Hi, I recently purchased one of these
Bachmann 24013 -Thunder Valley Starter Set – N Scale
I also purchased some additional lengths of straights and curves in
The same Bachman branded ballast track with the click in connections
That match the starter set.
I set it up on a pool table which was flat. The train was ran on its own then
With carriages. It was all running ok for a few runs over 5-10 minutes.
Then the locomotive started to stop start on several parts of the track.
I spoke to shop bought from who said sometimes front bogies get stuck from
New and to apply one drop of light oil on the axels.
I did this and was running ok for that day.

I moved the track to where I wanted to install it and train ran ok
On and off for a few days. Then it all went bad again with stop start action.
It is under low power as well as when power if on half way mark.
I reinstalled the track on pool table just as a circle that came with starter set and train ran slow and fast and now problems. I then introduced 2 pieces of straight track and the stop start issue arose again. I removed these and tried some extra curves I had and same problem.
The train shop said he could try swapping out power pack. I am not overly convinced that this will fix my problems. It's very frustrating consider I got a plug and play set and just added some OEM Bachmann track.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for reading.
John