I’ve done all the usual things, clean the wheels, axles, pickup s and track but I’m still getting excess wheel spark.
Now what?
One probable issue is that your locomotive is drawing way too much current. Check the motor; check the chassis; check the drivers for consistent quarter and the rods for binding.
Long ago I remember someone saying they got a lot of sparking when they cleaned the wheels and track with alcohol. They tried putting down (IIRC) a thin layer of Wahl clipper oil on the rails and that eliminated or greatly reduced the sparking. I never had that problem so never tried it myself.
I think I found the problem. There are wires in the tender that run along the chassis and under the smoke unit. Those wires were lacking prpoer insulation and shorting to the chassis. Same was happening with the wires from the tender to engine. as the engine ran arond the track vibration would cause the wires to get close to the train edges and short.
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Have you completely, or at least mostly, eliminated the sparks?