Modern O gauge Casting Failures and Outgassing - The Master List

Trucks crumbled on my Atlas 50’ Sargento Reefer.

I have a early MTH PRR RS1 that is showing gassing on the underside fuel tank...I own three of these (all the same all PRR) and this is the only one doing it.

  What I find amazing is I own a fair amount of MTH Die-cast freight cars...boxcars reefers hoppers gondolas and cabooses (63 in all) and I have inspected all of them and found no evidence of problems....yet !

These posts will surely get newcomers to Ogauge trains.

Outgassing,

MTH N&W Unshrouded J

First run of the Erie Triplex

Lionel First Big Boy engine

First run of the W&ARR Overton cars  coupler crumbles

Those are my experiences

Scott Smith

Hey all,

Thanks for the quick additions. I'd like to add these all to the list at the top instead of making people scroll through what could eventually be pages of stories. If you could, please format your initial response as we've formatted the list at the top. That way I can just copy and paste it into the list. If you'd like to tell stories below that, that's all good, just please help me out with getting info into the list.

Thanks,
Derek

@romiller49 posted:

These posts will surely get newcomers to Ogauge trains.

I highly doubt a thread on an O gauge forum about trains that are mostly 10+ years old is going to stop someone from making an entry level decision. This is as much about protecting those of us buying in the secondary market as it is anything else. The Union Pacific 18" Lionel cars for example can be very deceiving as some trucks look fine until inspected with a loop. I've seen more of these fail than I care to admit. Folks might as well know what they're buying at this point.

Agreed Derek, and before this thread goes sideways into the guard rail, this can be a useful list if we just stick to the facts... I know, really hard for some of you, but help Derek out here.

To make the list even better, photo evidence/samples would be great to help people who might not be familiar with the particular piece, zero in on the possible infected areas.

Thanks for starting this Derek.

Charlie

Lionel Dockside Switchers (conventional) - Coupler failure

@Charlie posted:

To make the list even better, photo evidence/samples would be great to help people who might not be familiar with the particular piece, zero in on the possible infected areas.

For other than the most publicized and well-known cases, I actually think it should be required, along with proof the photo is recent (i.e. include a recent newspaper).

Thanks for starting this Derek.

Yes, a resource like this will be invaluable for future collectors.

18134 Santa Fe dummy A unit.  The side frames of the rear truck broke off.  Fortunately I was able to buy a replacement truck and so far so good.

Zinc pest is the result of substandard raw materials used in the casting mix.  Trace this back to the foundries and you will have your answer.

lionel 6-25646 SF “Scout” heavyweight  4 pack truck casting failures (truck side frames not usable, completely disintegrated when run), bought new from dealer.

Lionel 6-25651 SF “Scout” heavyweight 2 pack truck casting failure (truck side frames not useable, completely disintegrated when run) , bought new from dealer

Lionel 6-38081 JLC C&O Allegheny, tender water doors- casting failures, running board warping-casting failure, cylinder exhaust piping- casting failure.

Atlas O 3001001 53’ American express reefer, trucking casting failure

Lionel Classics std gauge 400e blue comet engine, frame casting failures , I do not own this one , but I have seen several examples of this issue at York train show.

Lionel 6-28255 SPSF SD-40T-2 side frames have zinc pest. This probably affects the entire lot, I have seen many examples

6-29115 and 6-25416 Daylight 18” car sets, underbody detail has zinc pest. Hit and miss, of my 7 cars, 2 have crumbling parts

6-21797 Daylight 4-4-2, paint on drivers bubbled. Every example I have ever seen has this flaw

K-line diecast 4 bay hoppers, zinc pest. I had 3 of the Blue Coal hoppers, one of them exploded

The JLC Allegheny in the post above saddens me, I have one of these that hasn’t been out in a few years. Looks like I need to check it. It is one of the nicest locomotives Lionel made.

I’ll try to help Derek out on this one so he doesn’t have to repeat himself a third time. When replying to this thread with additional entries, format the info like he did so he can paste it to his original list above (and not have spend a significant amount of time retyping the information).

Correct:

18374 JLC Silver PRR GG-1 (Casting Failure)

incorrect:

I have a Lionel JLC Series GG1. I think the stock number is 18374. It’s painted silver for the Pennsylvania RR. It’s got zinc rot.

Some older ATLAS O Front Runner 3-rail trucks crumbled apart

Andrew

Hey Derek - Hope all’s well

Great topic - I think this is going to be a very helpful / useful thread going forward

If I can add a little to the MPC 2500 series aluminum passenger car concerns - I do believe some of the “painted” cars had issues however I think the Powhatan Arrow N&W cars are / were OK - I think they are anodized aluminum and not painted

Talk to you soon

Joe

@dorfj2 posted:

If I can add a little to the MPC 2500 series aluminum passenger car concerns - I do believe some of the “painted” cars had issues however I think the Powhatan Arrow N&W cars are / were OK - I think they are anodized aluminum and not painted

Talk to you soon

Joe

The Powhatan Arrows are painted anodized aluminum cars. I have four of the MPC painted aluminum sets, and haven't noticed a problem with any of them.

As at least one other person has reported, I've had couplers crumble on an older Atlas O RS1 (CNW version). Also truck/couplers on several Atlas O Frontrunners. And also on some trucks on Lionel scale heavyweight passenger cars (Southern Crescent no. 25654).

@RickO posted:

Once this list is compiled I'm fearful we'll find that this issue is across the entire line.

It's a matter of who has the misfortune of buying a" hidden"  bad/defective casting.

Do the other scales have regular issues with crumbling trains as well?

Yep - I picked up a small lot of N scale items and got an InterMountain SD45 that had zinc pest do a number on its frame - I was put on a waiting list for over a year, and they eventually ran a new batch of models and Intermountain kindly sent me a replacement chassis.

All of the Lionel Milk cars cataloged in 06. Western Dairy and Atlantic & Pacific specifically. Had a few I opened still brand new and the couplers turned to dust.

My MTH P5a and my only problem with Williams was Zink Pest on the Williams high gloss era trains made in the 1990s.