A real easy upgrade.

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The motor bogie of my refurbished Triang DMU couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Give it a prod it would run a few inches and stop and it was sending the ammeter way up the scale, so I figured everything else looking OK it had to be a duff magnet, it has to be around 50 yrs old, so I can't complain to much.
Anyway I decided to test it with a couple of neodymium magnets I just happened to have. Vast improvement. The magnets have so much grip they are unlikely to move of their own accord, so I decided not to bother trying to get a 9.7mm cube one with a hole running in the direction of the field.

The fitting instructions are easy.
Stack the two magnets N to S.
Determine which way they repel as you offer them to the chassis.
Push then into position until they snatch onto the pole pieces. That's when the Alnico magnet that's fitted gives up.
Job done, they won't be moving anytime soon.
Performance much improved, I could be on the lookout for a centre car, now there's a chance of pulling it.

[Mountain]

Nice. Surprizing what can be done without much effort. Interesting wheels.

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Replacement wheel sets by Ultrascale. Only made to order so it's a long wait and an arm and a leg, but they drop straight in.

[Byegad]

I don't know, you spend actual real money buying something and 50 yrs later it packs up! Still not as bad as my early inertia simulation controller, bought in 1977, it packed up in 2007 after only 30 yrs heavy use. Disgusted of County Durham!

[Bigmet]

It's amazing how economical this hobby can be if you buy carefully, look after it, maintain as required, and don't keep changing your subject interest, track gauge and the like. Got a lot of items now 50 years old and as good as day one. Pullman's sell line appropriately sums it up: Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

Then again, you had to try stuff to see if it was any good and some wasn't: Dross is remembered forever. I think K's head my list for their 'no fit kit cast in putty metal, near instant fall apart motor, gear mesh failure, out of round wheelset' abomination. They suckered me in with their cheap J50 body and shockopen wagon, both of which were good value and are still on the layout: so then I spent some real money and it was complete gash in every possible respect. Didn't reply to my letter, I never spent a penny more on their product but bought 3H, ABS, BEC, Gem, Kirk, Nu-cast, Ratio, Wills, WSM kits instead: and apart from a few sold to friends, all still on my layout.