Sorry to hear of your problems. I will open mine today to inspect. I have always felt like we must flood Lionel/MTH with returns even though it is a fixable issue at home and will cost you a few more bucks. Only when they have massive continuous returns on multiple products will they begin initiating changes. At that point things will begin to change because it will become more cost effective. Until then they are just shoving it on you the customer. I suppose this post will violate some forum rules and I will be excommunicated.
Sorry but that is the way I see it on my $2,000 purchase.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. mikemike. We all know "the squeaky wheel gets the oil", meaning in this case that only total send backs for repairs on this issue will truly get Lionel's attention rather than mere lipservice from them. As for those who are willing to accept such shortcomings as merely a facet of doing business with the model train industry, then perhaps Lionel is already providing you with the level of quality contrrol you deserve.
