Welcome aboard.
I don't use Cobalt machines, but the symptoms sound like damaged or misaligned gears in the machine.
To make sure it's not mounted improperly, take it out and see if it works on the bench.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Hey guys need a little help here. I bought one of these to try and well it worked great when I first wired it. I have a Digitrax decoder operating it and the frog wired to the machine. The first week it worked great, however now when I throw it it clicks three to 4 times and then stops. I read other posts on here that there really silent and others could barely hear it operate. That's not the case for me. I can hear the gears spinning and then the clicks. No clicks going to the closed position but still really noisy. I have loosened the mounts and let it relax a little so to speak. I checked that the decoder is set for a slow motion machine. Wondering if I should just pull it off the layout and return it. The only thing that seems to stop it is when I throw the switch and then squeeze the machine with my thumb and index finger.