I remember reading many years ago that the coal loader had gearbox failures but can’t remember what the problem was. I can make a guess as to what the failure is but you are probably going to have to strip it down to be certain.
I suspect the fault is similar to LIonel diesels where the worm splits and spins on the shaft. If Lionel used the same worm in the design of the gearbox then this is a likely culprit, if not then it may be another gear that has split. I have the same coaler by Lionel but haven’t ran it for many years and I wouldn’t be surprised if mine is the same. I will need to find it and give it a go at some point.
