Steve, Farmington RR Club O/HO Gauge, MN. It's cold today .-20. Hope you are warmer 
May I have some assistance please. I can do light mechanical work on my trains (no electrical) but I still break things easily. A friend in the club believes my speaker need replacing. He replaced charged battery, checked for cone damage (none), metal filings (none), reseated the wiring engine still has a crackling sound very difficult to hear horn (Blatting sound) or crew chatter. Not sure if board is damaged. Thus a few questions below:
1). Is there a MTH Tech in Minnesota/Wisconsin that may be reliable that anyone is aware of? I tried one in both MN/WI but no reply to email or phone calls.
2). Are parts available (logistics)? Is a Speaker (with electrical harness/clip) available STAR NR-05009-01 16 5W 234E or is their an alternate MTH/Lionel speaker that could be used? Product Number? Is there a difference whether the cone is paper or plastic? Is this speaker one I could replace on my own (light mechanical skills) or my friend in the Train Club or a good tech if one can be found.
3). Other suggestions please:
Being Semi-retired; I also build small O, HO, N scale layouts (Christmas time or birthdays-word of mouth) as I can afford it for children in need within my small Farmington Community. Generally an Oval with a siding and a building or two.r Suggestions where to find reasonably priced O, HO, N gauge train sets other than train shows, some I have bought at train shows where difficult to repair at least at my skill level.
Thank you all for your hard work, time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Steve W.
P.S. Attached are pictures of layouts of what I build for children O and N Gauge. Just for fun I included my N scale modules as I belong to a N Scale T Trak group. As you can see I like Hot Air Balloon Rides, seen a few UFO's in my time, and I miss the farm with our airfield, tractors, cows ,,,, Enjoy !!!
