replace it with a tomar lit marker lamp…
I tend to believe the driver wheel problem is a manufacturing fault and a testing/quality failure. Some may be perfect, others, with varying degrees of wobble issues.
Litchfield Station are now advertising a Tsunami for the 4-4-2 Hiawatha (with a horn)
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=999003364&cat=0&page=1&featured
I might have to get one!
AussieJim
I got my set today, and concur about the coupler/floor problems in the cars. The engine doesn’t wobble sideways, but it pitches fore-aft some in response to crossing turnouts, to be expected with only two driver sets.
The gear ratio seems too low for the torque of the motor used, as the engine can run very fast on level track, but running light at a medium 40 mph or so, it slows down drastically on a 2.5% grade. This means I probably can’t add weight to the cars as I would like. It also means the ratio of the driver revolutions to chuff rate of a Tsunami without a cam will probably be grossly affected by load and grade. If there is a higher torque motor or higher ratio gear box that could be substituted, I would change it. This would also make for smoother “creep” speeds. I find the same problem of gear ratio too low for the motor torque in smaller Bachmann engines like the Decapods.
Hal
A few nights ago I finally opened up and inspected all the Hiawatha passenger cars and I ran the locomotive on my DC test track. There was only one wheel off a truck and one coupler that needed its height adjusted.
I am very disappointed in the performance of the locomotive. It “dolphins”, that is, bops up and down, as it goes down the tack. And there is an irritating clicking noise. It would not make any sense to add a sound DCC decoder and speaker to this locomotive since the clicking noise is so loud. I have not located the cause of the clicking. As I only own about ten steam locomotives, I perhaps have been lucky, but this is only the second locomotive I have had that has had problems like this out of the box. (The other was a Bachmann 2-8-0 which the company immediately replaced.)
Several people have now posted complaining about the performance of the locomotive. Has any
[quote user=“JPD”]
A few nights ago I finally opened up and inspected all the Hiawatha passenger cars and I ran the locomotive on my DC test track. There was only one wheel off a truck and one coupler that needed its height adjusted.
I am very disappointed in the performance of the locomotive. It “dolphins”, that is, bops up and down, as it goes down the tack. And there is an irritating clicking noise. It would not make any sense to add a sound DCC decoder and speaker to this locomotive since the clicking noise is so loud. I have not located the cause of the clicking. As I only own about ten steam locomotives, I perhaps have been lucky, but this is only the second locomotive I have had that has had problems like this out of the box. (The other was a Bachmann 2-8-0 which the company immediately replaced.)
Several people have now posted complaining about the performance of the locomotive. Has anyone made contact with F
I picked up my set yesterday and looking at it I’m very pleased. If the locomotive has some problems I’ll be disappointed but I’ve been wanting the class A since I was 4 or five years old so I’ll bite the bullit. I’m 67 now soon to be 68. Time flys when your having fun. Since this is Fox Vallys first try at steam and in H.O. I’ll cut them some slack. From what I hear from the N scale guys they are a good company. We’ll have to see how it goes.
I’m also in 7 1/2 inch gauge live steam. How about the HI in that? No problem trying to find a sound decoder for it.
I picked up my set yesterday and looking at it I’m very pleased. If the locomotive has some problems I’ll be disappointed but I’ve been wanting the class A since I was 4 or five years old so I’ll bite the bullit. I’m 67 now soon to be 68. Time flys when your having fun. Since this is Fox Vallys first try at steam and in H.O. I’ll cut them some slack. From what I hear from the N scale guys they are a good company. We’ll have to see how it goes.
“…Any one had the bouncy problem?”
Jim,
Have had the same problem with TWO so far…waiting to hear back from Fox Valley.
I’m disappointed to say the least.
Below is a copy of my post on RR-line forum. I’ll post again if I get any answers.
Cheers,
Michael ( rockrailsnsnow )
Boalsburg , PA
Good Morning,
Anyone out there get the new Fox Valley Hiawatha?
Tested it yet? Problems??
I placed the first engine on the test stand as usual to break it in on DC before installing a decoder, and found it wobbled front to back like a dingy in waves. I thought it might be the traction tires, but rather it seems the front set of drivers were +/- .0015 out of round. This translated into about 3/32" of bobbing at the rear of the cab roof.
I contacted the dealer I purchased from and they immediately replaced it with another. (Kudos to Internet Trains for fast response and excellent customer service)
Still no joy…same problem with second unit. Have since talked with several others and another dealer and others seem to have found the same. I am reluctant to have them send a third until I find out if it is a common problem, or these are isolated cases, and I just have extremely poor luck. (2 out 2 bad 
)
I have sent an email to Fox Valley and am waiting for a response. My purpose here is to encourage anyone else who may have a problem to do so also. It is too expensive to be a shelf piece, and I suspect there may be a manufacturing QC issue. If it is a common problem and they are made aware of it, I am hoping they can at least provide replaceme
Michael, I’ve written three emails to Fox Valley over the past week. I’ve had no replies?
I have two more sets of these in transit from the US. I hope they’re not the same.
Jim.
I have my model almost two weeks now and overall, i´m happy with it. I installed a Digitrax decoder with no problems. The engine runs good, no whobbling on the drivers. The loco nods when running over unlevel track but as said before, thats quite normal for a loco with only two drivers. I had some optical issues with the engine, the shell was unlevel by means the cab was sitting a bit lower than the front. Putting a set of plastic washers under the rear screw lifted the shell a bit, which sits now level on the frame. I also think the cars are a bit too light, but since disassembling them is very easy it might be no problem to add some weight. Some of the couplers are a bit low as well, but since i generally remove the trip pins that doesn´t mind. Overall, i´m very happ with the set!
I intend to try a Tsunami Heavy Steam decoder in a day or two. But first have been working on painting and populating the cars. When I put the first car back together, the figures disappeared, and I realized that the seats don’t line up properly with the windows in any of them. I found that I could solve this in the coaches by removing the front 1/8 inch or slightly more of the interior plate and extending the 14 slots so it would still snap in place enough forward to be correct…
To fix the coupler height, I adjusted each floor end and put a drop of glue on both sides so it would stay put (which is why I was doing the interiors first). This wasn’t possible on the Tap Car, so I swapped the couplers for KD 47’s.
Hal
Just received a very polite message from Matt at Fox Valley Models. He’s been overseas and just returned home. He says he’s had a few emails regarding the wheels and is looking into the problem. As soon as he has an answere he’ll get back to us.
Jim
This is a hopeful development.
Installed a Tsunami Heavy without a problem, except to get the chuff rate right at low speed required using the 28-step speed table. Startup is about as realistic as possible without a cam.
I’m a little annoyed that the Tsunami airhorn isn’t very well done. If QSI Solutions comes up with a good file, I’d consider changing to it. I have an extra Loksound and the programmer, so will see what I can cobble together when possible.
Now that the couplers heights are fixed by gluing the floors with small dabs, the cars run flawlessly here and at the club/
Hal
SECOND UPDATE - Matt responded to my email to Fox Valley (info@foxvalleymodels.com) in a very nice manner and offered to (and did) send me a replacement tender frame. I got everything but the tender shell - which we agreed I would just drop on from the first one. Unfortunately, even with that now connected to the loco, it does not move when I try it out on my DC test track. It sits still and just operates the headlight (dim in one selected direction, bright in the other). It would appear that this incident was either caused by a problem in the main loco, or that it now created a problem there. I could take the shell off and look for burned up wires, etc, but I will wait and see what Matt wants to do… I think he is a stand-up guy who will make this product run as great as it looks.
I had noticed a bit of bobbing from the main drivers but it seemed to run fine otherwise when I ran my initial DC test before trying to simply plug in the 8-pin decoder on the tender frame - which resulted in the fun described earlier in my thread! I planned to investigate that issue once I had the DCC done.
djcwardog, I pulled my loco apart to check it out after I noticed the wheel wobble problem and I found that the wires from the tender come up through the metal chassis in front of the cab and are held in place with a curved metal cap. This metal cap actually pinches the wires down onto the metal chassis to hold them. If one of these wires is shorting out where it is pinched it could be causing your problems! It’s easy to get the loco shell off. maybe you should take a look.
Cheers
AussieJim
[:$]
“Produced by Rivarossi from 1948 to 1954”
Well, that was before my time!! I only knew of the Milwaukee Hudson. Interesting link. [:)]
Well after a couple of weeks sitting in the box, I finally got a chance to set a test track and run the 4-4-2. It ran great going forwards, smooth running with no noises or wobbling. I ran it forward as a break-in run for about 10 minutes, then put in in reverse. I noticed the rear headlight didn’t come on. After about five minutes, it stopped dead. No headlight, nothing. Drivers locked up tight. I could see no obstructions or anything. Very odd that it would go from running fine to nothing in a matter of seconds.
[:(!]
Having problems with mine, stop and go, will not run smooth, did you do anything to pick ups? Any hepl would be great!