Guys,
Not really a review here.
Just some comments and questions.
I got mine yesterday, and even without any observable damage on the outside box, the cab was broken and doors and windows laying loose inside the cab. I also shook out some small bits and pieces from under neath the loco. All fixable.
I am preparing to gut it today.
To test run it, I could barely plug in both of those connectors with my big fingers.
Jeeze, this thing’s got more wires going to the tender than the Space Shuttle!!
What in the hells with all that?
Anyway, it ran, at least.

How do I check for the loose counter weights? They seem tight to me.

If the cricks don’t rise, I’ll have her wired and runnin’ as she should have been in the first place without all the NASA crap in it this weekend.

too bad the gearing is crap! My indoor has a very modest grade from one area to the other. The K barely crawls its way up and races back down it. BARRY WHERE ARE YOU???

Andre,
I don’t have any grades, indoors or out, so as long as she pulls 4 or 5 cars, I’m happy.

jack rabbit starts then is all you’ll see for an issue then. This could have been SOOOO much better!

Yah, I noticed that when I first powered it up with track power.
I am adding bat/rc as we speak, and I plan on programming in a very slow speed step.

The wires between the loco and tender allow you to control every aspect of the loco’s operation (firebox flicker, cab lights, marker lights, headlight, etc., etc.) from a control board in the tender–either the included socket or 3rd party electronics. On one hand, it’s somewhat of a pain to have all those wires, but on the other, it makes installing electronics a breeze. Accucraft does the same thing on their locos, using a single 12-pin connector instead of two separate plugs. Given a choice between what’s on the K and those dainty plugs on B’mann’s other locos, I find the new plugs easier to deal with, far less prone to accidentally pulling out or breaking wires. (Which seems to happen most during open houses. )

For the counterweights, look on the cardboard shipping box for a sticker that says “counterweights replaced” or something to that effect. If you don’t have the original box, or the sticker isn’t on it, then grab the 1st, 2nd, or 4th set of drive wheels, and try to twist the counterweight relative to the wheels. If they’re the original counterweights, they’ll move a fair amount. If they don’t, then you’ve got the new ones and you’re all set.

Sorry to hear about the broken bits, but glad it’s fixable.

Later,

K

Nothing on the box and yes, the counterweights are loose.
Sigh…
Guess I’ll call bachmann.

John, check with the TOC, he can give you some guidence.

I called botchmann and have to jump thru all kinds of hoops to get my new counterweights.
He wants me to fax him my bill of sale.
I guess I’ll go down the the LHS were I bought it and use his fax.

Anyway,
She’s completely converted now to batt/rc.
I have a huge big pile of steaming K27 guts to add to my collection. All the space shuttle crap is gone. Did you know there is (was) a cooling fan inside it?
Now just 4 wires coming out of the loco to the tender. I even wired it up for an auxiliary battery car. If I run down the on-board 14.4 Nicad pack while playing trains, all I gotta do is plug in a battery car, throw a switch and be on my way.

You GUTTED the SUPER SOCKET!!!

GASP

It’ll never work now!
hehehehehe

Damnit John, you’re making me look bad. I’ve had my K half-converted to battery/RC/sound for about 8 months!

Guess I gotta get my rear in gear

Bob,
I don’t have a life, so I have time to destroy super sockets all day long if I want.

There is nothing electronic left in it that came from Bachmann except the headlight and motor.

So John, how does it pull? Can you make it do a wheelie? Do you have wheel slip on a straight away with 20 cars?

Haven’t tried to pull anything yet.
I suppose it’s ok to run with loose counter-weights.
If we didn’t have TOC or the internet we would have been none the wiser, anyway.

I oiled the hell out of it, like the dvd said, and she seems purty smooth back and forth on my indoor layout.
As soon as the fresh snow melts, I’ll give her a pulling test.

Talk to TOC about running it before fixing the weights. You are liable to wallow something out and that might not be good.