Is there a good website with instructions on how to lubricate the engine's gears? I noticed a paper in the kit that advised lubrication but did not tell me how to do it. What kind of lube should I get?

The instructions say that it should run fine on carpet. I don't know how fast I was running it, but it was not at full speed. All I know is that it is not running as fast as it was before and it is very noticeably slower.

If it really is not OK to run it on carpet (as opposed to what the instructions say), I would expect the performance of the train to degrade over a few years; not a few days.

5 days ago, I bought a brand new train set with a Bachmann EMD GP40 Diesel locomotive. When I set it up at first, it was running great. I chose a speed that I liked and measured the DC voltage across the tracks. It was ~6 VDC. I also measured the time it took to make one complete round around the track - ~30 secs. This is with 4 cars in tow.

Now, the locomotive runs very slow. It now takes 42 seconds to go around the track - and this is with no cars. Today (with all the cars attached), I set it at the speed I like and the train would not move until I gave it a little push. I measured the DC voltage across the tracks and it is still around 6 VDC.

Do I need to grease and/or lube anything? I talked to a guy at work who collects trains and he said that it is unlikely that I would need to grease/lube anything with the Loco being so new.

Could my locomotive be broken?