I need to verify that the tender and locomotive are running with all wheel pickup. How would I do that?
If all the wheels are picking up power from the track, then all the wheels on one side will be electrically connected to all the other wheels on the same side. Likewise for the opposite side. So without the loco on the track you can take a multimeter in the Ohms setting and see if there is 0 resistance between all of the wheels. In many cases you can actually see the pickup wipers.
Buy a couple of these meters. I have three for some years and do very well for just about everything in model railroading. They just do not measure AC current which I have no problem with.
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-90899.html
Rich
If I use alligator clips from the track, and I click one end to the front tender truck and the other to the rear tender truck, the engine and sounds all work. But if I reverse the two alligator clips attached to the tender, meaning other side of front truck and other side of rear truck, I get no engine movement nor sounds. Does this tell me that I have electrical pickup problems?
It just means that the tender is not picking up power from both sides of the truck. If it is supposed to you have a problem, but I suspect it was not designed that way.
Bachmann HO Steam Spectrum locos have tender wheels that pickup from one side of the trucks only (axle wipers).
Bachmann N scale Spectrum locos have tender trucks that pick up from all wheels.
David B
David, thanks for your reply. Let me ask another question: When I put the alligator clips one on the front truck and the other on the opposite side of the loco, I get power. However, when I reverse that, and put one on the rear truck and on the opposite side of the loco, I get nothing. If I understand correctly, that means I’ve got a pickup problem on the loco, is this correct?
You don’t have a problem, it is designed that way. In other words it does not pick up from all wheels on the tender, which is what David said above.