[cape cod Todd]

Recently I acquired a preowned Bachmann big hauler passenger set that I have been searching for. This is my first go with a bachmann G scale train my other 2 engines are LGB. Question is I cannot get the sound to work. I took the tender apart to have a look and all wires are attached securely, the board looks fine with nothing swelled or burst and the battery contacts are clean. In fact I bent them up a little bit to make sure of contact when a new battery is slid into place. There is a switch on the backside of the engine for the sound and this is "on". Does the signal for the sound unit get picked up via the front truck or the main wheels? I hate to take the engine apart if I don't have to. I already looked in the gear box because I thought it was noisy but maybe that is with all Bachmanns? Thanks, Todd

 

[Curmudgeon]

Take a small piece of wire, bend it into a shap "U", stick it into and out of the plug in the tender harness.
It should "chuff" every time.
If not, problem in tender.
If it does, problem in loco.
How old is this unit?
Later ones have a volume knob underneath with a on/off switch built into it.

Also, make sure the battery is in correctly.
WIDE slot on the tneder floor takes the wire terminal of the battery.
Seen more than one direct fro China with the tag on backwards.

TOC

 

[cape cod Todd]

Thanks Curmudgeon I took the tender top back off used the wire as you suggested, touched a fresh battery to the exposed contacts and behold the chuff sound. I put it all back together and now I have a working sound unit. I can tell you between the smoke unit, the loud gear box and the poor sound this Bachmann is no LGB but hey it does pull the train around just fine.

 

[Curmudgeon]

What version is it?

 

[cape cod Todd]

I'm not sure what version it is but it is an older one that I bought at a train show. It is a B+O starter set. I really liked the dark blue passenger cars and the deal included an extra coach car and I got a good deal on a matching baggage car on ebay. It is a loooong train all together but looks great.

 

[Pete Thornton]

Todd,

George Schreyers 'tips' page has a lot of info, including the various versions and some simple mods to improve the sound:
http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html

 

[SgtBluffTrainman]

can we see som pictures of that train for
does sound like a good deeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaallllllll/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/unsure.gif