So, just getting back into model railroading. I have a bunch of tracks and a few new “to me” locomotives. I purchased a used but fully functional TYCO power supply and brand new power track. I have the wires hooked up and when I place the locomotive on the track, the light lights up but the wheels don’t move and there is no motor sounds. When I touch the wires to the wheels, they spin like brand new. Any ideas???
Welcome aboard!
All I can say concerning your very good description of the problem is if the locomotive works with power directly applied to it but not when there’s power applied to the track there’s got to be a problem with the track somewhere.
As a helpful hint if you don’t have a electrical meter get yourself one. A meter can be a VERY useful tool for diagnosing power issues.
An analog will do but for the greater versatility I’d get a digital one.
When sitting on the track, I can get it to light up though, which continues to puzzle me about the track. If there was no power to the track, I would believe the light wouldn’t work either???
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You got me there! Wish I was there to look over your shoulder!
A question, is this an HO model? If so I’d ask over on the “Model Railroader” Forum, that’s where the HO and N guys are. Someone may have had a problem similar to yours.
Yes, that is odd- if the light is working, then the locomotive is getting power.
it is theoretically possible that a wire leading to the motor is broken somewhere, or loose, which could cause the motor to only want to work sometimes.
What model of locomotive do you have? It would help to see a picture, or at least have a description that includes any markings on the model. Knowing what sort of train you have can help with narrowing down what sorts of issues it is likely to have, and ways to resolve those issues.
-El
It is indeed HO scale
Did a little web search… this should be an Athearn “blue box” era GP35. Athearn models from this era are fairly robust and had very good mechanisms compared with other makes of the same general time period (1970s and 1980s).
Here is an exploded parts diagram, from HOseeker.net:
The behavior you describe is very odd because Athearn’s design for this locomotive has no wires- instead, some metal strips conduct electricity from one side of the rail to the top of the motor and to the headlight, and then the circuit is completed through the frame of the locomotive. It would be very difficult for the motor to get no power while the headlight is also working.
This might seem like a bit of an odd question, but bear with me: what happens if you turn the locomotive upside down, and touch the powered track to the wheels?
-El
The wheels run according to the setting of the power supply. Fast at full and slow at just clicked on
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Forward and reverse work as intended and ordered from the power supply
I’m literally banging my head against the wall here. I do all kinds of DC stuff with vehicle emergency lighting and I can’t figure out this gawdamn train!!! Lol
That’s when I turn the locomotive upside down and touch the wires to the wheels
You may have to take the shell off the locomotive to sort out the problem. My first guess is that somehow, the motor is loosing power when right side up, but is able to get power when upside down. Removing the shell will allow you to look over the mechanism, and maybe spot where the trouble is coming from.
The shell should come off by carefully prying the sides away from the chassis while lifting up on the shell, until it slips free.
-El
I appreciate the input from everyone. Going to bed now. Will check it out tomorrow.
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You’re in GOOD hands with Ellie!
Welcome aboard MiPsyOp95! 
As soon as El said that the motor uses contacts instead of hard wiring to the motor I thought “turn it upside down”. The contacts probably use a spring action to maintain electrical continuity and they’ve likely loosened up quite a bit over the years. Yes, you’ll have to get inside and if you can remove the motor or contacts you can likely bend the contact fingers just a bit with needle nose pliers to tighten them up again.
The thing that is odd, Becky, is that the metal strip contact clips to the top of the motor. It would be very difficult for the headlight, which collects power from this same strip, to still get power if the strip was failing to get good contact. The lower contact of the motor that touches the frame would not affect the headlight… but you would expect it to make better contact when the loco is right-side up if anything were amiss!
A possible exception would be if the model has been, shall we say, ‘tampered with’, sometimes people replace the metal contact strip with wires. Without a look at what’s going on inside, it really is hard to say what the source of the problem is.
-El
First, give the track and wheels a good cleaning with alcohol. Is your track brass?