Yesterday I took the loco apart again and checked everything.  It seems the reverse issue was caused when I inadvertently moved the reverse switch when the shell was off.  I decided to move the ground wire to the contact on top of the rear weight (away from the circuit board).  Now the LED works and the locomotive seems to be running fine.  I am having trouble getting the rear two screws to catch their threads in the shell though.  Any suggestions?  Thanks again.

My car has only one announcement - "All aboard, this is the Polar Express."   Are there any electrical engineers out there that would like to try their hand at a hack that would allow other audio clips from the movie to be downloaded into the car?

Does anyone know why this car does not have the metal pegs in the roof that all the other Polar Express cars have?  Just curious.  Thanks.