I don't know how many of you have noticed, but the latest set of cars were made in Vietnam, not China. I'm not certain when the switch occurred, but my guess is that is when and why the new tooling was created and when the problems started. Getting tooling OUT of China is impossible, as they claim everything belongs to them, regardless of who creates or uses it. Regardless of that, Lionel should have tested the product of the new tooling with previous products. They would have found the issue immediately, just like I did. All they had to do was test against their own product, not even other brands.
Chris
LVHR