I recently got into large scale and have only one LGB engine a 20211. It runs reverse compared to the 3 lionel engines and the one bachmann engine i have… I did have the motor apart and may have installed the magnets backwards , not a big deal just wondering if this was normal for the LGB ??? Thanks Tony
It is almost impossible to take an LGB Buehler motor apart without damaging it.
You probably just reversed the wires that slide onto the pins on the motor block.
Well… Botchman locos usually run according to Enema Ray standards. LGB locos run according to LGB standards, which are the so-called Large Scale standard for the flow of 'Trons. That is opposite of Enema Ray.
Dunno about Lionel, mine has only run on battery power from the moment I got it.
Anthony
I have 2 - LGB, 3 Bachmann, and some others, but they all run the same direction.
I would check on the wiring. Make sure it is correct.
David
According to NMRA standards:
A. Direction control by polarity reversing shall be provided. Positive potential applied to the right hand rail shall
produce forward motion. (3)
(3) The term “right hand rail” as used herein means the rail to the right of the observer standing between the rails (my added comment: “in very small shoes”)
with their back to the front of the locomotive.
“Large Scale” or “LS” must be the opposite;
left hand rail positive causes forward motion.
(I can’t quickly find an online reference to an official LS direction “standard”. If G1MRA has one, they are hiding it well.)
I do know that when Bachmann uses a track polarity switch on their locos, it is labeled NMRA/LS.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Edit: added “on their locos”.
I know that the polarity will make the motor reverse but the motor can only fit into the lower cradle one way. The internal parts of the motor ( the brush plate) are also designed to be assembled only one way except the magnets. I guess thats where i made my mistake.I never had any intentions of taking the magnets out so i didnt mark them but never the less they parted company with the can. I never removed the wires that connect to the pins in the motor block , actually i didnt know there were wires there. If that is the case i will just switch them there. Thanks Guys Tony!!!
<>
Joe,
You expect large scale manufacturers to follow standards?
Just took it apart again , no wires comming from the pickups , all molded brass in the plastic so it cant be reversed. I removed the indexing tabs from the end of the motor that allows it to be installed only one way and spun the motor around. Now with left rail positive it goes foward like all the others !!! Thanks for the info.
Glad you got it figured out, but I suspect that the LGB was running the “correct” LS direction, and the Lionel and Bachman were running the “NMRA” direction. Anything new that you buy except Bachman will run the LS direction out of the box. Bachman now includes a switch so you can change the polarity of their locos to the more common (but not standard) LS polarity.
Confused yet? If not, we can discuss scale Vs. Gauge 
Welcome to LSC by the way.
John Bouck said:
<>Joe,
You expect large scale manufacturers to follow standards?
If I have it right, LGB set the large-scale standard 40+ years ago. You may disagree with their Leftish reasoning, but nearly every other manufacturer followed suit. NMRA came very late to the party. Instead of sensibly adopting the de facto standard that everyone except B-mann had been following (and even they had a polarity switch until recently), the NuMRods clung blindly to their sacred Right-Positive-Forward dogma. So everyone is going to change all their locos to this new standard? ROTFLMAO. Admittedly, I have almost no interest in B-mann’s stuff, so the Right-Left thing doesn’t really affect me; any Bachmann that I do or will have is going to be changed to LS standard, not the other way around.
The above posted comments regarding development of a standard for track polarity are incorrect. It is actually the manufacturer LGB who (in 1968) totally ignored existing standards.
The NMRA developed and published a polarity standard for right rail positive creating forward motion in 1937. That is ~74 years ago. That standard (scan attached below) also specifically includes Gauge 1 track & trains. The polarity standard has not changed since then.
There was absolutely no reason for LGB to not adhere to that standard.
Just trying to keep history factual!
Happy RRing,
Jerry
http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jerryb/_forumfiles/NMRA%20Standards%201937.pdf
(Thanks to Brent Lambert, The Library Manager at the NMRA’s Kalmbach Memorial Library for the scan.)
Cha-ching!!!
Anyone care to pre-date 1937?
Good old American know-how… ha ha!
Greg
Standards… bah! The ONLY reason for making standards is to build something that doesn’t follow them. After all, if you don’t have standards, how can something new be revolutionary?
…or conversely, how could something REVOLUTIONary be new if it is built to a standard? 
The official standard refers to positive to the right hand rail for ‘forward’ running. Specifically, what is the standard for ‘forward’ running, clockwise or anti-clockwise and is the operator inside the loop of track or outside? One man’s forward is another man’s reverse running.
Dear Tim,
??? Perhaps this is a N. Hemisphere vs. S. Hemisphere water swirling down the drain thing…
The NMRA standard means that the (miniature) observer standing between the rails with his back to the loco will have to run very fast to keep from getting run over from behind when the rail under his right hand is electrically positive compared to the left.
The direction the loco is facing doesn’t matter.
This means that back-to-back A-A consisting will work with DC power. (Special wiring or settings are needed with battery power or DCC for back-to-back consisting to work.)
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Ah well. There’s nothing for it but to go live steam. Then all you have to worry about is right-hand lead or left-hand lead …
PFM.
what means PFM?
just, how do you all know which is plus?
not even one of my dozen powerpacks does indicate plus and minus. the contacts either are colour coded (blue & red), or numbered.
Korm,
I attach a multi-meter to the rails (around $10 from the normal hobby electronic supply places). If the voltage reading is negative then I know my multi-meter leads are reversed. With a “+” reading, I know that the red lead on the multimeter is positive and thus the rail to which it is connected is thus ‘positive’.