wheels won't roll

[VOLTS]

greetings,

someone is selling me his HO BACHMANN SUPERCHIEF, but he shelved it for 2 years after using it once. when he tested it he can hear the humm of the engines but the wheels wont roll . what could be the problem and what can be done? should i get it anyway?

thankyou
steve

[pdlethbridge]

Don,t buy someone else's problem. It's a waste of money.

[mhampton]

If you are counting on being able to get the locomotive to run, then it's at least a big risk if not a complete waste of money.  If you have another locomotive that you know runs and if you can get sufficient use from the rest of the set and if you are getting a good price based on these assumptions then it might be worth it.  Then if you can actually get the locomotive to work, it's icing on the cake.  Personally, I think I would pass.  Actually, since I model in N scale, all of this is academic and I KNOW I would pass .

[Doneldon]

Volts-

I'd only buy it with the assumption you WON'T be able to get the loco to run.  Then pay what the rest is worth to you and hope you get lucky on the lokie.  In the alternative, see if the seller will let you open the loco to see what's wrong.  It can be anything from very minor and easy to fix all the way to hopeless.  I understand this is a conundrum for you, but if you approach it without counting on the engine you should be able to avoid making it a bigger headache.  Good lick!

          --D

[Jhanecker2]

Volts : Doneldon is correct.  Pay for only what is functional .  If you have the skill & the time to strip & totally rebuild the locomotive and can also get any of the parts you need, then by all means go for it. But I surely would not pay extra to do so.  John II

[VOLTS]

greetings,

thanks guys for your concern. i'm not that hopeless to buy this loco that doesn't work. i'll just get back to this seller and tell him to revise his intro to the item he is selling because he mentioned "ready to run".

steve

[Doneldon]

A "ready to run" loco that doesn't work?  Sounds like unusual grading criteria to me.

          --D