bluelinec4 posted:I’m glad I got rid of my p5.
a friend of mine started checking his atlas 55 ton hoppers. Here is the result
Good Lord, those photos are absolutely disgusting. A grim reminder as to why I have not purchased any new or modern train item in quite some time. I just got tired of rolling the dice every time I made a new purchase. I know there are some who would have us believe that these zinc rot problems comprise only a small minority of what is produced overseas but I have been on this forum for twenty years and the number of times I have seen this problem referenced leads me to believe otherwise and this forum only represents a small fraction of this hobby.
I know many also state that the U.S. was confronted with this problem as well and overseas manufacturers should not be singled out for criticism. On the surface that is true but U.S. toy train manufacturers eventually solved their problem and rid themselves of this pest and that was 80 years ago. I am not aware of any zinc rot problems existing on any U.S. post-war production although I will accept the possibility that some did occur but I am not aware of it. Technology has progressed by leaps and bounds since 1939 and overseas manufacturers have had access to it. I think its about time we stopped making excuses for shoddy overseas production practices.
Sure, it may very well be true that the large overseas manufacturers rely on small sized sub-contractors for small piece items in the overall production process but the bottom line is they are responsible for the finished product as are the importers of this product within the U.S. Something should be done about it but nothing will be done about it because all we do as consumers is to continually purchase the same poorly produced items over and over again while the manufacturers and importers literally laugh all the way to the bank. The items they are making may look and sound pretty for a little while but virtually every hobbyist has it in their subconscious that it may not last very long.
Every time I see a thread like this it reminds me to look on one of my train shelves and scrutinize the scale JLC GGI I bought brand new about 10 years ago. Its the one in Brunswick Green with the cat's whiskers. It is rumored to be one of the few produced not suffering from zinc rot but every week or so I have to check on the side frames to see whether they are crumbling or not. So far so good but who knows what I will find next week. That is not why I joined the toy/model train hobby. I experience no enjoyment when I constantly fear an expensive item is going to go belly up through no fault of mine but rather through the inept production processes of overseas manufacturers. That's why I stopped buying modern train items. Some might want to take this into consideration the next occasion they contemplate making another $1,000 or $2,000 purchase.
