UPDATE:
Got the drivetrain all installed and she's super snug. Everything aligns well (using the MTH provided worms and some purchases spacers and shims) and the motor and both worm gears turn smoothly at 5 volts.
I greased 'er up (including the dogbone couplings) and let 'er run both directions for a while.
There's noticeable lateral play in the forward drive axle and it tends to walk left and right when it's not loaded under the weight of the loco. The plethora of linkages seems to play into that. You can see in the attached video. Once there is any radial load applied to the bottom of the wheel it goes away.
Also, the front left linkage assembly was "ticking" each rotation. Found out that the furthest outside linkage, which was a straight bar, was not clearing the fastener that held the linkage to the crank mounted to the drive axle. I guess it was a prototype issue (not prototype as in real life...prototype as in engineering sample of this toy). I also notices that the other 3 comparable linkages were all slightly bowed outward and just barely cleared the screw head. So I just bowed the last one a tiny bit as well.
So now I really just need to finalize the electronics. I posted my best shot at a full schematic via a PDF in a previous post. There are a couple specific questions that I would like to get some feedback on before powering up the PS2 card, just don't want to ruin it.
