Sometimes the problem is obvious..........

Good job!  Was the cap burnt or just expanded?  I've seen a whitish residue coming from caps before (on old Navy equipment).

I have a RailKing RS3 that used to have Locosound in it.  My first O layout was in a detached garage and whenever it got below 50 degrees the engine would not act right.

A couple of years later I brought the layout into the house and never had another problem.

That RS3 now has ERR Cruise Commander installed, mainly because I wanted better sounds.

Great Job. Yes I always roll my eyes when I receive an engine off the bay and something is rattling around in side the shell /  Especially when one of these capacitors pops out of the shell as you unwrap it... 

Bob Delbridge posted:

Good job!  Was the cap burnt or just expanded?  I've seen a whitish residue coming from caps before (on old Navy equipment).

I have a RailKing RS3 that used to have Locosound in it.  My first O layout was in a detached garage and whenever it got below 50 degrees the engine would not act right.

A couple of years later I brought the layout into the house and never had another problem.

That RS3 now has ERR Cruise Commander installed, mainly because I wanted better sounds.

I had a PS3 Imperial SD70ACe that did the same thing when it has cold.

I my case My Weaver U25B would not go forwards or backwards. It would move just slightly and stop. The first thing you want to think is somethings wrong with the electrical. I this case I put it on the cradle and examined the gears. I found a little piece of ballast lodged in the gear. I removed it and the engine runs fine now. 

It used to be very common to find cold solder joints on RK tether sockets. I had one of those, and so have several of my friends. I've also seen quite a few cold solder joints on older 5-volt PS/2 boards.

Denny, I had an Atlas GP9 (with PS2 guts) do much the same thing.  A tiny piece of ballast stopped it dead in its tracks.