Well, the engine does NOT derail going the other way--this problem is strange.
I will order some of the Megasteam Eliminator and hope that it works. I am really not confident in my ability to open up this engine and do anything useful to the smoke unit without messing something up badly. At the moment, I have it turned off. I may try the reset that the manual mentioned, but I'll wait till the Eliminator gets here: three failed attempts locks out the system, according to the manual. I want the best possible chance.