Tinkering with the Track Cleaning Loco...

My track cleaning loco has had some running issues, pausing and stopping while running. I thought before the bad weather sets in I should try and fix it..

Partially disassembled and checking operation with power direct to the 'shoe' pickups, annoyingly troublesome and working intermittently.  I took it all apart, took the motors out (drive motor and grinder motor) and tested them - they worked fine grrh! 

Re-assembled with the lighting circuit wires removed (the lights didn't work so makes it easier to see whats what). Testing - it worked ... then a bit later it went back to its old habits of misbehaving !

Close investigation revealed a slightly loose spade connector on the front grinder motor - re-crimped it then re-connected the wire - hoorah ! consistent almost normal operation !

So re-assembled the loco, I left the glazing out of the cab and didn't fix the roof on, so it was easy to get the three-way 'function' switch inside the cab.

A nice long test on my garage layout and it is now at least working, but not at low speeds.  A bit of research revealed the cause - my controller has enough power for one single motor loco, but not the two motors in the track cleaning loco - so I have to turn up the speed to get enough current to run it properly. So I'm on the lookout for a suitable controller.