MTH hand car performance

I would clean the pickups, lube the gears sparingly and run it for a while.

I Have a Santa and Elves handcar and it took a bit to loosen up and work properly.

Also make sure nothing is binding, I found a piece slightly out of position on mine that once adjusted made the lever? / hand bar move easier.

A binding piece is found by looking at the position of parts every time it stops by itself. The piece that's always in the same place is closely connected to the problem if it is not the actual problem.

In mine, a pushrod was poorly seated on a pin on a rotating wheel, the pushrod drives the handbar up and down. Since it was not on the pin properly it rubbed on the side of the opening it passes through. I cleaned some casting flash from the hole in the pushrod, seated it on the pin and re-assembled. Runs good now.

For Lube I use Red N Tacky #2, just a thin sheen on the drive gears will do the job.

I have a Santa and Elf Handcar nd trolley (same mechanism) that run GREAT at 5VAC. Switches every time and will probably run even slower and still bump. The key was a Pure Sine Wave power supply. I'm using a Z1000 going into the MTH IR controller. The minimum output is 5V. I am waiting for my Atlas 80A controller to arrive, as that is also pure sine wave and goes below 5V out.

You can also look for binding on a handcar, if you have some banana clips. Clip your center rail to a pickup. then firmly hold another clip to an outer wheel. Adjust the voltage and let it run in your hand. Just a thought

As described to me earlier this year, AC powers the motor better, as the cycling of the voltage is constantly "banging" that motor past any obstacles. The pure sine wave took it to the next level as the Z1000 controller I was using basically chops the AC signal, to the point where it was at breakneck speed to bump reliably.

I just took my handcar off the track, for a clean and lube. it's a pain, but make sure the hand bar motion linkage is correct (mine wasn't first time back together).

The above advice is spot on. This past week, the National Capital Trackers have had their layout set up at the COllege Park Aviation Museum, and will tear down the layout tomorrow. This past week, 2 MTH Handcars have run everyday for 10 hours a day without an issue. Good little units.