Must have been a very small wolf spider! I remember the first one I encountered in the basement after moving to the west coast in 1980. At first I thought to step on it, but then thought better of it as I wasn't sure I could take it one-on-one! Man those things get big here. Even the cats won't go near them.
Thanks for your replies. I think the idea that some ballast or such got in the gears was probably correct. I got brave and tried to fix the errant trucks, and much to my surprise was able to fix the Atlas one. No such luck with the Kato truck. I think I did a lot of damage trying to get it apart. Sigh! One thing I did do was completely vacuum and clean all my track to help prevent this recurring. Those gears are mighty tiny for a 69 year old with bifocals and glaucoma. An Optivisor helped, but it is awkward.
One of the reasons I invested in a good hand held small vacuum that I use with a crevice tool. I also have one of the track cleaning cars that has the vacuum function in addition to the sanding disc and the wet chemical disc. Using the parts schematic that come with a number of locos can help on disassembly and if not with the loco can often be found online. Taking a photo of the truck frame halves before taking all the parts out is a big help in getting them back together. And of course it goes without saying that some very fine surgical grade tweezers and a stainless steel dental probe that has the needle like points can be helpful.
