(08-23-2015, 01:42 AM)leylandvictory2 Wrote: Why don't you buy strip them off the non working motors?
As Andy says, I seem to manage to fix virtually all the broken loco's I lay my hands on, most of them have running motors and it's usually only a small electrical issue like a corroded terminal or a broken wire. So after a refurb I don't actually end up with any non-running loco's so don't have any to cannibalise.
About the only ones I have had which I've ended up dismantling are generally Thomas's and they don't have the same type of motor/switch for me to use. Even in those out of the four I cannibalised I managed to get 3 of the motors working - the only reason I broke them up was because they had broken chassis's or wheels
Where I have a parts problem is with replacement couplings for the loco's with connected tenders and these more unusual switches. For some reason the switches on these type of engines seem to be weak as they are the only type I've come across with broken switches...
(08-23-2015, 01:44 AM)ripley802 Wrote: I think he is like me. He fixes the bad motor versus scavenging it. But that is an option, to maybe use a duplicate engine.
Spot on, most of them only have minor issues so are easy fixes, if it comes to it I will have to pinch a switch out of one of the less rare working loco's but it seems a shame to break one to fix another when its such a small part I need...
Happily collecting things all my life... 
(This post was last modified: 08-23-2015, 10:03 AM by Nigels.)