DonHRadio, I am sorry to hear about the damaged Niagara. You say "no surprise", yet I know the frustration of holding my breath every time I open a new Lionel engine.
My Niagara #6013 arrives today. I am hoping it is good. Lionel is currently working on three of my engines: two Vision Line GG1s and a CSXF40PH #9999 for a second time. The VL GG1 #4913 has been back to Lionel now for a third time for binding gears. Now it does not move. The other VL GG1 #4935 has been run at home under Dean's suggestion, but has not improved in a year and cannot start up under Speed Step "35" when moving forward without popping my ZW-L circuit breaker. It is time to either fix the engines or refund my money.
My Allegheny #1604 returned from Lionel and was not fixed by Lionel Service. My mother went into the hospital after loosing four pints of blood with IPT Disease, I did not test the Allegheny, my warranty expired, and now I am out-of-luck. What good is a trip into service if the item doesn't get fixed. Shuffling engines into Lionel only helps to burn the warranty clock until the day they can deny us service.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
