Chris,
I hope this gives you some understanding of me.
I do not have high dollar trains, and I live on a fixed retirement income. Other hobbies compete for substantial bits of my discretionary dollars, so getting the most bang for the buck is important to me. Perhaps if I did have locomotives costing over $500, I may behave differently. However, baby oil works for me and I have been using it for 6 years in my Rail King steamers without any issues.
I also enjoy re-purposing things, and sometimes I agree with you when experiments don't work out well. Why did I do that to save a few bucks? I like the satisfaction when my ideas work.