It's been awhile since I first got one that was from a train set. And I guess like FasTrack, the opinions of noise is subjective. But I guess I thought mine was noisy too. At any rate I took the shell off and lubricated all the gears and moving parts, which were bone dry.
Whether the lubrication helped to quiet it down, I don't remember, but given all the moving parts and nylon gears, lubrication is not a bad idea for longevity. I have an elevated track where I have placed a string of self-operating cars. My motorized aquarium car makes more noise than does the walking brakeman car. But of course, my MPC era 9307 (postwar based) chase gondola has them all beat as far as making some noise.
