I took our new Thomas Gordon engine out of the package and started to break him in. My partner in railroading, my 6 yr old grandson said, "Look, Gordon is limping". Sure enough, he has a little hitch in his stride, more evident at low speeds, but present at all speeds. It's evident when running in a cradle also. So, I lubed the external linkages lightly with Labelle, but the very regular hesitation is still there. I can't observe any binding in the drive linkages, so it might be internal. We have other Thomas 3 axle engines; namely, Spencer and Henry, and they run smoothly. Gordon is still under warranty, but I would rather not send him back if it can be fixed. My questions: 1) might it smooth out if I run it some more?, 2) is this a design quirk of Gordon's? If there are other Gordon owners out there, I'd like to hear if they have experienced this.
Try posting under the Thomas section for better results as not all of us in HO have experience with Thomas engines.
Thank you, ABC. Will do.