So doing more looking today I found the problem with the tilted rear motor - there is about 1/8” of free play in the rear truck, like some spacer or similar is missing. Looking at the full side profile, you can see that the rear of the locomotive sits slightly lower than the front. See the attached pic and vid.
The problem with the erratic movement was that the Odyssey control was off. Once I turned that on it, the unit moved out normally.
So there’s the rear truck/tilting motor issue PLUS the loud annoying hum.
Given those problems I think I’m going to return it because it looks like the repairs are above my skill level (and/or too costly to invest if I take it to my hobby shop) on top of the purchase price
Any additional advice before I do?
