I picked up a Hornby 501 from a friend recently. It had sat for 30yrs on a very large layout in a hard to reach engine shed. Sadly the elderly owner had to dismantle the layout due to moving and it was “rediscovered”. Despite some slight surface rusting, it faired fairly well considering the local humidity. It’s had a good clean to remove several decades of dust, as well as a quick lube of the mechanism. On first test it ran only one lap less of my small test loop than my other 501’s. I’m sure it will loosen up over time.
