would short over turnouts like you are experiencing. Tighten the truck screws down then back them off 1-2 complete turns. Not sure what to tell you about the loose connector. BLI is known to be very good about being good on their word and repairing problem locomotives.
Tom
Shorts and drawbar problems might add up to physical and electrical contact between tender and boiler frame.
No knowlege of this locomotive, just an observation.
Hmmm, I’ll try the truck adjustments. Thanx for input.
The clearance between the boiler and tender is good. At the store, the man put this loco on some flex track and bent the track to about a 10" radius curve. I observed good clearance and none of the wheels “jumped” . This is one of the reasons I bought it. But on my layout, on my 20 " turns, seems it shorts. I see blue sparks coming from the front trucks of the boiler where I assume wheels make contact with the body. I just don’t see how I could fix this.
If you are talking about the electrical connector between loco cab and tender, I have learned to always press it home with a small flat-tipped screwdriver. I wear an optical visor to see where I place the blade well, and I put a fair bit of pressure on one, then the other, and then back to the first side of the connector. It improves the connection substantially, in my experience.
The blue sparking is alarming. I assume you know how to lay track correctly, and to ensure that the power is being routed to the correct rails all along. So, this arcing suggests a problem with the loco, as disappointing as that may be for such an expensive one.
May I suggest two things…return the loco, and order another for a considerable savings from trainworld.com in New York. They are blowing them out currently, and not because they are bad, unpoplular engines. I got one for Christmas, and it is a true darling.
Give this one back, run with fewer of your dollars to trainworld.com.
I will return this one. Other of my loco’s run on my track just fine at all turns and turnouts so my trackage is good. The blue sparking is more than alarming and I fear putting the engine back on the track. It only occurs on turns and I have examined what might be causing the short while on the turn and honestly, I can’t see where the short is taking place. The entire power district gets shorted as well because my other trains in the same district shut down when this occurrs. [xx(]
Patrick,
Try this. Separate your locomotive from the tender. Run or pu***he locomotive over one of the troublesome turnouts. Do the same with just the tender alone. Do you get shorting from either one or both?
That’s how I discovered the issue with the loose tender trucks. The locomotive would go over the turnout with no problems. The tender was the culprit causing the short. If you can at least diagnose the problem to a particular area, then you have something to tell BLI. They might just exchange this one for an entirely new one.
Crandell is right. You can usually find even BLIs at a reduced price from places like Trainworld.com or M.B. Klein. I tend to shop around and buy my locomotives brand new online. I recently bought my Trix 2-8-2 Mike for about 35% of list. With that said, I still support my LHS as much as possible, doing about 80-90% of my MRRing business through them.
Tom
Thanks Tom, I will hunker down and really analyze the problem as per your method. Sounds like a good one.