Yuck it up...Burned on eBay---Resolved

[SpaceMouse]

I did just that only not so big. I'm only running a 4x8 with about 50' of track. I got a Tech II 1400. I talk about it here.

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27960

[Don Gibson]

One can short circuit one's inexperience by having a GOOD point of reference.

Get youself a used STEWART VO-1000 on E Bay amd you'll go from the 'rediculous' to the 'sublime, plus You'll have an engine to judge others by.

Be advised these can be boght NEW for $75 but require some time spent doing assembly work. A USED one might have that all done..

[Leon Silverman]

Spacemouse:
A new transformer probably will improve the overall operation of your layout but not this engine. The only other manufacturer of that era that used rubber band drive was Athearn and they were characteristically extremely fast at full voltage and jerky at lower speeds. Their minimum speed at the lowest voltages was also quite high. By comparison, other manufacturers turned the axles with worm drives instead of the helical gear drives used today.

[Anonymous]

They look like candidates for a wreck on your layout. Got any canyons that need some decor?

[Anonymous]

Well. That settles it all then.[^]

[SpaceMouse]

I suggested that I would keep the SW1 as a symbol of my ignorance and donate the broken rolling stock to my local train club. He's going to split the differnece with me and send a check for $19.

AS you can see, I now where the SW1 as part of my trains.com personality.

[PennsyHoosier]

You certainly won't be any worse off than you were. [:D]

[cefinkjr]

Chip:

Good move! You might get some junk or you might pick up a jewel. ........... Well, it could happen. [swg]

Good luck,
Chuck

[SpaceMouse]

I wrote him back. Asked him what else was in his grandfather's train box that could make up the difference.

[Anonymous]

Well, Do you want to keep the engines? If so, he offered you a discount, take it!

[csxns]

I say let it go that is a good person to do that.And take it as a lesson.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure which option I would take but it sure feels good to see the seller responding in the manner that he did. Good luck.

[SpaceMouse]

Sellers Reply to my Email.

I am so Sorry I am not really sure what to do accept try to make you Happy so if you want me to refund you I will be more then Happy or if your still interested in keeping the Trains I will mail you a discount of your choice, you just tell me the amount. I am Truly sorry the Trains were my Granfather who just passed away and I sold them as best as i could describe them I am really Honest and IN NO WAY ARE TRYING TO GET OVER ON YOU FOR A SALE I HAVE REALLY GREAT FEED BACK AND WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY SO PLEASE EmAIL ME AND TELL ME HOW I CAN MAKE THIS SITUATION A BETTER ONE PLEASE.

So what would you guys do?

[SP4449]

I bought some Lindsay freight trucks back in the late 70s that had plastic sideframes and wheels, metal axles and springs in the bolsters similar to the Kadee and Athearn trucks of the time. The big difference in quality is that the Lindsay truck sideframes would not stay true due to the springing arrangement and the wheels would not track well.

[Don Gibson]

All sales final?

Your 40 year old iiems should have been listed '"as is" - Listing as 'MINT' not acceptable.

Demand return (AT YOUR EXPENSE) or report to EBAY.

Get a used KATO switcher or new STEWART for $50

[csxns]

You sure got reemed on that one.

[jsoderq]

The Revell tooling went to ConCor. I know, I worked for them. The Lindsay tooling predates the Revell tooling, actually going back to the 50's. The Revell drives were similar to the early Varney - plastic gears and truck gear boxes. One other belt drive was used by Walthers in their interurban drives. There may have been others -perhaps some of the brass dealers.
Lindsay actually made drive units similar to Hobbytown and diecast diesel bodies - Alco FA's, a small industrial switcher and maybe sharknoses ( I have one but not positive it was Lindsay.

[Anonymous]

I believe that Lindberg got into the HO market by purchasing the assets of Revell, who made the switcher about 1957. So this switcher is really a 1957 technology model. Repowering would require obtaining a drive train to go along with a new motor. The belt system just never made the units quiet or smooth.

A company by the name of Lindsay built a SW switcher about the same time that Revell came out with their models. The Lindsay drive is a beauty and very smooth. I would think that you could repower with a Lindsay chassis, but the Lindsay body is better than the Revell so you would really just be spinning your wheels.

Athearn makes a great running little switcher similar to the Lindberg that can be bought for $5-10 used and will run reliably for the next 50 years. I would just clean up the Lindberg, get it to run as good as you could, and enjoy your model even with its quirks. For price and quality you just can't beat Athearn and if you enjoy having diesel locomotives without the expense of the more highly detailed models the Athearn engines in the blue boxes will give you hours of enjoyable operation at a very low cost. All wheels are powered on Athearn diesels and all wheels pick up current so they run quite nicely right out of the box and will pull more cars than you probably would have a layout to handle.


After making the above statement regarding Revell and thinking further about the Revell model the Revell was a SW-7 that had all 8 wheels powered, not a great system, but it worked. The Lindberg model is an SW-1. I would swear that Lindberg either purchased the dies for this engine or picked up the drive train from another manufacturer. At the time that the belt drive came out on the SW-1 a couple of other manufacturers had been using the same design to power their diesels. Can anyone shed any more light on the history of the SW-1. I believe that after Revell got out of the HO model train business that some of their products were offered by another manufacturer. Somewhere in this scheme of things is Lionel HO, which might have been the company that also used a spring drive on some of their models. Revell-Lionel????

[Anonymous]

I still stand by my thinking that I would not have bidded on this engine. However this is a learning experience for all involved. We managed to identify numerous issues related to this sale and identified the engines.

Now.. what are you going to do with that big Dummy Black loco?

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DeSchane

Spacemouse, Be aware that generally when bad feed back is given, it is reciprocated by the other side. In the end you both loose. The feed back forum part of Ebay is the weakest link in the system (my opinion is it is worthless). They state retaliatory feed back should not be given. However, the only bad feed backs I've ever gotten were exactly that! I'm not saying it shouldn't be used, I'm saying prepare for the consequences!
In my opinion, you didn't know enough (due diligence) about what you were buying, and the onus for the purchase is completely yours.

I thought about that.

[Anonymous]

Spacemouse, Be aware that generally when bad feed back is given, it is reciprocated by the other side. In the end you both loose. The feed back forum part of Ebay is the weakest link in the system (my opinion is it is worthless). They state retaliatory feed back should not be given. However, the only bad feed backs I've ever gotten were exactly that! I'm not saying it shouldn't be used, I'm saying prepare for the consequences!
In my opinion, you didn't know enough (due diligence) about what you were buying, and the onus for the purchase is completely yours.

[Anonymous]

I purchased once, item was stated quality, however, they tried to collect three times after I had already sent payment and receipt was received. Now I do not waste time fwith e-bay.

[SpaceMouse]

Not that it matters, but here is the bid history.

cengelmann ( 19) US $31.27 Dec-27-04 19:59:09 PST
casper3679 ( 170) US $30.27 Dec-27-04 17:00:47 PST
shipmaster2001 ( 125) US $30.00 Dec-27-04 19:56:38 PST
shipmaster2001 ( 125) US $25.00 Dec-27-04 19:56:04 PST
shipmaster2001 ( 125) US $21.00 Dec-27-04 19:55:48 PST
loco-caboose ( 154) US $15.99 Dec-27-04 19:24:40 PST
loco-caboose ( 154) US $14.99 Dec-27-04 19:24:08 PST
shipmaster2001 ( 125) US $10.00 Dec-26-04 17:54:12 PST
rwhiteneck ( 306) US $10.00 Dec-27-04 15:57:19 PST
loader1 ( 197) US $7.50 Dec-27-04 11:22:48 PST
sergiogeraldes ( 3 ) US $6.10 Dec-26-04 14:48:20 PST

[jsoderq]

Perfect example about ebay. I have been dealing on ebay for years and never had a problem. First red flag - if the spelling or grammar are "funny" I avoid it like the plague- it means something is fishy -either it is a kid or english is a second language or somebody just doesn't care - don't bid!!!
Second - ALWAYS research what you are bidding on. A simple check would have revealed that lindberg never built a "large diesel" in fact, maybe the SW-1 is the only one they ever made. Lindberg line went to the Mantua Heavyweight series which is now Model Power.
Another red flag - very few modern models come with "decals" a quick question on this board would have brought lots of response about this auction.
Another red flag - if the item looks good to you but no one else bid on it- WHY? Either it is too high priced, a bad piece or misrepresented somehow. If nobody else wants it there is probably a good reason.
Lastly, check your local hobby shop if you can. 99% of these guys are not out to rip you off. They stay in business by being helpful and answering questions ( Ya I know, not all).

[SpaceMouse]

What would it take to put a new engine in it?

[BRAKIE]

Well,congrats!! You have a old Lindberg SW1.This unit came with a SPRING DRIVE BELT.It howl and ran very jerky due to the spring..All to sadly the spring brakes at least once every 30 mintues of run time.And yes it does indeed have brass wheels as this locomotive was made around 1964/65.
The other unit is a Athearn dummy SD40-2 Tunnel motor..

[Anonymous]

Sad to say, It happens - I bought a loco billed as a "Restoration project" only to find some body damage I hadn't noticed in the photos - my mistake! I'll now only buy after taking a good look at the photos and emailing to ask for further pictures if it's unclear. I picked up a CSX Dash 8 (Walthers) listed as "spares/repair" due to having the front truck detached, was very careful to ask for a picture of the damage before bidding and got something of a bargain (about half list price, and apart from needing a new screw to hold the front truck in the loco was in great condition). One good guide I've found is to only buy items that still have their original box - the box will usually have protected the item, and people who keep the boxes tend to take good care of their models too. Hope this helps!

[SpaceMouse]

I didn't know better. No excuses. My son got a train set for Christmas and I wanted to participate. On Dec. 26, I bought this junk. Even before it arrived, I had received a Bachman 4-8-4 and some rolling with a "lot" of track I bought. You win some and loose some.

I did write the guy last night and basically cut and pasted what I wrote to you. No reply yet. I haven't rated the seller yet since I don't know how he will resolve it. If he makes good, that will be my comment. If he says tough cookies, he'll have a different kind of comment and a negative where before he has only positives. I'm going to give him the opportunity to do what's right before I act.

[tstage]

Spacemouse,

Sorry about the bad experience on eBay. I bid on a GE 44-ton switcher on eBay last summer a bit too hastily before doing the research and ended up purchasing an old dual motor unit that was okay but not worth the price I paid for it. Since the seller did offer to listen to any unsatisfied customers, it would be worth contacting him to see what could be worked out..

As I said in an post to you a week or so ago, don't be afraid to inquire here on the forum first before making a bid on something so that you don't get burned on a so-called "deal". There are some good bargains on eBay; there are some bad ones, too. Chalk it up to a relatively inexpensive lesson. Again, sorry about the disappointment.

Tom