Good guesses David, and to tell you the truth we were kind of at the end of the night so we both went, "Wow, neato! Lets go get some food" and left it lying on the floor, so you have actually looked more into it than me! This was Wednesday night, so let me see what I can remember. The other side of that shaft is actually sitting right in the bearing, almost like it broke off flush. The gear has sliden down the shaft that John's hand is holding. Although we haven't looked or tested this idea, but we were maybe thinking that the bearing it rides in had gone caput and led to the shaft breaking. I'm heading out this weekend so I guess my research will have to wait a bit. Pretty darn cool though. Oh, and a lot of the darkness is the trans fluid. It's like a muddy purple.