John,
Email, me I believe it is in my profile.
Just received notice from B. G. Technologies via Paypal that my order can't be filled as the items are out of stock. I received a full refund via Paypal. I had placed my order on 4/22 for 2 cruise commanders, 2 large steam railsounds commanders and a few harnesses. Thank you Jon & Ken for your efforts over the years and best wishes to Ken in his retirement.
Nick
Just got the “Refund of Doom” here as well.
Had ordered 1 Cruise Commander and 4 Switch Commanders.
Nick
Got a large refund as well. I haven't seen a refund for two Cruise Commanders I ordered, I live in hope that they'll be delivered instead of being cancelled, but I suspect I'll see the refund instead...
"Refund of Doom" here, too. 
And I know Ken. HELLO! 
Just got my paypal refund for 2 Cruise commanders and a sound board
I guess I join the ranks of the disappointed and wait for plan B to materialize!!!!
Got my refund and I ordered two days after York.
No refund and no order yet. This not looking good for all of us.
News update: I just checked PayPal and they refunded me my money.
Ken enjoy your retirement, you will be missed.
Just received a refund for Cruise Commander Kit, ordered April 23, noting out if stock.
Bummer.
Life goes on.
Same Here
Looks as if I'll be joining the ranks, unless some of the AC Commanders and CC lites were left on the shelf. Was worth a try.
Viewing my remaining kits in a new light these days.
Bruce
I have an AC Commander, I'll trade for a DC Commander.
Gray Lackey
Something tells me they were close to being all sold out any how knowing the end was near.
If you were hoping for a Cruise board you will have hope someone takes over distribution. But non cruise DC and AC drivers can be had from Lionel. ACDRs are for AC motors and DCDRs are for DC motors. Combine these with a R2LC along with a motherboard for it and you have the equivilent of an AC or DC Commander. You will need to pick up a couple of wiring harnesses but it only takes a few to make it work and Lionel has those too.
Anyone determined to to convert their engine to TMCC can still do it. It will just take a little more effort.
Pete
Big difference Pete, the AC and DC Commander offered 100 speed steps. I can tell you for sure, the AC commander in place of the Lionel LCRU2 made a HUGE difference in the low speed performance of my Phantom dual-motor upgrade. As far as picking the Lionel components goes, you can also buy the back-EMF board from Lionel, it's the same as the CC-M.
Dear John
Are the "back-EMF board" from Lionel model specific or this there a general "back-EMF board"?
Did ERR just stop filling orders and sent everyone their money back or what orr did they really run out of product?
I am just saying, rather than moaning and groaning that someone can longer convert an an engine to TMCC that there are options. An ACDR is not an LCRU. No idea how smooth they are as I have no TMCC AC engines but its still a viable option for upgrades.
Pete
I agree Pete, you can build a TMCC engine with the Lionel parts, and lots of them are floating around on the used market as well. My problem is the lack of cruise, a very desirable feature that I don't want to live without.
nvocc5 posted:Dear John
Are the "back-EMF board" from Lionel model specific or this there a general "back-EMF board"?
This is the board I'm talking about, it's wired up exactly like the ERR CC-M, and it works in most engines. I hesitate to say "all" as we've had discussions about having to buffer the serial data in certain scenarios. I just received a couple of these and promptly put them on my test stand and exercised them to make sure they worked, I got a bad one a couple years ago and didn't test it until I needed it, big mistake!
Attachments
John, I have been using those DCDEs for about 7 years now. Haven't bought a Cruise M since. As I pointed out in another thread I have not had to use a buffer. In fact in my K-Line AA 4 motored E8 upgrade I am using a single R2LC to drive two DCDEs and the stock RS4 boards in the engine from pin 24. No buffer. The R2LC drives the three inputs.
Also paralleled the 4 wire steering inputs to both boards. No sign of anything being stressed after hours of continuous running on the club layout.
Pete
They work or they do not. I have used them also, first few went very well. Others not so much and required buffers and mods. One board was DOA. Either way that is an old part from late 2000 or so production that I imagine will dry up at some point. G
canceled,too. But, me licking out from second sources. Cleared out the last of
cruise commander upgrades from a dealer today. So, was able to acquire 6 cruise commanders, 4 sound boards and 2 sound convertors. 3 ac and dc commanders. I have a cruise lite i might be willing to part with...we will see.
Unfortunately, it appears more the one person has experience with the comic book business - without ever being in it. Frankly. I will not be purchasing any more product until that entity is gone!
The bill gates syndrome has hit me!
But, I must extend a great thank you to jon! Great product - great designer....
Thanks for the long run!....without even knowing you. I bet you feel bad about the situation. You did us good! Enjoy your retirement Hopefully, you stay in contact with us!
My refund for my credit card order has been applied supposedly to a pay pal account I never provided. No update from the credit card company or PayPal. I have some investigating to do. Unlike others I rarely take things on faith, either act or not act. Lionel made a decision, so have I, they will have to go a long way to win me back as a customer.
As far as using Lionel parts to cobble something together, not my skill set, not something that interests me.
Decisions have consequences, I expect Lionel will not see the results of this decision for a year or so. I predict it won't provide the intended bottom line results due to unforeseen and unanticipated push back from the market.
Well, that’s kind of silly...
Pretty much peanuts to a business and the labor alone of dealing with the paperwork.
I didn't really want the refunds, otherwise I'd have never placed the orders!
The interesting thing is, they got six months of orders in a couple of days, but were able to only fill a handful of them. That being the case, it would seem they were already planning this well in advance and not restocking product for some time!
I placed my order the 22nd and have heard nothing at all. I’m full expecting a refund. If that’s the case, I want a full refund and not a partial order. Sound boards are no good without the motor boards.
John
I think could be right or here is my view of it. It is easier to ship everything to Lionel in NC than fill all the order before the closing date of May 15 and refund everyone their money.
gunrunnerjohn posted:...The interesting thing is, they got six months of orders in a couple of days, but were able to only fill a handful of them. That being the case, it would seem they were already planning this well in advance and not restocking product for some time!
You explanation of why so many refunds had to be issued certainly seems to ring very true to me, John, or else, as fodder for any conspiracy theorists on this forum, possibly a few of Lionel's "choice client buddies" were leaked notice of the closing prior to the York meet and by then had already purchased a significant amount of the stock that was available at that time.
shawn posted:Unfortunately, it appears more the one person has experience with the comic book business - without ever being in it. Frankly. I will not be purchasing any more product until that entity is gone!
He's been gone for a number of years.
ogaugeguy posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:...The interesting thing is, they got six months of orders in a couple of days, but were able to only fill a handful of them. That being the case, it would seem they were already planning this well in advance and not restocking product for some time!
You explanation of why so many refunds had to be issued certainly seems to ring very true to me, John, or else, as fodder for any conspiracy theorists on this forum, possibly a few of Lionel's "choice client buddies" were leaked notice of the closing prior to the York meet and by then had already purchased a significant amount of the stock that was available at that time.
Well, some people knew about it before the "announcement", as I was told in advance it was happening. 
breezinup posted:shawn posted:Unfortunately, it appears more the one person has experience with the comic book business - without ever being in it. Frankly. I will not be purchasing any more product until that entity is gone!
He's been gone for a number of years.
Apparently, missed my sarcasm! Read ,again and think about it! Comic =Joke!
Got a full refund today. That hurts. I'd much rather have had the products or even a partial order. I started into this layout with a prejudice against MTH. It seemed to me at the time that MTH was just copying Lionel and was taking business from them. Plus there was the issue of the lawsuit. Over time I have done a full 180 degree about face. MTH competition and innovation have been good for the hobbyist. DCS is a remarkable achievement. And the kind of detailing and operation that I want in my models at prices I can afford is coming from MTH. But then I am not a collector, I am an operator. I am not anywhere in the prewar/postwar discussion. I guess I am in the PEACE party. MTH is bringing me peace and they're going to get more of my money. So the layout that started out to be Lionel all the way is now a hybrid and likely to end it's days as 70% MTH, 25% Lionel and 5% everything else. I'd never have predicted this.
Don Merz
Well, Put in ERR order. Canceled! I hunted second party sources the same day...Did pretty Good. Located a 5 sound boards, 5 ac commanders 2 DC Commanders and 2 Cruise commanders and a sound convertor or two.
Don Merz 070317 posted:Got a full refund today. That hurts. I'd much rather have had the products or even a partial order. I started into this layout with a prejudice against MTH. It seemed to me at the time that MTH was just copying Lionel and was taking business from them. Plus there was the issue of the lawsuit. Over time I have done a full 180 degree about face. MTH competition and innovation have been good for the hobbyist. DCS is a remarkable achievement. And the kind of detailing and operation that I want in my models at prices I can afford is coming from MTH. But then I am not a collector, I am an operator. I am not anywhere in the prewar/postwar discussion. I guess I am in the PEACE party. MTH is bringing me peace and they're going to get more of my money. So the layout that started out to be Lionel all the way is now a hybrid and likely to end it's days as 70% MTH, 25% Lionel and 5% everything else. I'd never have predicted this.
Don Merz
and still silence!
I predict this thread will be "silent" soon as well.
Silent or silenced?
There are still some sound boards to be had. Just nailed another cruise commander mini
Well seriously if it's really not making any new points on the ERR situation and are just using it to gripe more about something we really have no control over then what would you expect? The last one turned into forum members getting ignorant with each other, rehashing the same points over multiple times without any new input. The same posts are now being made here.
Howard made a statement that they are working on something, apparently not fast enough for some or they are not getting any information on what could be proceeding so folks end up just posting negativity and to what end? At some point they'll have to let the public know that they have a deal or ERR is truly done but until they do some of this "discussion" really isn't doing the hobby any good. Trust me I'm not pleased with the ERR new but I did write Lionel and let them know. I spoke my peace and now I'll wait for a response. It may not come right away and possibly not at all but it's only been 3 weeks, 15 business days since the announcement. Yes Lionel handled this poorly but at the same time were not doing so well ourselves.
The bottom line is that there has been a lot of negativity that has come out of this. The forums, all of them, are due for a dose of some positive posts. I'm not saying ignore the issues but you can only pile on so long before it becomes destructive to the hobby as a whole. There are so many other positive things we could be discussing. Again yes this 100% deserved the attention, discussion, and even the griping but jeez we've beaten this horse to a pulp. Let's just see where it goes.
Give it some time and then if we don't hear something bring it up and we can try to get an answer as to where ERR is or is not going. Now I imagine I'll be labeled as a Lionel fanboy and I'm ok with that. Because I am a Lionel, MTH, Atlas, name your manufacturer, train fanboy. People want to grow the hobby? Maybe less of the same negative posts over and over again and more new positive ones might help. The hobby is way too small to have people come to a forum, any forum, and see them always being negative. Again not saying that things like this shouldn't be discussed but how many ways can you say how mad you are that ERR might not be around anymore? Some folks are going for the record.
Sorry for the rant. I can just see this thread getting personal like the "Resurrection" thread.
I can't disagree with a lot of your points. OTOH, my fear is the discussion of this will simply fade away and of course, the pressure will be off for Lionel to do anything. Maybe we don't have any pull with Lionel anyway, but that's another story. 
