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Well in this case does not seem the great pre-order price was worth it. I have to disagree with your comment on great customer service because of this case and point right here and if they were so great they should be helping to resolve this.

I did say however up to this point. Before, they did have great customer service. In light of how they responded to this situation, I plan on switching dealers.

Last edited by Trainmaster04

Thanks for sharing. I now know someplace I may not preorder from. One of the two should make it right.  Had a similar issue with LHS on a >$1000 pre-order BTO.  I asked if there were issues with color or not matching catalog.  They wouldn’t let me open it in the store if I drove 1 hour away and saved them free shipping. “Collectors don’t want pre-opened merchandise.”   It’s not 1990.  I bought it from somewhere else.

@Trainmaster04 That's good you can glue them back on if it comes to that. I couldn't quite tell from the photos if the hinge came off or if it pulled away from the rest of the metal. You sound confident about being able to fix it anyway. Keep us posted.

I'm considering opening mine up next weekend for the head light and smoke systems. It's just tough to find time.

@BillYo414 posted:

@Trainmaster04 That's good you can glue them back on if it comes to that. I couldn't quite tell from the photos if the hinge came off or if it pulled away from the rest of the metal. You sound confident about being able to fix it anyway. Keep us posted.

I'm considering opening mine up next weekend for the head light and smoke systems. It's just tough to find time.

I definitely will keep you all posted. I was able to look closer and it looks like it was pulled away. It looks like the mounting shafts are still in their holes and are what bent.

Question for everyone. Other than what trainmaster is going throught the return, is this poor quality control, or the nature if the best when shipping a $2k model train thousands of miles with all the delicate bells and whistles. It seems rare i can get a post war item delivered without damage these days. Honest question. I hesitate to order any legacy steam loco because it seems inevitabile something delicate will break or a wire disconnect in shipping.

Last edited by PRRick

@Trainmaster04 That's a lot of force to pull that away.

@PRRick That's a good question. My suspicion is that these problems occur during the packing. I think @Trainmaster04's new damage occurred during repacking. The wrap is nice but I would like to know if hands are wrapping the product or if it's a machine. I have trouble putting those wraps on when I put locomotives back in the box. Can't imagine how tough it would be to wrap thousands of these a day without breaking stuff internally or externally.

I did have an issue/problem on my 2-10-10-2....The cleavis pin on the front truck was factory built too low and was shorting out on the center rail so I've sent it to Lionel to repair.  Also one of the marker lights was bent, but that I, nervously, bent back into place.

2 out of 3 of my Lionel Legacy/Vision Line engines I have bought over the past 3 years have had to go back to Lionel to get repairs done.  I think it's part poor quality control and the fact that they are possibly getting beat up by the shippers.  I hate sending them to Lionel to get them repaired, because I'm afraid something else might break on these fragile things in shipping when they send it back.  I also don't know how long they will last before something else breaks on them either.

It makes me leery to buy anything at auction that says new in box that's over a year old and not covered by warranty.  Because, that doesn't mean it will work and you might not be able to get it repaired if it's over 10 or even 5 years old.  I know it's the chance you take at auction, but I like to run my engines and my skillset for the new circuit boards is not as good as it use to be....especially without being given schematics to troubleshoot.  Collectors that buy it for the sake of having it on the shelf or keeping in the box without a test run, could have purchased an expensive paper weight.   Then, the person that buys it next at auction that wants to run it, better be prepared to fix it...if they can.

Last edited by trainmanmason

Called Lionel this morning and was only able to get as far as an email and a voicemail. I was able to send the voicemail to a supervisor and the email was addressed to him as well. Hopefully I will receive a call from them later today.
For work on seeing if I can fix my model I was able to make some progress. I was able to tighten the body screws, bend back the handrails, and mount the tender deck plate. The screws I used for the deck are the two mounting screws for the scale coupler mount. I also took a closer look at the hatch hinges and it looks to be too badly damaged. In order to bend them back into place I would have to leverage them from underneath their base. This would mean damaging the paint which I do not to do. I was able to due a thorough test run this past weekend and no further problems. I will say I do not like how it jerks slightly when coming to a full stop. Unfortunately, while running it I did find another problem. A pin for one of the vale gear rods is missing and causes a faint squeaking sound.
6176ED33-D25A-4D44-A07F-28674D83895F

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Last edited by Trainmaster04

Called Lionel this morning and was only able to get as far as an email and a voicemail. I was able to send the voicemail to a supervisor and the email was addressed to him as well. Hopefully I will receive a call from them later today.
For work on seeing if I can fix my model I was able to make some progress. I was able to tighten the body screws, Reuben the handrails, and mount the tender deck plate. The screws I used for the deck are the two mounting screws for the scale coupler mount. I also took a closer look at the hatch hinges and it looks to be too badly damaged. In order to buy them back into place I would have to leverage them from underneath their base. This would mean damaging the paint which I do not to do. I was able to due a thorough test run this past weekend and no further problems. I will say I do not like how it jerks slightly when coming to a full stop. Unfortunately, while running it I did find another problem. A pin for one of the vale gear rods is missing and causes a faint squeaking sound.
6176ED33-D25A-4D44-A07F-28674D83895F

Lionel needs to step up and replace the product at this point. The tender at very least. They can sell yours as a scratch and dent at cost.

Called Lionel back this morning and was able to get some help. They were able to open up a new case and sent me a new RA number. The service department manager is going to review my photos and compare them with my model and determine what needs to be done. They will call me back after their review and will do one of three options, fix it under warranty, give me a full refund, or give me a new model. I did express my distrust with their capability of fixing it properly and they assured me only the service department manager will handle it and no other techs. Since this is the only route I can take to move forward, I am going to continue and hope for the best.

@BillYo414 posted:

I'm glad you heard back! I would be feeling mostly optimistic if I were in your shoes. A refund would be a bummer because you wouldn't have an engine but it's better than an expensive paper weight I suppose.

My thoughts exactly. I have been wanting/dreaming of owning one of these models since they were first introduced in 2009. It would be a waste of money and space for it to be a nonfunctioning shelf queen.

On the bright side, if I did receive a refund I have been able to find two of these models still available through Legacy Station and Pat's Trains. I am hoping if things go down this route either one of these offerings will still be available, and not be a dud.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...5#159096765464858985

My thoughts exactly. I have been wanting/dreaming of owning one of these models since they were first introduced in 2009. It would be a waste of money and space for it to be a nonfunctioning shelf queen.

On the bright side, if I did receive a refund I have been able to find two of these models still available through Legacy Station and Pat's Trains. I am hoping if things go down this route either one of these offerings will still be available, and not be a dud.

Any update? Thank you and I feel for you!

@jhl1963 posted:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...5#159096765464858985

Any update? Thank you and I feel for you!

I do, and it some good news. After having sent it back for the second time, I waited for another month till I heard back from Lionel. They decided to fix the tender and replace the engine entirely with a new one. They shipped it back and it runs like a dream! I have a short video of it running on my YouTube channel.

I don’t want to be a downer but last month I got a new 2-10-10-2 3009. I put it on the track, fired up engine fine but as soon as the draw bar touched engine draw bar it flip the breaker on my Lionel 180 bricks. I had to send it back. There have been some issues with some of the circuit boards. I hope you guys don’t have any issues, I’m sure yours will be fine. Enjoy.

Hi guys, don’t want to be negative, but Lionel has had some circuit board issues with some of the 2-10-10-2’s. I just received a new sf 3001 2-10-10-2 last month. It’s a beauty. I fired up the engine, no problem, but as soon as I  hooked up tender it would flip the breaker on my 180 bricks. I had to send it back. Circuit board issues. Hopefully you won’t have any issues. I sure I just got a bad one.

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