I would appreciate any help on this one! Long story short, my daughter has had a Lionel (O) Polar Express set for three years–it works perfectly. I ordered a Thomas set for the kids, and when got the set, the engine (Thomas) would only run in one direction around the track and would not idle. In fact, if I picked him up, and turned him around on the track, he would not run at all. So, I got a replacement engine, and it did the exact same thing. All this is on FasTrack with the CW-80 transformer. I tried two transformers, two Thomas engines, and played with the direction switches on each, and I had the same problem with each. Meanwhile, the Polar Express ran perfectly on the same track with both transformers. So, the Thomas engines went back.
Fastforward to today. I get the Pennsylvania Mikado Steam Set (super steam freight set), and pull the engine and tender to test on the FasTrack with the CW-80, and it will only run in one direction! It runs forward, and if I turn it around on the track, it still runs forward (unlike with the Thomas problem). Now, it does not have a “direction” switch, but it has a “run-program” switch, and it should go forward, idle, and reverse in the “run” position. But it will not idle or reverse. When I press the “direction” button on the treansformer or lower and raise the level, the power cycles, and the engine keeps going in the same direction. The Polar Express Berkshire works fine on the the setup, so I cannot imagine that it could be the track & transformer.
Since you are using “Fastrack” I am assuming you don’t have a lighted lock-on. Try putting a lighted car, any kind is ok as long as it is lighted, on the track with the new Mikado. See if this helps out.
The CW-80 will have just a trickle of juice going to the track when you use the direction button. Most of the time it will be just enuff to keep the e-unit, reverse mechanism, from activating so the engine will not cycle correctly. If you have either a lighted lock-on or a lighted car to absorb this power it generally corrects this problem.
Use the Lighted terminal track that came with the Thomas set. Just as said in the previous post. The CW80 does not go to zero volts when changing directions. That is why the thomas set comes with a lighted terminal track.
Thank you for the suggestions–I will try them this week. Unfortunately, I sent the Thomas set (and replacement engine) back already, but that set did not come with a lighted terminal, so it must have been a little older. I will try the Mikado with one of the lighted Polar Express cars and see if that fixes the problem. If it does, do you think that simply adding a lighted terminal section to my loop would enable the Mikado (and possibly a Thomas for the kids) to reverse properly, so I don’t always need a lighted car on the track?
Ok, so I finally got around to trying this out–it only took me till Christmas. Anyway, putting a lighted car on the track fixed the problem. Thank you to those who suggested this.
I have also been looking around for a fastrack lighted terminal track, and I cannot find anything with that description. Does anyone have a specific (technical or official) name for this item and/or the lionel part number? Thanks!
I’m not sure there is one. They were a component of the Thomas sets. If you had a problem with the sets w/o the lighted section, a trip to your dealer would produce a Fastrack lighted terminal track that Lionel provided - one track for each set the dealer sold. This was 3-4 years ago.
You could simply get a light socket and run it to a building for scenery…have it hooked up to one of the fastrack pieces and that would be the same thing. This also helps with regard to knowing when you have track power if the CW80 is not easily visible. I believe you can get sockets for either screw in or bayonet style bulbs at either your hobby shop or from Radio Shack.
Did you check the direction switch (if these engiens have one) If set to off, the engien will only run in the direction it was running before the wsitch was turned off. To get the direction change, you may need to turn the switch on.
As a last resort I used one of Lionels yard lights, the little two lited silver & black unit, on the upper level on the Christmas display. Kinda hidden behind everything so it wasn’t really obvious but did it’s job of making the CW-80 and Thomas work well together.