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• Check to see that all wheelsets are correctly in gauge using an NMRA RP-2
Standards Gauge. Should any of the wheelsets be out of gauge, then remove the
affected wheelset from the truck by prying off the bottom lid of the gearbox with a
small flat screwdriver and then spreading apart the sideframes. The wheelset can
be regauged by grabbing each wheel and twisting. Reverse the steps to replace
the wheelset, and ensure the gearbox cover is snapped into place before placing
it on the track.
• Check that all underbody piping and appliances are firmly installed and clear of
the track. Of particular note are the air hoses on the ends of the locomotive and
both coupler trip pins. Bend up any low coupler trip pins so they don’t interfere
with your switches and crossings. We recommend using Kadee part #237 (Trip
Pin Pliers) or Micro-Mark part #80600 (Trip Pin Bending Plier).
• Make sure that the trucks swivel freely and without binding. If they catch on
anything, check to ensure that the ends of the trucks don’t bind against the steps.
If they do, see that everything is firmly installed.
MISSING OR DAMAGED PARTS
If you open your RS-18 box and discover that something has obviously been bumped in
transit and is damaged, please contact us. We know that some of you don’t like the idea
of human beings touching your models, but if it is a matter of gluing an exhaust stack
back on you can do it yourself in less than a minute with a drop of white glue. If you
really want to send your model back to us for us to install that, we would be happy to.
But if you do send it back to us for us to put that one part back on and other stuff falls off
when we send it back to you, then tough tooties. We’re not fixing it again.
If you see some grab irons are missing and they are not floating around the packaging,
let us know and we will send you replacements. More information about our limited
warranty can be found towards the end of this manual.
REMOVING THE SHELL
If you need to open up your RS-18 to install a crew or a decoder, things work a little
differently than most of our previous models, so please read carefully. In a perfect world,
you should never have to open your locomotive up, but sometimes things happen. Like
dropping your HO scale cell phone down through the exhaust fans. Yeah sorry Chris,
that’s not coming back. But if you must retrieve it, then you will need to follow these
steps:
• We recommend that you only attempt opening up your locomotive in a zero-gravity
environment. That way, if a part does break off, it will just be suspended there,