@RickO posted:Lionel stopped including modules several years ago. Cost savings?
That or to help push the sensor tracks. They are great products just frustrating they discontinued the IRV2 for the probably 75% (not a real number just pulled it out of the air) of us that don’t use Fastrack.
@zhubl posted:That or to help push the sensor tracks. They are great products just frustrating they discontinued the IRV2 for the probably 75% (not a real number just pulled it out of the air) of us that don’t use Fastrack.
I totally agree Zachariah. I got back into the hobby in late 2017 and had no clue IRV2 or LCS was such a cool offering so that show how bad the marketing of it was I don't miss much but I totally missed this and I am still playing catchup with some things but I am back to having a pretty good handle on stuff again. Crazy I was only out of the mainstream for 3 to 3 1/2 years.
@BillYo414 posted:Looks like I didn't get a flawless locomotive either. I'm not sure if it's warranty worthy though.
- I'm binding somewhere when I go forward. I think I identified it as the forward drivers on the right hand side. I'm not sure if something needs tightened or loosened. The voltage on the transformer drops to 15. Probably not good for the engine.
- I don't know if a speaker is loose or what but the rattling is supreme when I blow the whistle.
- Most fascinating, when I blow the whistle with the whistle steam on, smoke comes out around the front of the boiler where the headlight is
I suspect this one is related to acoustics. I haven't taken the engine apart but I doubt the whistle steam has any parts anywhere near the front of the boiler. I figure the speaker is vibrating at the right frequency to make the joint separate a little bit. I should have checked it with the other whistles.
Here is how I started it up: I added smoke fluid to both units and then started up with all smoke off. I just wanted to hear the literal bells and whistles and see the bell swing. I think that's one of my favorite parts about this locomotive. I would love to add it to others. Anyway, I ran it forward and it hung up. I thought a roller got caught on a switch but soon discovered that wasn't it. Then I powered down to turn on stack smoke. It came on and worked well. Very happy with that. Then I ran in reverse to check for binding. It did but not so much. I powered down and turned on whistle steam. Powered up, whistle steam was slow to start but seemed ok. I didn't use it much for fear of burning anything up. Ran forward and noticed the binding seemed to occur when the front drivers where at the end of their stroke. Powered down to turn on blowdown steam. Tested the blowdown and it's pretty awesome but again, I didn't use it a ton until we know more about what's burning up and why. I pushed the engine forward while running at low speed and that seemed to stop some binding. I'm suspecting I have loose linkage somewhere.
Anybody else get the binding?
I hope @Bruk gets his soon so he can tear it apart haha!
Bruks breakdown where he mentions loose linkage as well as smoke coming out of the smokebox door:
@zhubl posted:That or to help push the sensor tracks. They are great products just frustrating they discontinued the IRV2 for the probably 75% (not a real number just pulled it out of the air) of us that don’t use Fastrack.
I'm pretty bummed about that, but I quickly went out and I think I found enough stock to finish my LCS wiring, but that doesn't help without Fastrack much. I don't see any of the Lionel 85383 expansion sleds available anymore. OTOH, Factory Direct Hobbies has 25 of the Lionel 6-85296 IRV2 still in stock. It may be a little more expensive, but you can buy more than one, you get two sensors in each pack. It's about twice the price of the expansion pack to do it this way, but you can still get it done.
You'll have to do a search on it, direct links are frowned upon for non-sponsors.
You're the MVP @RickO I been in the basement working on surface prep for my backdrop. I would have 100% missed this.
I hope he mentions something about the headlight coming on when it feels like it haha
Unfortunately, the frustrating saga continues with my model. I thankfully received my 2-10-10-2 yesterday with minor ware on the shipper. At first, I thought all was well after I read the invoice and saw there was an owners manual, but I was wrong. I got the engine down stairs and started unwrapping it. The first thing that ticked me off was the tender deck plate floating around the box. I had wrote in my letter that it had no screws and it seems they ignored it or were lazy. Next, I unwrapped the tender and to my shock one of the water hatches was forced open and the brass hinges were on the brink of snapping off. This is what really pushed me over the edge. Expecting for the worst I moved over to the locomotive and I found bent handrails, a loose smoke box front and a loose body screw. Thankfully however, they did replace the board and the engine, electronically, works.
Overall, I am infuriated in Lionel’s inept ability of quality control. All of these problems, even the fixed ones, could have been avoided. For years I have been a high supporter of Lionel and 90% of my collection is Lionel. To have something like this happen is just heartbreaking. I have called the dealer and they unfortunately cannot do anything. My trust with Lionel to not make the same mistake twice is at all time low.
Boy that stinks. One wonders if they wrapped it with the hatches open when packing it.
At $2200, I'd request another RA. They can keep eating the shipping until they fix it ,or give you a refund.
Yeah they ought to just give you a new one at this point. Bent rails won't be straightened in my experience.
Yeah, saw Bruk's post about the smoke coming out of the woodwork, that is depressing. In no way should there be any flaws like that going on. Almost makes me want to not smoke out. I'll have to look back at Bruk's post some more and read more details about it.
I would send it back but since it was THEM who caused it, I don’t know what will happen next. But, digress, I cannot send it back to the dealer (Nassau) to get a refund and I like the engine to much to give up and take the money. I plan on calling Lionel Tuesday and however their response is will determine my next decision.
@BillYo414 posted:Yeah they ought to just give you a new one at this point. Bent rails won't be straightened in my experience.
I wish, but almost everyone is sold out of all the road numbers. Thankfully, I was able to bend the hand rails back strait. I am more concerned about the water hatch hinges. If I have to make the repairs myself, I plan on trying to bend it back into place. If it snaps, I will glue it back into place with black lock tight.
@Trainmaster04 posted:I wish, but almost everyone is sound out all the road numbers. Thankfully, I was able to bend the hand rails back strait. I am more concerned about the water hatch hinges. If I have to make the repairs myself, I plan on trying to bend it back into place. If it snaps, I will glue it back into place with black lock tight.
I don’t understand why the place you bought it from wouldn’t help you more especially since you had problems out of the box.
@Robert Cushman posted:I don’t understand why the place you bought it from wouldn’t help you more especially since you had problems out of the box.
When I first called, about a month ago, they had sold out of all road numbers and I could not swap mine. I also cannot get a refund as their policy states I cannot return an item if it has been unboxed and has been run.
@Trainmaster04 posted:When I first called, about a month ago, they had sold out of all road numbers and I could not swap mine. I also cannot get a refund as their policy states I cannot return an item if it has been unboxed and has been run.
What do they expect you to do unbox it in front of them at the store? I’d get my stuff from somewhere else if that was the case. Email me and I’ll tell you where I get mine and they’re always shipped because I have no shops that are close.
@Robert Cushman posted:What do they expect you to do unbox it in front of them at the store? I’d get my stuff from somewhere else if that was the case. Email me and I’ll tell you where I get mine and they’re always shipped because I have no shops that are close.
Thank you for your offer. My reasoning behind buying from Nassau is for three reasons. One, they have had a great customer service department. Two, they support and are a sponsor of the OGR. Third, they have unbeatable preorder prices. I paid $2,000 for this model (MSRP being $2,500). Compared to Charles Ro or Train World, they charged between $2,300 to $2,400. A great difference considering it is an expensive locomotive.
I agree that their policy is not truly fair to their customers, in my opinion, but to protect their business from manufacturer's problems, they have to do this. I have tried Train World and Charles Ro both and I have had mixed results. Either terrible customer service, or misplaced orders. This is the first time I have had any problems with Nassau and up to this point, I have enjoyed doing business with them. In the end, it is not their fault that Lionel released a defective model, but they should have at least tried to rectify the problem.
This is unacceptable.
Lionel really needs to back up their defective product, and if they can’t give you a full refund.
@Trainmaster04 posted:Thank you for your offer. My reasoning behind buying from Nassau is for three reasons. One, they have a great customer service department. Two, they support and are a sponsor of the OGR. Third, they have unbeatable preorder prices. I paid $2,000 for this model (MSRP being $2,500). Compared to Charles Ro or Train World, they charged between $2,300 to $2,400. A great difference considering it is an expensive locomotive.
I agree that their policy is not truly fair to their customers, in my opinion, but to protect their business from manufacturer's problems, they have to do this. I have tried Train World and Charles Ro both and I have had mixed results. Either terrible customer service, or misplaced orders. This is the first time I have had any problems with Nassau and up to this point, I have enjoyed doing business with them. In the end, it is not their fault that Lionel released a defective model.
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.
Rince and repeat.
@Shawn_Chronister posted: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.
That is exactly what I was going to say. They should be doing something to help you get this resolved.
@Shawn_Chronister posted: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.
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.
Really like this locomotive, but I think I'm going to have to send it to NC. The stack smoke went out day 1 everything else works well, but as I looked at the number board lights today, I realized something was amiss. Not something I think I can fix.
@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.
@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.
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.
@Trainmaster04 posted: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.
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.
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.
@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.
A gentleman in our club has one and has several problems including the bent marker light. He bent it back and now it is a not working marker light. For the price you pay for visionline and Lionel's reputation, you would think QC would be all over those engines making sure they were all good to go.
I seen one of these new 2-10-10-2 yesterday that the trailing truck was missing the spring, not in the box either. Engine would derail instantly going backwards.
Jim
It's tough. I would be curious to find out the sequence of events at the factory.
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...5#159096765464858985
@Trainmaster04 posted: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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