BobbyD posted:Matt_GNo27 posted:Ted S posted:@MATT GNO27 I agree with your sentiment, but a recall is about product safety. It would also be burdensome for Lionel to figure out who actually bought their products, because unlike cars, trains are not required to maintain any kind of ownership or registration.
I had thought about addressing this. It is my understanding that recalls aren't always on safety grounds, however, the ones that are, do not expire, regardless of ownership.
While there obviously aren't safety issues with crumbing cars, zinc pest will destroy the product or critical parts. I don't expect the Lionel, MTH, Atlas, etc., to track down every purchaser of a defective product. They should notify all dealers and licensed technicians, so that anyone who brings in a defective item can be given a replacement part or entire piece, as needed, and publicize the recall to the best of their ability, within reason.
Ted S posted:I do agree that for the sake of their reputation and customer goodwill, they should agree to replace items ruined by zinc pest if good spares are available and not also affected. But given today's smaller production runs, I think we have to accept the risk that our trains may crumble and a replacement part may not be available. Hopefully things like 3D printing, CNC milling, etc., will allow specialty suppliers to make replacement parts affordably.
To me it is unacceptable that our trains may crumble. It is my understanding that with proper quality control, it is possible to eliminate this problem. Model/toy trains, in general have never been inexpensive, they are a high-end product. When we spend fifty to hundreds of dollars on a car and hundreds to thousands of dollars on a locomotive, it is entirely reasonable to expect that they should last for decades, when well-cared for. Shrugging it off as an accepted risk is, in my view, wasteful consumerism.
Actually there is. electrical shorts causing fires.
I seem to remember something with the K-Line heavyweight cars recalled due to shorting.
I had one of those early K-Line heavyweight cars catch fire, but I shut the power off before it melted the car. However, I had no idea they were ever recalled. The dealer I bought them from, it was a NYC coach, was present at my house when it happened, and he never told me they were recalled and I didn't get a notice. I will take them apart and check them out if I run them again.
