MTH 400E (traditional) stuck in neutral

I'm sure you checked that the lock out lever is properly positioned. And then check that the motor brushes are clean along with the brush holder tubes, clean the armature face while you're at it. Brush springs doing their job? After all that then look to the eunit. is it cycling up and down when the direction button is pressed on the transformer? is the pawl turning the drum? are all of the drum fingers touching the drum? is the drum covered in crud or oil? If so clean it carefully and don't bend the fingers while you're in there.

But remember to check the motor brushes first. Often times people will blame the eunit, when it's that the brushes are stuck in the tubes and not making contact with the armature face.

Good luck,

Pat Rolland

Thanks for the tips! Very much appreciated!

Topher,

Did you ever figure out what the issue was?  Im having a similar problem with my 263e

Thanks,

Sunrise

You know, the problem actually went away after a couple more days, thankfully. I was intimidated about major disassembly, so I'm glad for that, although maybe someday it will return and I'll have to follow the advice above. Maybe the minor poking I did fixed it (like turning it upside down, since it's gravity operated?), or maybe it was a temperature/humidity thing? The innards of tinplate locomotives are still mostly a mystery to me.