I still don't know what happened, exactly. Post-mortem on the locomotive (a refurbished and recently serviced 2343 frame and motors) shows the front horizontal motor to have WAY overheated. To the extent that the middle housing, where the core and wire windings are, melted on the sides. I am tossing that motor. Interestingly, the rear motor did NOT suffer any kind of damage and the singular wire from the track pickup was completely undamaged. But, it did appear that the front motor froze and continuous contact was being made between the brushes and the armature. That was evident from the burn marks on both the brushes and the armature. I am extremely surprised that the primary wire from the track pickup not only did not become a fuse, it did not even show signs of overheating. I have not replaced that motor yet or put the frame back into service. I want to completely disassemble the geared wheelsets (front and back), clean and lube those and then replace the front motor and then service the rear motor. I am still looking for PTCs from either Mouser or Digikey, but don't need them in the quantity that they want to sell. I may have to go the eBay route to obtain what I need to prevent over-current from occurring again within the locomotive. I know that these are 50's locos, but I am a bit surprised that there is not over-heat or over-current protection of any kind. Oh, well. Live and learn. Thanks for all the help.
Scott
Allen, TX
