Pulled down the MTH 9E shelf-queen recently...it was totally dead after years of no track-time. Applied power...nothin'. Dropped in a new battery but still no operation. No clanks-of-death, just nothin'. Took it in to the guys at Toy Trains Unlimited in Hanover PA figuring it needed a hard-reset or some sort of chip replacement. It runs well now.

This thing is tempermental as hell. Using the Lionel LW I got from Kent you need to start-cycle it at a low voltage. Too much power and it just sits there clanking at you, lol.
I am figuring on running this under the Christmas tree this year on a loop of 42-inch radius track. I'll zip-tie the sections together but expect it will be off the track a lot...kids can't seem to resist running stuff at full steam, err voltage...
Healey