Bachmann 60532 Blue Peter - strange one.

[atom3624]

Bit of a strange one here .... !!

 

I love railways, like most on the forum, and have resolved where the locomotive is a steam locomotive, to collect a 'preserved one' ie, one which can be seen 'in real life' / full size now.

 

I have a Peppercorn A2 60532 'Blue Peter' - superb locomotive - full sized and model.

 

Not having a permanent layout, this had been purchased and is often displayed, but never run .... until now.

I always oil / grease a new arrival so I had no worries about lubrication.

 

Running it last night, it's 'as smooth as silk', as expected, and has quite a turn of speed as well, so had to tone it down - basic DC operation with a HM2000 controller.

 

I'd just returned a China-built Hornby 6233 Duchess of Sutherland to the sidings, and had Blue Peter pull out onto the 'living room loop' and she's running very well, with less throttle than anticipated.

When decreasing speed prior to reversing into a storage siding, stop for a couple of seconds, then start reversing slowly - it's jerky, but increasing speed its fine.

When I decrease the reversing again, it starts going FORWARDS.

If I stop for perhaps 10 seconds, then start reversing its fine.

 

I don't remember it being fitted with a DCC chip, so cannot answer that question - requiring lower power it suggests it may have one from what I've read.

 

Any ideas / thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

Al.

 

PS: ALL other locomotives have no problems with the same controller, forwards, backwards at any throttle setting, only BP!

Edited August 15, 2019 by atom3624
small typo

[Dunsignalling]

Sounds like it needs some running in backwards, as per Bachmann's instructions.

 

Also, lubricate the valve gear. I had a Standard 3 tank that appeared to be a complete dud in the running department - so bad I nearly sent it back until advised to do so. The difference it made was incredible - the loco almost instantly became one of my best runners.

 

Going the wrong way on DC definitely suggests the presence of a DCC chip. Those do take a moment to detect they are being fed DC and it sounds like you beat it. Does the HM2000 have a centre-off dial or a reversing switch? If the former, strange things do occasionally happen with chipped locos.

 

John

 

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Dunsignalling

[truffy]

It's not the chip that's the problem, it's the Shep. You have to replace John Noakes with Val Singleton on the footplate, Peter's fine where he is.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Forget the presenters, it's a Biddy Baxter you want. Blue Peter did exactly what she required. I had some family acquaintance with one of the regular cameramen, and he said there was nothing so dreaded as the sound of those imperiously clattering high heels on the steps down from the control room.

 

As John above, you seem to have a DCC decoder in there. Just three screws to remove, withdraw the drawbar and one blanking plug substitution, reassemble and you are done.

 

 

[atom3624]

Thanks for your helpful replies!!

 

I blame Shep as well!!

 

It's not the running in - it's as smooth as anything forwards and backwards, it's when there's a slowdown to zero then instant direction change, it tries to continue in the original direction.

 

I'm certain I've checked previously - perhaps not noticed - as I always lubricate 'new arrivals'.

Might have had my head in the clouds ... I'll have another look.

 

All the symptoms are there for it to be running with DCC chip - lower power than expected included ... runs brilliantly, and I don't run 'full power' continually, just an initial few seconds to 'see what she's got', which is a lot!!

 

Thanks guys, and Peter Per ... John Noakes.

 

Al.

[Wickham Green]

41 minutes ago, atom3624 said:

........ it's when there's a slowdown to zero then instant direction change, .........

Doesn't like this instant business - give the driver time to wind the loco into reverse ( or forward ) an' you'll be OK !

[atom3624]

Curiosity and cats ..... just had to take the lid off.

 

Going by the Mo grease on the drive worm I'd definitely given the locomotive 'the once over' when it arrived ... and ...

 

I'd failed to notice that it was either the biggest, most complicated 8-pin blanking plate or ...

 

YES it is DCC chipped!!

 

It did seem obvious, but I don't have a spare knocking around, so I'll just 'drive carefully' then put back into storage.

 

Al.

[Steamport Southport]

On 15/08/2019 at 14:49, truffy said:

It's not the chip that's the problem, it's the Shep. You have to replace John Noakes with Val Singleton on the footplate, Peter's fine where he is.

 

Fixed with a pair of Val's old knickers!!!

 

 

 

Forgot that Little And Large actually existed. Been years since I've seen them even mentioned.

 

 

 

Jason

[John Tomlinson]

FWIW I always remove DCC chips from locos that I'm going to use on DC, for just the reasons you've illustrated.

 

Most of my loco acquisitions these days are pre-owned, and may well be chipped. Despite the theoretical concept that they can be programmed via the CV to work on both systems, I've found that a few do have the "gremlins" in practice. Once removed and replaced with a blanking plate if there's still a problem you can do a good old fashioned set of checks for shorts, dodgy soldered joints, broken wires etc.

 

John.

Edited August 26, 2019 by John Tomlinson
typo

[atom3624]

Hi John, it runs perfectly, just 'turbocharged' shall we say.

 

It's safely in storage, and 'Plan A' will be to fit a blanking plate for any prolonged period of operation again.

 

Nice to know it is chipped, sort of future proofed, when I eventually go DCC!!

 

Sound doesn't work on steam from ALL videos I've seen except Dapol Black, and school trips, meals and uniforms come before that ... unless the lottery comes up ...

 

Al.

[Mainlinefreighter58]

You're right about turn of speed, ive got one of the presentation ones in the rather lovely box and even unloaded you can get wheelspin from a start if youre clumsy with the power dial 

[atom3624]

Mine was on low power rating - let's say 35-40% throttle would be a 'smooth crawl' equivalent to 10-15 mph actual - this is doing 40+ mph ... !!

 

Reminded me I still need to get that blanking plate!

 

If yours does spool up, spin it's wheels, then that's REALLY realistic - just like the real powerhouse 1:1.

 

Can't wait until it's fully rebuilt and harrassing farmers and sheep again - no, I didn't say Shep!!

 

Al.

[Right Away]

On 15/08/2019 at 15:59, atom3624 said:

.... it's when there's a slowdown to zero then instant direction change, ....

Instant direction changes, whilst not only failing to emulate how the prototype really operates are not very kind to a model's drive mechanism.

[atom3624]

Very true, but was used to stop, not to spin the wheels in reverse I think - we are talking 10-11 weeks ago .... !!

 

I think it seemed to stall the current feed.

VERY obvious something wasn't quite right, hence my original query, also why I stopped, and subsequently opened it up and confirmed it is DCC.

 

Al.

Edited October 23, 2019 by atom3624