Lately, I have come across three Hines Mikado chassis that all have driver shorts. In one case it is a near new partially built un run kit. See picture. The picture with the leads on the main drive axle shows the short. If the driver has preserved insulation, infinite resistance or very high resistance such as 10 Mega Ohms should be measured. I have three other Hines Mikes and they are fine. Never saw this problem in my Lobaugh, Scalecraft, Pearce, All Nation or Saginaw pieces. From now on when I attend a show I’m bringing a Volt Ohm meter. Also most of the time when one sees a short like this it is often from a metal brake shoe touching the steel tire which is why I like plastic brake shoes for my steam.
Another issue that I have seen is abnormally loose play in the axle probably due to worn out bearings. Saw this in a KTM northern. Good news is the KTM axle bearings are easy to find . Recommendation: grap the drivers one axle at a time and twist horizontally as shown in the picture with the green arrows.
