Fully my fault I admit, but like many others here I'm sure, I grab things when I can for the eventual day I can actually use them. You always think it will not be that far away.

Tonight, on a whim I decided to check my Faller Car System vehicles that I'd had for a number of years, ok at least 10!!. And they were used when I got them abnd I reckon a further 10 years old before that so easily now 15-20 years or so so but were all going and in good condition.

Opened the first one, and was greeted by runny blue liquid. What the??

I would seem the rechargeable batteries on this one are well-past their use-by.

Would they have gone the same way if they had been regularly used?, who would know. I'm sure there must be some users here with early-generation Car System vehicles, are they still working on their original batteries? What is the experience of other users?

I don't know if this one can be recovered or not. Probably the acid has migrated through all the wires as often happens and I think the chassis and drive will need to be stripped and cleaned.

The liquid washed away easily enough and no remaining stains but it's a reminder about the potential problems of long-term storage of many items.

We've had Coaches and Packaging go yellow from UV light.

I'd had a 6041 Switchboard battery go bad and corrode the PCB.

We all know about Loco oils turning to glue when left unused for long periods.

Styrene stuck to painted bodies or paint peeled off.

Zinkpest and variations of course.

And I'm sure there are other unexpected disappointments people have found when they returned to something put away many years before in excellent condition and now damaged in some way.

I'm hoping I can find a suitable replacement Battery pack here for this, it's a pity Faller didn't make them removable, they are certainly easy enough to get to.

The other four vehicles don't show any signs of leakage so I shall charge them up and see if they are actually still serviceable. if not, there is no point in buying replacement batteries until I'm actually going to use them but it's probably worth removing those batteries as a precaution, or simply making a point of giving them a charge and a run every few months.

Worth checking your stored items from time to time just as a precaution. Stored differently, this could well have leaked over other items and done who-knows-what damage.