Got the Milwaukee S3 Hiawatha loco this summer; figured I would get two 2 pack passenger sets to match. The Coach and Baggage 2 pack showed up today from Charles Ro. So close but no cigar.
The coach, 6-85350, was perfect out of the box: perfect finish, no scratches, couplers work; no flaws in the truck suspensions; wheels turn freely; trucks swivel freely, no loose figures.
The baggage car, 6-85349, - not so much. Perfect finish. BUT, one truck had a suspension component laying in the box - easily snapped into place. One truck does not swivel freely. Worse, each truck had one end of the lead axle detached from its bearing and laying in the assembly. The truck structure seems to be of a sheet metal where the siderails are bent inward to contain the axles; don't remember the Polar Express heavies being made this way. Looked closer, and it looks like some factory worker took a shot at fixing the problem by attempting to bend the siderails outward to slip the axles in place but didn't succeed. And from Walter Cronkite: 'That's the way it is'.
