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I bought my son a lionel lionchief polar express set for Christmas. Worked great on Christmas then this morning the chuff sound makes an erratic static/vibration sound at high speed and completely cuts out the chuff sound.  It works a little better in reverse but not by much. The chuff sound goes back to normal at a low-medium speed in both directions. All other bell, whistle, and announcements seem unaffected. I noticed some dirt material on the electrical contacts of the locomotive and the tender so I cleaned them up with contact cleaner. I checked all connections to the track and all seem tight. I ran it on my other loop of track with AC power and still get the same noise. I did notice one of the trailing axles is bent and it moves the copper ground strip up and down but I don't think that would be the issue.  Any help would be appreciated.  

Thank you

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The only thing I can think of here is that the cam lever that operates the chuff switch is sticking, and perhaps when you add smoke fluid it is serving to lubricate the arm in some way.  The lever that operates the optical switch is also the same lever used to move the piston fro the smoke puffer.  I would start by checking that the lever is moving freely, and that the spring in the smoke puffer is pushing the lever back down quickly and with no resistance; perhaps something in that mechanism is bent or broken.  

It is also worth noting that the chuff sounds are not particularly good to begin with, and tend to have a 'machine gun' quality to it when running at high speeds.  

JGL

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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