Well, after running one of my 2 AC12's for about 45 minutes or so, one was rounding a corner and suddenly stopped, the sound of a straining motor was the only thing happening, so I shut down the system, (DCC) and went over to the loco. Well, the piston rod was jammed in the guide, and I took the loco to the bench. After some investigation, the connecting pin fell out and the main rod was liberated from the piston rod, just hanging off one of the drivers. Needless to say, not repairable by yours truly. Called Richard at Intermountain and he said to send her back. So we will see what transpires. The other AC12 is still going strong. Should always wait for the second run of any loco this new and complicated I reckon.... especially one that retails for 300 over bones.... Oh yeah, had to pull the decoder and replace all the Fox Valley wheels back to the original pizza cutters. Word to the wise -let these puppies buzz around your Atlas code 55 till you are reasonably sure they are broken in and maybe even keep them DC too until they shakedown OK.
Dobbs