OK, I'm a gigantic dolt. I'll start there just so we have a baseline.
Last night I decided to lightly lube my new MTH Allegheny 2-6-6-6. In a fit of utter stupidity, I put a small drop on the nut that attaches the eccentric rod to the driver. Well, that was a bad idea. I knew it was bad the second it did it, but at that point I figured I'd try my luck and run the engine. I did some slow speed runs and forward and revers and it locked up. The drive gear on the right side of the loco bound up. I took it off the track and saw where it was bound, and was just kind of touching it to see how bad it was and it popped loose. I noticed that the eccentric rod seemed loose - I could literally reposition the rod - it was very loose and it seemed to have defined "positions". So having it unbound, I tired it again at slow speed. It bound again and it was at this point I realized the nut that connects it to the drive wheel appear to have back out. I read that the have to be in the right position or they will bind regardless, but I didn't know what that was, so I tightened it up and tried another slow speed run. It seemed OK... until the other side did it. Loose nut, same as the other one. I assume they are backing out because it lubed them (DOH!!!). I have no idea how tight they should be...
I read a couple good post here that indicate they should be tight, but at this point I'm taking it to a pro unless there's some easy way to figure out exactly how that rod should be aligned. My real question is - how screwed am I here??? I think the motor should be OK because I was watching carefully and killed it FAST when I saw the binding start, and it was all 3-5 SMPH stuff. Anyone here have any experience with this kind of bone-headed move?
At least everyone gets a laugh at my expense on new forum day