Hi peter, I am a Canadian who lives in Switzerland. That would be the first thing to do is to swap decoders. My  Climax I purchased from a guy in British Columbia Canada. He poor chap did not enjoy the model more than 3 years (out of  warranty) when the drive shaft ( the 2 prongs that go into the 4 hole universal joint) broke. I told him as long as all the parts were in the box I would be OK. I fixed it once I got it.
I have had the model for 6 years.
On this forum I wrote a article under the heading "A sick Climax" a few days back as I was having electrical problems. Read it if you like. Other than a
gear issue she runs well with no noises. The motors in these models are undersized for the weight and size.
Robin.

Hi peter, I am a Canadian who lives in Switzerland. That would be the first thing to do is to swap decoders. My  Climax I purchased from a guy in British Columbia Canada. He poor chap did not enjoy the model more than 3 years (out of  warranty) when the drive shaft ( the 2 prongs that go into the 4 hole universal joint) broke. I told him as long as all the parts were in the box I would be OK. I fixed it once I got it.
I have had the model for 6 years.
On this forum I wrote a article under the heading "A sick Climax" a few days back as I was having electrical problems. Read it if you like. Other than a
gear issue she runs well with no noises. The motors in these models are undersized for the weight and size.
Robin.

Yes! The actual motor it's self.
This is what you need.
1) alcohol (not to drink. Lol) rubbing alcohol.
2) cotton buds.
3) sandpaper 1000 or 1200 grit
4) sharp pointed knife. ( like exacto)
5 ) good pair of tweezers.
6) And a good dose of confidence with a steady hand. I was nervous too,but it paid off.
Do you still have the motor out or is it back in the loco?
If I am not mistaken the Climax motor is similar to the Davenport except a little bigger.
Robin.

 I understand how you feel about that.Yesterday I had to partially take apart my Davenport motor as it fried my decoder. I was apprehensive about servicing it but, In the end I did go ahead with it and it turned out to be a very successfu project. Today I ran the model for 30 minutes in each direction without any hesitation or speed variations. I had a small fire on the Commutator.
Robin.

yep! That makes sense. Have you considerd  servicing the motor yourself?
Robin.

Did you ever get to resolve the problem with your loco?
Robin.

Hi there, i know the movie you are writing about. Swapping one set of drivers or side rods from a 4-6-0 to 2-6-0  or for that matter any combination is not possible most times . For example, let's take 2, 0-6-0s they look the same the drivers are the same but what about the centre to centre of each axel ? Are they the same? That means the side rods will not fit.that's because the crank pins are in different locations on a wheel / wheels.
Let's say you managed to get the drivers and side rods to match up, then what about the valve rods and all the other stuff that go with it?
Each model is unique in its construction, tolerance's on model trains are very tight, one just can't shoehorn in another part and expect it to run well unless you are master model builder.
What you could do to have the Stevenson valve gear is to find a model that already has what you want, then add the boiler and cab to fit from another model that you may already have. That's the challenge we encounter sometimes in our hobby. All in all keep it fun and relaxing.
You could also make up a story why your particular loco does not have one widget or anothe. I have encountered many rivet counters out there,but at the end of the day the bottom line is to have fun.
Enjoy!!
Robin.

Have you tried another decoder if you have one?  I know they are expensive.
I remove all  factory circut boards and hard wire the decoders directly.( There are some exceptions to modern diesel locos with all those lights)
Should you decide to open your Climax I could help you as I just went through the motions. Although they are a wretch to work on but with patience and TLC it can run well.
Have you run the model without load at your work table?  If not ,then try it and see what results you get.
Hopefully it is not the motor. Bachmann only sell the motor gearbox and chassis together as one unit for 150 bucks plus shipping.
Good luck !
Robin

Hi Bill, thanks for getting back to me. You are right when you talk about a fragile and difficult drivetrain. I fixed some of the loco issues with the electric pickup. My findings are below in point form.

1) After disassembly of the trucks from the loco I found that the PCB board had a very thin layer of oxidation and groves.
2) The groves turned out to have been created by the rather pronounced dimples (contact Points) on the pickup shoes.
3) Being an extremely small area of contact between the shoes and PCB board I actually found dirt in the groves which caused it loco to loose electrical contact.
MY FIX: I used 1000 grit wet and dry sand paper to clean up the PCB board. (I used light oil on the sand paper with a gentle hand removed the grooves.)
The pickup shoe dimples were flattened using a smooth jaw plier. Down the road I will directly solder the wires to the trucks like a diesel loco.

Before I got to the 3 points above and my fix, I had opened the centre gearbox to inspect for broken or cracked gears. Also to see the motor for broken wires. The motor and it's connections were good but what I found in the gear box suprised me. There was no factory grease at all.

History of the loco: I bought this loco used off eBay in 2012 from a very upset person from BC. He poor guy, hardly had a chance to use it as the drive connection to the front truck universal joint broke. He told me about it. I told him as long as all the parts were in box I would manage. Once I got the loco, I made a small sleeve cut from a brass tube and fixed it.

I greased all the gears and then applied current to the motor. It ran so sweetly that it was music to my ears. Assembly of the gearbox and motor back onto the frame with the internal connecting rods was a whole different story. With some very flowery language I assembled all back together. So if some one wants to open up that gearbox have fun!!!

Once all of the above was understood, I now have a well running Climax. There is a noise from the whole drive train but that is the nature of the beast.
I have ordered front and rear trucks from Bachmann as spares as well as to replace cracked gears, as the replacement set is no longer available. This has been a very costly experience for me which I will not repeat with them again. Sorry for my rambling..
Once again thank you Bill, and thank you for those who read my post.
Robin.
PS: if the universal joints break down the road on my loco (which they will) I will use parts from some very good US model manufactures who specialise in gears connections etc.

It all depends on how much you run your trains. I repair trains for a shop and I have seen both dry gears and over lubricated gears. Just recently I repaired a 30 year old European brand loco and  there was old dried grease caked on gear box wall's, but non on the gears themselves. I was surprised that the gears had not worn down although there were burs on the edge of a couple of gears which I removed with a sharp knife.   
In answer to your question I check my locos every year ( I don't run them very often also my collection is extreamly small, besides, I enjoy tinkering around with them.) As far as my freight car's go I lube the pinpoint axles with graphite and what a difference it makes. I use to use light oil in the journal box of the pinpoint axels, but over a period of time I found fluff / dust collected in this area.
As far as motors are concerned i only lubricate the bearings. To lubricate the bearings I use a heavy oil, I put a couple of drops on tin foil then using a sewing needle or common pin I dip the pointed end in the oil and transfer it over to the bearing. Run the motor for a few seconds and you are all done. It is important not to get oil on the carbon brushes, as this can lead to a burnt motor.
Hope this helps.
Robin.

Hi there good folks, it has been a long time since I last posted back in 2013, that was in Canada and Now I live in Switzerland. Any ways I brought all my On30 models with me. A short while after Christmas 2015 I decided to make a very small switching layout in On30 using my Bachmann Climax as the focal point. I took her out of the box, and after a small lube job, I placed her on my rolling road for testing. All went well for about 4 or 5 minutes when all of sudden she stopped working. This loco is not dcc so there was no puff of smoke, lights worked in both directions but she refused to turn over. Now I know about the cracked gears, so while in Canada I had converted her to a rear wheel drive only, but at least she ran! ( I never received replacement gears for it eaven though I had contacted Bachmann back in 2013 and they acknowleged my email)
So I removed the working truck and tested the loco the motor turned so that was good. Before reassembly of the working truck I removed any oxidation on the pickups with 1000 grit sand paper and checked the gears again for cracks, all looked good but she refused to turn over. Lights worked in both direction but the wheels would not turn. I have done this a couple of times takig it apart and putting it back together but to no avail. I am quite frustrated with this whole episode and don't know which way to turn.
So I turned to you for help. Any ideas, thoughts, coments, suggestions,( pitch it out the window, run it over with a road roller, blow it up, or be gentle and kind to it.
Thanks in advance.
Robin.

Hi folks, not to rehash a older subject, but all those of you who requested replacement gears for those that were split on your models have you all received your replacements? I sent in my request on the 4 the of June and was responded to by Bachmann at the end of June saying the gears would be sent out in the next few weeks.At the time of my request I was living in Ontario Canada ,now I live in Switzerland. Before leaving Canada I had paid the post office a nice sum of money to forward my mail to my neighbour who has been receiving mail for us and she has forwarded on to Switzerland but no gears. Help! What should do?
Thanks.
Robin.

I sent in my request on the 4TH of June, then after 6 weeks I got a short message acknowledging my email. Today is the 31ST of August and have not received the gears for my Climax and Davenport. Since the 2ND of July we have moved to Switzerland from Canada and our very dear neighbour who is looking after all our mail has not received them.We paid the post office a 6 month fee to redirect all mail to our neighbours house as well as gave them our Swiss address.We have received redirected mail from the government of Canada as well as mail from our neighbour but sadly no gears. May be my request was too small. My models will make a nice static display.I don't have all my trains yet as they with all our other stuff is at customs in England, our contact said it would take another 4 weeks before the release of our contents.
Oh well, at least the ship made it to this part of the world and hopefully We will have our belongings soon.
Buy for now and happy re gearing.
Robin.

I don't have a flat car,but based on the box car I have I tried to separate the upper super structure from the frame and it was glued solid I started to damage the frame so I stopped.
Robin.

Unfortunately Royce non in Eastern Canada that I know of,except for a 2 foot gauge that runs around the local zoo with 4-4-0 loco made to look like an old timer with a diesels engine in the tender, pulling a bunch of open air coaches over the otonabee river with screening kids enjoying themselves including me.
Robin.