Well everyone, I have a new rule of thumb! “If it looks clean, it isn’t!” I don’t care how good you think it looks, that white rag and some Naphtha will tell all! I wiped so much gunk off the track and wheels of my train that I probably could have rung out the rags and made a great weathering paint with it! Just rag after rag of carbon colored gunk! From track, wheels, & rollers that appeared to be very clean! I started with the track, cleaned and cleaned until my rag didn’t turn color anymore! Next I cleaned the locomotive and the tender, followed by ALL the wheels on the rolling stock (all non-powered but why run dirty wheels on clean track; Like jumping in a clean car with muddy boots!) So with everything cleaned, my smoke unit is working correctly! Surprised me because I wanted to suspect the bellow for the lack of smoke! The headlight still flickers but not as much, the buzzing has quietened but still loud to me. I am still having trouble with the whistle tender working when it wants to and seems quieter when it does run now? Also, after running the loco enough to get the smoke unit up to operating temp, the loco won’t start back after a complete stop, sometimes starting back in the wrong direction and if you come back to stop, immediately going back up on the throttle, she’ll change direction again without ever touching the direction command! I’ve taking the body off the tender and the loco; although I’m a beginner with O gauge, I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. All wiring and connections appear to be in good shape visually. No corrosion or frayed wires. At this point, I suspect it’s my transformer and my 2016 set is a Lionchief so I don’t have another transformer to test with. Also, this set doesn’t have the bell! Any ideas are greatly appreciated!


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Ok guys, found me some Naphtha at Lowe’s yesterday but didn’t have time to sit down and clean my track yet. I have a Lionel flatcar I picked up in a flea market for $12! But it’s got light surface rust on the wheels and axles. So two questions here: (1) do you use a rag only with the Naphtha or can you use it with steel wool or a scour pad??? (2) steel wool or scour pad for model railroad service??? I heard steel wool is bad for everything: motors, gears, trucks etc due to the little steel fibers that come off during use???


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Thanks Larry,
      I have to ask, what is Naphtha? Is that the laundry bar??? You make a paste and scrub?Or is this a solvent like Acetone? Also, I bought this kit thinking it was the 80 watt transformer so guess I’m still in the market for one of those... thanks again for your help!!!


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