Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Wayne is correct, Empires are very resilient and easily taken apart.  Quite a few throttles I've had to "adjust" on my grinder to get it control the steam properly.  Though like Wayne said, it likely just needs some cleaning from what you describe.

That all said, post photos and videos - don't be shy.  I a bit of a sucker for Empires ;-)