Don, I would say that the old girl needs to be torn down and serviced, it is probably not the sliders that causing it to run erratically. Before starting to service the locomotive, on a piece of paper I note what position the drive wheels and side rods were in before I started to take it apart. And what position the eccentric cranks were pointing to. Just as you were looking at the hours on a clock. This is very important, so you do not get the synchronization of the rods, and the eccentric cranks out of alignment. I would remove the eccentric rods and linkage, and then remove the body. I would remove the brush plate, and clean the motors commutator plate with a piece of a green scrub pad until it is nice and shiny copper color again. (The same pad that is used to clean Teflon coated pans). I would also clean the end of the motor brushes carefully. If you find that the motor brushes and the commutator plate are all greasy and dirty. I would gently clean them with lighter fluid and cotton swabs first, before using the scrub pad. Then I would clean off as much old dirt and grease from the drive gears, and re-grease them. Oil the center bearings on the gears and the wheel bearings. Oil both sides of the motor bearings, but do not over oil the side with the motor brushes, just a tiny drop. Or you will have the same problem all over again. After you put it back together, oil the side rods and every moving part on the drive linkage. You can also use the scrub pad on the sliders, just don’t scrub the finish off only the dirt and oxidization. It should run after that.
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