Talk 'n' Action Thomas repair question

Well, I was this close to getting my first TnA train (english speaking Thomas), but the train was damaged during its trip through the USPS. Apparently something hit it hard enough to literally cause the wheels on one side (motorized and front non motorized) to break in half. I'm assuming the wheels were already pretty brittle for this to happen, but still aggravating. Before I send it back to the seller for a refund, I wanted to ask if anyone knew whether it would be possible to replace the axles on a TnA thomas with the axles from a similar year "normal" thomas? I suspect the answer is no, or perhaps it is possible, but opening up the engine is a complicated affair, but I wanted to solicit advice from the smartest tomy train people on the web! Thanks in advance.