Latest acquisition for the collection was a mint LGB #2119D ‘Lake George & Boulder’ bumblebee mogul, complete with a PH Hobbies 16 bit digital sound system. Locomotive was in as new condition with just the slightest trace of wheel tread marking, indicating not much more than test running.
Only one problem in that the locomotive was as dead as a doormouse. After several hours I sussed out the culprits. Firstly, the loco had been stored with the on/off function switch left in the ‘Off’ position. This allowed the electrical contacts to oxidise slightly. I cycled the switch several times and that corrected one problem. I was now able to get power transfer from the tender to the motor terminals, but unable to get continuity from the wheels/slider pickups to the motor. A slight reshaping of the gearbox mounted electrical feed bus strips and the loco is now an extremely smooth running unit. Sound is ‘decent’ (considering the vintage - probably late 1980’s/early 1990’s) but not as good as more recent releases from specialist sound manufacturers. I was a little despondent upon finding the loco not operating on arrival from the States this morning, but a little ingenuity and perseverance and now have a mint mogul in tip top shape.
I have not encountered the switch oxidisation problem, previously, so I thought I would pass on the information as it is probably applicable to all LGB models.