I have not had your exact problem with mine but at one stage the pantographs simply stopped functioning and I think only a high voltage jolt from the transformer revived them. This happened totally by accident and is not my recommended repair/testing method! In any case they worked again as Marty Fitz has described and the problem has not recurred. BTW, it follows that the answers to your original questions 2 and 3 are “no” as that is not the right operating sequence. I think that the right one is described in the owner’s manual but I don’t have it on hand to check.
However, I am aware that the motor units for each of the pantographs are problematic and when I looked into sourcing spares in case any one needed to be replaced, I found that Lionel had issued a new version, I think revision B, in place of the original equipment. I think that this has some mechanical design changes. But don’t take my word for it - see what Lionel says although I suspect that if they are able/willing to effect repairs you’ll have to ship the engines in. One the other hand, there was a recent thread in which Alex M. doing repairs on the Acela and frankly he’s more reliable about repairs than Lionel itself.
