Thanks...I just bought 2 of these good lookers about a month ago
and have been disappointed in their performance so far,,,...I dabbed a dot of oil on all pivot points to insure no binding, and it seemed to run better...
someone suggested running the locomotive at 3/4 throttle for 5 mins.
in forward and then in reverse  and that would spread the grease across
the gears.    still sluggish......so now I will try your "off boiler" surgery and see what happens..
luckily I have a relative in the industry, and he is helpful with some of the
repairs that have been needed to my other locos steamers and diesels.
heck, even my 50 yr. old "clatter-box" steamers sill run ok and look good.
all in all I have liked the look and performance of my Bachmann locos.
now, if only they would do some GP-7 or GP-9 's in eastern coal hauler
names.....
p/c wbr/dsps