Thanks Bob,
I know the loco headlamp goes off completely and I have to “nudge” the train about an inch and it then resumes power. The lighted cars stay illuminated but I’ll watch to see if they dim or brighten.
I’m also going to isolate one pickup from the other and test to see if they BOTH supply power to the motor. Sure hate to disassemble it so soon after I got it…(sigh)
Jim, test for continuity between the pickups first. If one is disconnected from the motor, it is also disconnected from the other pickup!
Upon further scrutiny…I removed the shell and observed that one headlamp is more intermittant than the other. While the engine is in neutral, I can’t get that headlamp to flicker so it’s making good contact with the lamp base (bayonet). Motors have flywheels so that point is moot. After a few minutes of running it died, the illuminated cars did not brighten or dim, but the headlamps in the loco were off completely. I then probed the track sections that both pickups were on and got a full, steady, voltage reading. I replaced GP-9 with another loco and it has been running for almost an hour without even a flicker from the headlamps. I’m afraid I’ll have to send it back…
While I was at it, I checked every 2 inches or so the entire trackage and never got above a 200 milliamp variance…but then again, it’s only a 4 x 8 table…
Bob, I do have continuity from pickup to pickup - thanks for the tip.