John
Fwiw, the only reason I know this is because I live in MD and called the MTH office maybe two or three years ago to ask about an upgrade to a Williams locomotive. The person who answered explained what I relayed above and referred me to Engine House Hobbies in Gaithersburg, MD. (I know you and the other forum techs do a terrific job but I don’t like shipping locomotives - anecdotally I suspect many forumites complaining of quality control of this or that product from Lionel, MTH, etc., are really dealing with shipping damage). More recently, when we did need a repair for a Wi-Fi unit, the unit was repaired and returned within the span of a week. Right now the situation is certainly more in flux.
Take care, stay safe.