I love mine. It is an older model. I bought it used at a swap meet. Lubricated it and ran it on DC for a bit then added a sound decoder. It runs like a champ. Wider radius curves are better for that long wheelbase.  I have not experienced any problems with mine on 22 inch curves.
Tom

Sid, Thanks for that. I am mechanically inclined so will probably have a go at it.
More info, I discovered if I use just a 3 volt battery it will run the motor and side rods without the trucks for many minutes. Never actually got to a point where it would stop. Albeit slow.  But if I put a new 9 volt battery on it, it runs a few seconds (and faster) and then seizes up.
I suppose this could still be a gear that at slower revolutions does okay. But now I am also suspecting motor windings. I have read some accounts lately of motor windings causing issues as the motor heats up. It isnt running long enough to heat up per se, but more voltage is more heat, so considering that too.
If anyone can add their experience to this, I am all ears.
Thanks.

Hi, I have a newish 70 ton 3 truck climax. It has less than 2 hours runtime. It suddenly stopped running. Motor not running... I have heard of the split gear problems and so trying to track it down. I have actually disconnected all 3 trucks from the main gearbox to see if the motor will run. The rods and pistons on the sides will run about 1/2 second and then seize up and not run. I removed the decoder and jumpered a 3 volt battery pack to the motor pins on the 8 pin socket. It will run for a while and seize up. Again, this is with no trucks or their associated gearing connected. So its just the motor to the siderods.  I began to think there might be an issue with the circuit board - newer style with mostly smd electronics. So I cut out the board and soldered in an 8 pin socket to eleminate board issues. This did not change anything. So I am now at a loss of what is next. Motor? Is there a capacitor directly on the motor itself that should be cut out? Is it possibly gearing in the main gearbox? How should I proceed and is the motor easy to get to without complete dis-assembly of all the bits and pieces?
Please help. Thank you.