When you've finished rebuilding it you should call it "Trigger's Broom"

It should be returned for a full refund, not worth the hassle and plenty of good ones available

Whoever flogged that piece of junk is a no good toerag.

I bought a BR Green Class 25 but all of the cogs were missing and for some reason an astronaut was in the cab lmao

Now that was funny, especially at the end! 🤣Excellent video, well done!

I'd weather it completely and shove it in a corner of a siding as decoration, disconnect the motor as well so you can still use the siding while on dc

If it is damaged and as advertised in reasonable condition - shouldn't have any cracks / breakages, ask for a refund back - if you keep it convert the loco into a scrapyard heap model.

Unbelievable .. but at the end when you were listing the parts needed to sort it I burst out laughing! .. excellent video :)

Should’ve returned it as not as described : eBay would’ve refunded without question!.

Loved your video, it's a real object lesson, there seems to be a trend now of people selling utter junk at extortionate prices on auction Web sites, people really do need to be very careful, even with an item that appears to be brand new.! I also think that anyone selling on auction sites should be compelled to post very good quality photos of both sides of an item as part of the description or have the sale rejected by the auction site, all to often the photos are of poor quality, which is a nightmare when looking at items from some mobile phones, and the seller seems to think he or she can hide behind the fact that they have asked the potential buyer to use the photos as part of the description, that's fine if you have "very good quality" photos showing everything, otherwise buyer beware even with the more expensive items.

I was looking back at your past films Rob as saw this one. It is unfortunate that you had a bad experience from an eBay seller for this Class 25. Hopefully I will find the continution to this and see your handy work to upgrade and repare the locomotive. By the way, a great spook-tacular ending of the Monster Rat, LOL.. Plus, cheers for the tip about the Model Rail Database website, I will find this very useful for my Rolling Stock info that is missing various details on my own lists.

Thanks for the video and your honesty - we all mess up on eBay from time to time! I think I'd sell the class 43 power bogie, acquire two correct non-power bogies (hopefully with the proceeds) and use it as a non-powered scrapyard scene loco with the non-cab end against a wall.

I think the seller should have been a least honest about the cracked body. My dad had one of these around 1977. It did run quite well. Very dated though now. He may have still got it?

Good on you for taking it in your stride. Did the same myself with a Class 37. Trouble was that it arrived but I ended up being side-tracked for a good while before I properly examined it! I went to remove the body...and it pretty much came off in my hands! It was an older body on a newer chassis, but I figured it was weeks since I bought it, so I but the bullet and actually got it all to work OK 🤷🏻‍♂️ Love the epilogue 😈👍

This is my first time watching any of your videos. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with this locomotive but it made a very interesting subject and a good warning to study potential eBay purchases. I enjoy buying 2nd hand locomotives and getting them to work from 'dead' or helping them run better. I'm off to watch more of your productions. Cheers.

As we say in engineering circles... "assumption is the mother of all fk ups" but hey look on the bright side, at least you have a handful of spares for different logos..... kudos for taking it so well and doing a video though!

Well straight away, just looking at it, 02:19 the thing doesn't even sit on the rails properly. I would have given that a miss, for that alone. Look at how the bogie on the left, fits into the body. The "model" looks cobbled together to get rid of it. You should have returned it, mate.

I once bought a Triang f7 which was in pretty good shape. Like your model, it had a small crack in the back but when I took the shell off to check the motor, there was a huge spider web in it.

Thx for this Video. Makes me feel better about 1 or 2 of my OO purchases from Ebay. Where Photos are Cunningly taken avoiding Body Damage. Or the Old Chestnut 'It was working fine before I posted it..!' I Now don't buy and Loco without all 12 photo's being used. And make sure that One side Doesn't take up most of the Pic's. But it's pretty difficult to avoid the Occasional Crafty Fellow that inhabit Ebay. Love the 'Full Christian Bale' reference in your Scale. You just gained a New subscriber. Cheers Kim in Oz. 😎

Thanks for another great video. An e-bay guide would be very much appreciated and Underground Ernie has my vote for the Bach treatment!.

a very good review from an enthusiast, who has been v ery kind to the junk the seller sold, I learned a lot from little wicket, as I own an original class 25, he only needs new traction tyres.:)

Come on! you have to admire the nerve of the seller! Or did he (presumably) think we were all as stupid as he? Thanks for, at least, assuring the rest of us, that we are not the only fools to be 'had' over an eBay purchase. I like to buy 'non-runners' for restoration, and some of them, you'd hardly believe how bad they were! Yet look OK in the listing, So, don't feel bad about missing the broken case - there is much worse! Cheers, enjoying your channel. Jim L

Ebay seller: Sorry to hear you're not satisfied with my excellent item. But I have a solution that I feel can benefit us both without needing a refund. I'm emailing you a photo of a real British Rail Class 25. If you have a printer ready you can print it off and stick the photo on the model so it'll look satisfactory and saves hours of work. Thanks again!

At the sight of a crack in the bodywork and again the glazing I would have opened an eBay return as none of this damage was in the sale description. It makes it one expensive chassis unless you bought the loco dirt cheap.

Nice video and a fun ending - shame about the loco. I'd have contacted the seller and returned it.

Yes I had problems with Ebayer. One seller last year was rude when I contacted him. In the end I just could not be bothered dealing with him

Well that's a great lesson learned. I must say I have bought some good bargains off of Ebay, both US, HO and UK outline OO gauge items, but never as bad as yours. I have noticed recently though, that the prices of items is climbing to the same level as you could pay for new in a model shop..........I once was watching a Heljan Class 128 that went for nearly £200 when you could buy a new one for £150!.......................Your Class 25 was a really old model, I think someone created it from bits in their scrap box. Apart from the crack and broken glazing how could they put bogies off of two different locos on it and call it a Class 25! I'm slightly surprised though you didn't spot that looking at the description before purchasing the loco. Having said that though, when I watched the video I didn't spot it at first.............Anyway a great lesson learned, best regards Dave.

I would've sent it back for a full refund. You barely had any model left by the time you listed all the faults.

I wouldn't touch ebay, I'm the proud owner of the cheap and cheerful hornby class 25. I bought it used apart from it tilts slightly I'm happy. I've subbed to your channel

The old Hornby 25 was a wreak from day 1.

Brilliant content man. Keep it up

Tbh, you should return it in my opinion. That eBay seller had a hell of a cheek.

I have one of those somewhere, lad from work, many moons ago gave me all his old bits out of the loft, ran quite well ended up being my first diesel, I later bought a load of hornby bits from ebay in it was a ringfield motor bogie and rear set, after a look i thought it was a set for a class 25 managed to get a full body a chassis only down side was it was BR green, but to good to miss so i had it. Then when i went to put it togeter to build another one , I realised the bogies were not the same as my old one, they too were class 43 after a bit more googling. so now i have a class 25 with no bogies and a set of class 43 bogies and no body, and at current prices it`s not worth sourcing the parts.

I doubt that this happens often in the UK because of compatibility issues, but in the USA, real locomotives have been run with mixed trucks (boggies). An example is on the Virginian RR, where there has been photographic evidence of a Fairbanks Morse MORSE H24-66 with one original truck, and one truck from a General Electric E33 (aka EL-C). There are other examples, so make up a story to explain the situation. In the case of the Virginian, the two kinds of locomotives where specified that way to make servicing easier. Both types had the same traction motors, even though one was an electric and the other a diesel-electric.

I love buying old Hornby stuff. The ringfield motors are bombproof and so easy to sort out if necessary.

Must admit I have had one or two Like this is ,but eBay has always been spot on with a refund.......but look on the bright side ....I know someone that ordered a workbench from amazon,and had a plastic shower tray delivered!!

Looping the excess wire length coming from the decoder instead of trimming it is actually a sign of a poor install, not a good one.

There's a box in my attic which contains an HO Class 33 in Railfreight livery. If that wasn't bad enough, it's body was reassembled with superglue after a tradesman dropped a ladder on it!

That was a really bad model. I've been mainly lucky on e-bay. Thanks for the things to look out for.

eBay is full of scumbags wanting top money for rubbish at the moment (I have been stung twice this year already) The one that annoyed me the most was a class 31 and three MK2 carriages that I picked up mid January... the 31 was described as Good Condition, good runner. it came with a massive melt mark across the body and roof...not a big issue weathering will hide it, that was the start of a list of issues... The rear pickup bogie has had the wires cut from the pick ups, again bit of solder no big issue, during a service, and under the piles of filth around the apparent running model, I found three track pins jammed in the gears.... At this point I had already dismantled the model so I figured I’d just mend it, clean the wheels and get it running, that I now have... The 31 also came with three mk2 coaches, all three had bogie parts missing, couplings and piles of grime and marks. Contacted the seller, he ignored the fact he had sold me an absolute lemon of a loco and offered to replace one of the carriages... Reported to eBay.... and moved on... guy was either clearing out someone’s possessions and couldn’t be bothered to look at the loco prior to sale, or was passing on damaged goods. Lesson learned, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is...

The engine was spoopy enough, but now I can't unsee the 25 247..SERIOUSLY WHO MESSED THE ENGINE NUMBER UP!?

Nice vid, well put together. Buyer beware! lol, you will be wiser for next time!

What can I say. You got a nice frame for your next class 25 project.

The seller probably thought the crack and whatnot was obvious from the photos. They perhaps should have mentioned the replacement bogies in the description just to be clear. But maybe they didn't know, maybe they even got the model like that themselves. Speaking of the crack, A. in the photos the crack actually looks like it's repaired (so it may have re-broken in transit) and B. as far as body shell cracks go that one's *nothing*. Fixing it's a simple CA glue job, and blending it is a quick sand and a couple licks of paint.

I can relate to the Rage-o-meter. I bought a $4000 work laptop from Amazon with large storage, ram, and other specific specs. I received a model with zero similar specs, no refund, no reply and no satisfaction whatsoever.

If only the eBay seller told him some parts were missing from the Liverpool collision 🚃🚋🚋🚃🚃🚋🚞💥🚂🚋🚃🚋🚃🚋

My experience with eBay buying is that you get broken dirty crap through the post that you end up binning within a couple of days as the smell of the previous owners filth never leaves the model.

Talk to Sam of Sam's Trains. You are brave to buy off e-bay when nearly all model shops have second hand stuff. To me modelling has always been a tactile hobby. Again if you can touch it you can see things, maybe. Would like to hear the out come .

Going through some crap with Ebay at the moment myself. I will never buy for ebay again

Idea: Do as Laurie Calvert did with his old 9F. Buy an Airfix kit and make a futuristic sci-fi loco!

Great video. I tend to steer clear of anything with the "these pictures form part of the sale" etc. It's usually a get out clause for the seller. Sorry you got done.

Very amusing , I feel your pain. I have sold lots of class 25 s on evilBay , I love upgrading them adding flush glazing , handrails , 22” Oleos , detailing no1 end and adding DCC chips. I would never sell one like that!

I mainly buy used rolling stock rather than engines,i was watching a engine so i asked the seller a question 'does the engine run smoothly in both forward and reverse'? He said 'no it doesn't it stutters and stops a lot' after a couple of messages back and forth,he had a right go at me for daring to ask such a daft question,with an added 'maybe buying used engines isnt for you'!

Its like some demonic entity that steals parts from other trains so as to become a train itself. I would throw holy water on it before its too late and it begins devouring the other trains on the layout xD

Something you may or may not know, the bogies on the old school Hornby class 25 was factory fitted with the exact same bogie frames as the old school class 43 hst power/dummy car.

Lean into the "frankenstein" aesthetic. Kitbash something to cover the crack (or possibly add a snowplough), give it some form of "industrial" paint job, and have it be an engine that was botched back together after a collision/ derailment, that now hauls a maintenance train.

Great video. Well filmed.

The beginning of this video cracks me up.

If I remember correctly the ZTC decoder works similarly to the old Hornby Zero one system which in itself is incompatible with DCC. The class 25 you bought is a real bitsa and not worth what you paid for it unless you can break it for parts to use on other models.

hi there.just seen your video, i had a similar incident a month ago in jan 2021, bought a hornby railroad 08 from the r 2669 train pack, in the parcels sector colours, i was told it was in good condition, when i got it ,but alas the loco failed to operate, i have had to put a new motor x8809m in it. now runs perfect, the bodyshell was excellent thats why i did not send it back,

I've bought a few model kits on eBay. Had some really good experiences, but occasionally you get the one which is listed as "complete" but missing small or vital parts. This can be the problem when it's just average people selling things they don't really know anything about. Sometimes an honest mistake. Other times people are just on there to take advantage . . .

I've returned a lot of loco's and rolling stock on eBay. The most notable were an NRM Flying Scotsman R2441, listed as "Used - Like new" that looked like it had been used as a hammer and a Coronation Scot coach pack, again listed as "Used - Like new" that looked like it had been melted in front of a fire.

I've had some ebay disasters too, part of the fun. lol. I'd call that one a spare part donor. I have a few spare part donors kicking about.

Great and funny video there m8 ,, i once bought a pair of carriages from a seller and I presumed looking at the pics and the in the description it was a ho or oo scale as there was nothing listed as a TT model anywhere except for in one spot in the basic listing which i have to admit i totally missed .. The carriages were in sort of ok condition according to the fotos but when i received them the bloody things had shrunk big time and because it had no where in the heading or the description there was no mention of TT anywhere and explained to him that i wanted a refunded as they were no use to me as i run HO or OO and if it was in the description or the heading i would have queried it as i had never seen a TT scale before ,, i sent the seller a msg and explained that i wanted a refund due to lack of info and as I took some pics anoticed there was cracks in the plastic and paint missing and just wanted a refund as i have no use for it.. I know as a prevoius seller for 7 years straight if the buyer wants a refund just do it and especially if it was my blunder that the buyer wants a refund so just do whats asked as you can always sell it again and I used to get better money for it second go around hahah. Cheers from John in Australia.

That is really naughty of the seller omitting the crack and the homemade cab. The other things like the bogies I would put down to ignorance on the part of the seller, though the lack of hook is explained by the HST bogie as they couldn’t have hooks. Hope the project works out for you.

You could give it away as a prize for something or other as it's a legendary TV celebrity

On the plus side, the chassis looked ok... Maybe just put it on accommodation bogies and leave the bodyshell off and call it "partially scrapped".

Bogies are just clip on plastic shells which can be swapped .

Either it’s an ugly duckling project or its a crash damage point of interest.

Even with the eBay description , I’d be thinking £3, that things older than you !

I like you usually have pretty good luck on eBay but have had a few bad experiences also. I have since changed my perspective on eBay model railroad purchases. I now go into it expecting something to be wrong with the model, that way if it’s not I feel like I got a real deal. I’m not in a big hurry to buy something and I will only buy it if it’s a real bargain... As you know there are people who list they’re junk as though it is made of gold and diamonds, I stay away from that stuff. Words like rare and vintage are things people say to up their price even though the value of the model is not greater because of is age or scarcity. I ALWAYS look at and read seller feedback and number of items sold. This is a good indication of what you can expect from the seller. If they sell a lot of items and have good feedback I will generally feel pretty confident in my purchase and typically those sellers are more than willing to help out if there’s a problem because selling on eBay is likely all or a part of their livelihoods. I am grateful i found your channel, I really enjoy your videos. Thank you for the time that you put in to share your knowledge and experience. I have benefited on a couple of projects for my layout because of the information you share on your channel. Paul.

The only really bad experience I had on eBay was an Airfix loco I picked up for £20 which wouldn't run properly. The seller explained that they'd meant to list as a non-runner and refunded without question - so seemed a genuine mistake. Your cannibalistic seller should have mentioned some of those other issues which it would have been easy to miss from the photos, or indeed out of sight.

So basically you got a bare class 25 chassis with a load of junk attached. When I first saw the whole thing I noticed the HST motor bogie and thought that doesn’t look right but that wasn’t the end of it. Some Ebayers have no scruples.

been there done that with locos of ebay several years ago, if the description does not match with the photos, maybe avoid it, spelling mistakes should be give away to a cheeky seller, the hornby 25 in that condition, should have been listed as spares or repair, take some spares of it, chuck the rest in the bin, if i want a loco from ebay, i usually purchase new with a lower than RRP price or purchase second hand from well know sellers that i have purchased from in the past.

That is one bodge of a locomotive. The most bodgey loco I've ever seen. Some of mine do include donated parts from other engines, that may not necessarily be from the same type, but, dayum.

I’d gladly take the body shell

I don't know anything about model railways; the last one I had was a 3 rail Dublo 60 odd years ago. However let me just say that your loco was quirky, mismatched parts etc, but if you can sort that all out for reasonable money you will have a loco with a real scrapyard history running on your layout. Good luck with your endeavours!

Interesting video, an eBay guide would be great as it's easy to miss the obvious sometimes.

Personally I can't say I understand the attraction with these old Hornby locos. Nostalgia value perhaps? But if it's an actual model you're looking for, and not a toy train, the Bachmann 25 is superior in every respect.

Take my advice avoid eBay I have brought and sold on that site. Selling was expensive and had to put up with abusive buyers who claimed this was wrong or that was wrong when in fact they wanted a free model and refund. Buying was an mixed bag had a couple junk buys then had to go through their long winded refund process too me it's not worth it I prefer Amazon or buying from an model shop. When I closed my eBay account it was a day of great joy😊

The plastic buffer was the only one close to the right size out of the four.

It was obvious from the photos published on ebay that the body was oddly balanced with the chassis visibly slanted to one side due to the different height in the boggies...

I’m sure everybody who plays this game gets stung now and again. I didn’t see the price you paid for this, but when you consider that a used ring field bogey starts from around £25 hey ho. Ive turned a class 29 and a 37 into dummy’s for Double heading. As one of your comments says, expect the worst and everything else is a bonus 😄 Happy Modelling 👍🏻

Why didn't you mention the seller's name so others know to avoid him/her?

I could see the crack in the picture. Only on one picture. Sellers there can be mysterious on EBay. The ones I’ve bought from have been very good but also I bought really old models so you couldn’t really tell if they were damaged or not

Post-apocalyptic Frankentrain! Would be kinda neat to just keep it as is, and see how much worse you can make it! :D

Hi Rob I think we all have had one of those buys. Love the special effects. One question, what have you used to creat the curved backscene please. Cheers Steve

A little bit of epoxy putty and paint will fix the body work. As for the rest of it, change the decoder and just run it as is.

A major rule for ebay: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT!

I bought a HST and class 29 of ebay and they each had a class 25 bogie lol

I've never got a bad ho scale locomotive so far but I have got a bad one from a hobby shop note if they only have something to do with you after they realize you are going to spend a lot of money do more research do not ask them for anything they will lie and tell you the locomotive will run on certain radius curves but the locomotive will derail and burst all to pieces when you try to put it back up

This is straight up fraud. It should be returned, reported and an indicate this bs for the seller. You should also provide the sellers name here, so we can all avoid him

Put it up for sale on ebay! As seen on KZfaq.....got to be worth double now.....should get at least £1.20?

I looked at that on ebay, I can't remember but I might even have bid. I would sell on the bogies and chassis, put the rest in the bin and use the proceeds to drown my sorrows.

Push the cracked corner in a bit more (maybe with some heat) and make it a scrapyard-one that had an accident, or one on a flatbed headed to the scrapper.

One of the bogies is 100% HST, the cylinders behind the coupling are a dead giveaway!

I bought one for 5.00 CDN they said it lights up and that's about it , so change the brushes and gave it clean and oil still nothing ! So I took the face plate of the ringfield motor , to have look , bingo out fell two dead flies . So I put it back together and it ran perfectly .

I would have bagged it up wrapped it and returned it, a year or 2 back I bought a steam loco off ebay took it out of the box and it fell to bits in my lap so straight back to seller with a ticking off txt

Oh don't worry mate, we have all done it. Keep them as spares and move on to the next project. Happy hunting.

I got a class 25 exactly the same it and it works I am trying to sell all my railway stuff but not sure about how to go about it