Hold the locomotive upside down and try spinning the drive wheels by hand. They should turn with no binding.

Check the e-unit contact fingers that they are clean and making good contact with the drum. Make sure the drum is in good shape and has clean and shiny copper strips.

If you still have trouble, disconnect the e-unit completely and wire the motor per the attachment. The motor should run well in one direction. Reverse the brush connections to change the motor direction.

If the motor runs well, the problem is in the e-unit.

Larry

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Usually you just tighten whatever screws are holding them in place. If this does not help, post a clear picture of the right side wheels and rods.

Which catalog number engine do you have?
Larry

Welcome to the wonderful world of Lionel!
The service manual pages for your Trolley are here.
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=490
Click on the individual pages, save them to your computer, and print them out.

Following the diagrams, completely disassemble the trolley, and clean all old grease and oil from the motor, wheels, and reversing slide assembly with lighter fluid (naphtha). Clean the motor armature and brushes, the brushplate and gears. Put some hobby grease on the gears, and lightly oil the wheel bearings and armature bearings (both ends). Reassemble, and the Trolley should run like new. As stated above, also clean the track of any dirt and grease, using the naphtha again.

Larry

Here is a link to the internal wiring of the 1122 switches and the controller.
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/swt%5Cstc1122a.pdf

Larry

First, disconnect all wires from the transformer itself and plug it in. Turn it up and listen for the circuit breaker. If the breaker trips with no wires and no trains hooked up, then there is a problem with the transformer itself, and it needs to be serviced.

If the transformer checks OK, then hook up the wires to the transformer and a lockon. Connect the lockon to 1 section of track, and turn on the transformer again. The transformer should not trip. If it does not trip, put a lighted car on the track if you have one. The light should come on. If you have no lighted car, try the engine, holding it to keep it from rolling. You just want to confirm the transformer, wiring, and lockon are OK and giving power to 1 section of track. When this test is passed, turn off the transformer, remove the car or loco, add 1 section of track, turn the transformer on, put the loco on the track again, turn on the transformer and check for power again.

Continue adding 1 section of track at a time and checking for power with a car or engine. If the breaker trips, the last section of track added is bad.

Larry

Leathem,

Thanks for the reply back, and for explaining your diagnosis.

It does seem that the one switch is wired incorrectly internally. You have worked out a solution to get the switch to work properly, and that is good for you. You can either leave the switch as is, or open it up and trace the wiring to find and fix the problem. You can use your other good switch as a guide to the correct wiring. If the switch is new and under warranty, bring it back to the place of purchase for an exchange.

Enjoy your trains.

Larry

Welcome to the forum.

To operate the announcement in your car with your present ZW, you need a Lionel 6-5906 whistle/bell activation controller wired in series with the track connection to make it a bell controller.
http://www.lioneltransformer.com/lionel_6-5906_lionel_sound_activation_button_brand_new

Your second option would be to upgrade your transformer to a newer one that has both the whistle and bell buttons included in its design.

Larry

Welcome to the forum.

Make sure that the track, and the wheels and pickup rollers on the locomotive are clean and free from dirt and oil. Clean everything with a ScotchBrite pad, and wipe everything down with naphtha to clean up any residue.

Locate the switch for the reverse function, and slide it back and forth a few times to insure good contact.

If all this does not work, there is an internal problem with the locomotive.

What is the exact set number you have? There are many Polar Express sets, many with different locomotives.

Larry