Thanks so much for the quick response, Bill -- you are confirming exactly what I thought from my investigations, but I just wanted to make sure.  I'll be keeping the piece for display, since I did not pay very much for it.  I was just very attracted to the idea of getting something RC (without having to pay for a conversion

And yes, now the search for a starter set begins.

Thanks again.

Hello,

Forgive the possibly silly question.  I bought a Bachmann Big Hauler last year off of Ebay.  I'm unsure of its model number, but it is the RC control, green mogul Atchison Topeka train that according to George Shreyer's Big Hauler Tips page (http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html#rc  ) is  a first generation.

It does not work in reverse, no matter how fresh of batteries I've tried, nor from my fumbling attempts to clean and tighten it up. 

Most of my investigations elsewhere on the web have pretty much convinced me that it's unfixable.   However, I would just like to confirm that it would not be eligible for a replacement chassis (as per the http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,30394.0.html thread) – either because no replacement chassis would fit or be appropriate for this RC model or because it would likely not solve the problem.

Thanks for any help you can be.  It's been hard to find info on this particular train.

Mike