Troubleshooting the BLI T1

As mentioned in a previous post, I have a large number of steamers out of service due to decoder issues. My Broadway Limited T1 was one of them, or at least that's what I thought. See, for the past few years, I can put this locomotive on the rails, give it some throttle and it just sits there and goes "chug-chug...chug-chug" and doesn't budge.

I tried everything I could decoder wise. I tried resetting by setting CV8 to 008 and no change. I tried the reset button on the decoder (something unique to BLI) and no change. I finally fired off an e-mail to BLI explaining the situation and that the locomotive was out of warranty.

A few days later, BLI responded by asking me what happened if I started the locomotive and muted the sound. Specifically they wanted to know if the motor hummed. I went ahead, muted the sound, gave the locomotive throttle and it moved!

Excited, I hooked up the Broadway Limited cars and sent her around the layout. She was running like a champ! But, I celebrated too soon. The locomotive made it from Cassandra to Altoona and then, it stopped and "chug-chug...chug-chug."

Discouraging for sure, but I got scientific. I muted the sound and put my ear to the locomotives boiler, The motor was indeed humming. The problem is mechanical and not the decoder. I suspected the problem could be a broken link in the drive shafts. I removed the shell and performed a visual check of the drive train and everything looked okay. I manually rotated the motor and all the gears turned properly.

I found after rotating the drive train manually, the locomotive would run. However, it inevitably locks up again. Now I know what the issue is, I'm just not sure how to fix it.

 

The Layout Gets a Glowup

 

Since coming off my model railroading hiatus, I've been focusing a lot of attention on fixing things that have fallen into disrepair. Over the years, some of the wiring to the various lights have gotten damaged. On top of that, some of the LEDs that I used because I thought they would last forever failed.

I've spent weeks under the layout reconnected various yanked wires and getting lights working again. That was the easy part.

Next, I set about replacing some of the failed LEDs. Unfortunately for me, the least accessible one on the layout, the reason I used an LED, failed (Center right photo). To fix it, I had to lean over the layout, brace myself on the tracks for support, and drill a new hole. I'm still having nightmares about it!

Next, I decided Warren's Country Store (Top right photo) needed a streetlight. I also figured it was the kind of place where the old timers would gather and shoot the breeze, complain about "kids these days" and reminisce about the good o'le days. So I added a bench and some figures.

All in all, I'm glad to see part of the layout restored to its former glory. Honestly the disrepair and my not having the spoons in my drawer to replace it, was the reason I took a break. But everything's Jake now.