Just a guess, but sounds like old dry grease somewhere in the gear train or maybe dry motor bushings.

I purchased a used 0-6-0 tank engine recently and had the opposite problem with the motor - seems somebody thought lubing the motor meant dipping it in oil! Or maybe dipping the entire chassis in oil since it oozed out of every opening. Eeek!

Try to save up and go DCC the difference in operation is worth the cost if you can afford it. Hope you enjoy the 2-6-0 Alco as much as I am having in repairing one for my use.

Brief update on ongoing repairs.

I purchased a 2nd Alco and pulled the tender shell off that one. Using a meter I determined which pin on the connector to the engine goes to which edge contact on the decoder board. Quite a job since all 8 are black. Then I soldered the new cable ordered from parts to the original tender's circuit board to match my working unit and now the original tender once again had sound, bell rings/horn blows and rear light turns on when the direction control is in reverse. Time to tackle the other problems with the original engine itself.

I plugged the tender into the engine and there's motion forwards and in reverse! So repairs are well on the way to completion!

Only remaining problem with the electronics is that the headlight doesn't turn on. Time to take the shell off the engine, I guess. It needs to come off anyways since the slide gear on one side is damaged and needs to be replaced. Plus window "glass" needs to be glued back in. Help on method to properly remove a Alco 2-6-0 engine shell will be appreciated so no new damage will be created by me.

Old #39 is on the way to being returned to service!

I picked up a used (abused!) 2-6-0 Alco DCC & Sound in need of TLC. The 8 wire cable between the engine and tender was sheared completely and some other damage existed to the floor of the tender and tender trucks. So I purchased a new 8 wire cable from parts along with a complete new tender chassis including speaker & trucks. So far I transferred the main board with DCC decoder and connected the speaker & rear light board to the new chassis/board and am in the process of figuring out the 8 wires between the engine and tender. Since all 8 wires are black, I really don't want to have to disassemble the engine and use an ohm meter to work out the wiring if at all possible! Any help with which pin on the engine connector equals what connection on the main circuit board would be greatly appreciated. Or at least I'm hoping for help to prevent me from letting all the smoke out of the decoder!