Rod, A wise businessman would prepare for all possibilities within their market. Various track footprints is one of those possibilities. The cost for Lionel to issue a call tag, service, then pay to ship the engine back to the buyer for a sound issue is definitely more than installing female pick-up roller plugs in the end of the steam engines and the front of the tender. Lionel could then sell the male-male tether wires as a parts item to recoup some cost. They don't have to give the tether away free, but like good Boy Scouts, "they are prepared" for potential issues customers will face.
Rod, I appreciate your inputs. I am encouraging Lionel to act "Proactively". Customers don't want to know whose fault it is. They want to know what the solution is. I am a strong Lionel supporter. My Lionel purchases prove it. There is always room for improvement on their products. Lionel should be anticipating the potential difficulties and make owning Lionel products easy to do. They do a good job, but is there room for improvement?
Sincerely, John Rowlen
