Does it really matter how many hours or miles a locomotive has on it if maintenance is kept up on the locomotive? This would be great to know for my future purchases.
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All of my locos were bought used with no idea of the mileage or hours on them, but with proper cleaning and lube they run great.
But it could depend on how the locomotive was built in the first place too. Plastic gears and such can crack with age. Sometimes even die-cast can get funky with age too. You really need to look a loco over before buying.
It will be okay but I would oil the engine wheels instructed in the manual every 6 months if you run it only once every month. If you belong to a club and your running it weekly, I would oil once every month or every other month. I regret Greasing my loco's motors, I plan to do that now.
i would buy a used, carefully run and well maintained locomotive over a new-in-box (ie zero hours under power) piece any day. and the longer it has set idle, the more suspicious i would be regarding its operational quality.
cheers...gary
Modern locos with the big buck electronics seem to have any issues usually very early in their operating life. Make it through the break-in period and most are very reliable.
Bill T.
