Question on an older MTH diesel.

They weren't made that way, that happens when you run the crap out of them.  You can be sure this unit has a lot of miles on it.

It's likely wear.  I have a PS1 GP38 that has grooves in the rollers, haven't gotten around to replacing them but it runs fine.

FWIW, I've seen this happen when the roller is stuck, i.e. not oiled.  It drags some which causes the grooving, if there is such a word, to start.  Still could be a lot of run time, Plan to replace them at some  point.

Rollers are cheap and easy to replace.

YEs rollers are cheap and easy to replace, but make sure your bid reflects that. IS this a Ps1 or Ps2 loco?

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

YEs rollers are cheap and easy to replace, but make sure your bid reflects that. IS this a Ps1 or Ps2 loco?

It's a PS1. One of the questions I don't think I've ever seen asked is how long will one engines go?

Mechanically.....Personally I think those PS1 locomotives (Samhongsa) are the most durable and one of the highest quality workmanship you can find, the electronics I'm not so sure of.  I don't know how well they do with an electronic conversion. The early PS2 hudson I had converted is my best runner.

Clem 

Have seen some with hours and hours and hours of run time. The things mechanically seem to be bullet proof. Know plenty of guys who have layouts where only one train per mainline looks great, two would look implausible and they have been buying them up. As one said, "Why by CC when I don't use it? A new battery and these are fantastic!!"

I recently put a new motor in a RailKing steamer that Henning's Trains has running in front of the store.  This thing had been out there for two years, summer and winter.  It gets parked in the tunnel and lives outside all of it's life.  It runs for hours on end out there.  It once got left out of the tunnel for a major snowstorm, when the snow melted, it was none the worst for wear and still runs fine.  The rollers are grooved, but they were still perfectly functional.  We'll replace them when the really need them.  Keep them lubricated and they'll run for an amazing amount of time as a rule.

Jeff,  Look closely at that older MTH Engine and type of pickup roller.  Early on they screwed on from the top so the pickup had a threaded hole. Not like todays product.  Those are no longer carried. So you need to modify engine to get  new pickup to work, or try finding a similar Williams pickup.  G

GGG posted:

Jeff,  Look closely at that older MTH Engine and type of pickup roller.  Early on they screwed on from the top so the pickup had a threaded hole. Not like todays product.  Those are no longer carried. So you need to modify engine to get  new pickup to work, or try finding a similar Williams pickup.  G

I didn't know that! Great piece of info to tuck away!!

BTW - The ones I'm looking at have a screw on the bottom! Thanks GGG!