How many of you, like myself, have been stung by Lionel producing RTR set add-ons without the simple courtesy of informing us that the engines which came with those original sets were incapable of pulling those new add-on cars?
Case in point was the popularity of Lionel's Polar Express set which led them to developing and flooding the market each year with additional add-on cars knowing fully well that the first PE locomotives couldn't handle pulling those add-ons without doing irreparable damage to those original PE set locomotives.
So what did Lionel do to remedy that situation - they redesigned the PE locomotive to handle the load of all those add-ons they'd produced without informing either the original set owners or future PE set buyers that the locomotive motor, transmission and even chasis was revamped. They did not even make the redesign so that a new motor could be retrofitted to the original PE chasis since they'd redone the frame too.
And what was Lionel's response when I contacted them concerning buying a new frame and motor assembly, "We only sell the motor, not the frame - BUY A NEW PE LOCOMOTIVE." Talk about a company driving a wedge between themself and customer loyalty.
Is it too much to expect Lionel to state in their catalogue that additional add-on cars can not be used with original PE sets?
