Hi all, I'm a model railroader across the pond in the US. I bought a Hornby Thomas on Amazon last year for a great price, but he was DOA new from the box. Absolutely no response from the motor, even after taking the chassis apart and touching the pickups directly to the rails. Everything appears to be soldered together correctly, the only thing I haven't done yet is to attach leads directly to the motor contacts and see if the problem is between the pickups and the motor. But, if that doesn't work, how do I get a new motor? I have read through Hornby's service policies and they don't appear to provide service to anyone outside of the UK, and the Type M motor the parts diagram for this R9287 indicates was not available for separate purchase from any suppliers the last time I checked. This was somewhat disappointing, having wanted one of these since I got a postcard advertising them when I was a kid back in the mid-1990s, as well as my first Hornby locomotive purchase being a dud! I'll just pretend something terrible happened during shipment and push his de-motored body around with my secondhand Bachmann Branchline 57xx until I figure out a replacement motor or break down and buy the Bachmann "TV show" version that is readily available here in the States, and can be given a...more palatable...face from Shapeways. Any suggestions appreciated! Is this a common problem? This looks to be very recent packaging, with the copyright on the back showing 2016.
