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Wheel slip in an isolated unit would almost always be a very bad thing. Sticking brakes: ordinarily, unless the units are running light in a yard, the locomotive air-brakes are not used (they're "bailed off" in an automatic reduction), so would have no opportunity to stick. Sticking brakes on a car are a result of no release or an overcharge, and I don't know how you'd get either condition on a locomotive without really doing something wrong. Traction motors: that's not friction per se causing wheel slip, it's a seized motor bearing or locked pinion. Either is very bad and will lead to a derailment if ignored for not very long. Most common of all: a set hand-brake that was not released. Yes, this happens. A unit picked up en route or swapped between consists en route may very likely have had its hand-brake set. If it's not released, that axle will drag and since it is not slipping, per se, may not show as a wheel slip. I saw $35,000 damage done to an AC4400CW in about 30 minutes one night because a crew forgot to release a hand-brake after a unit swap. Traction motor leads connected backwards. This happens too, but normally it's discovered the first time the locomotive is moved under power in the engine terminal. It may also not show up as a wheel slip. If it does it for very long the wheelset will develop an outside flange. An outside flange will probably cause a derailment at the first switch it comes to. Since the train is probably moving at a good clip to have ground the wheel this way, and the locomotive is probably close to the head of the train, an enormous pile-up will ensue. I can recall one of these, too, on BN in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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