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Broken out of the box. Sent it for a ride. Now it is back on the rails. Smooth runner, sound drops out on every Atlas O #5 switch so I will have to install a battery, decent smoke if I add 20-25 drops of fluid. I'm risking overfill each time. I liked the sounds of the JLC Allegheny much better even though it was a two chuffer.

If I had the choice I would prefer my $1750 back. This is as uninspired a loco as I have purchased and I have plenty. Recent Lionel steamers have been truly superb. This one? A big shrug of the shoulders.

Want advice? Save $1000 and buy the JLC version if you can find one.

Scrappy

Last edited by Scrapiron Scher
Scrapiron Scher posted:

Broken out of the box. Sent it for a ride. Now it is back on the rails. Smooth runner, sound drops out on every Atlas O #5 switch so I will have to install a battery, decent smoke if I add 20-25 drops of fluid. I'm risking overfill each time. I liked the sounds of the JLC Allegheny much better even though it was a two chuffer.

If I had the choice I would prefer my $1750 back. This is as uninspired a loco as I have purchased and I have plenty. Recent Lionel steamers have been truly superb. This one? A big shrug of the shoulders.

Want advice? Save $1000 and buy the JLC version if you can find one.

Scrappy

I agree with scrappy on this one ..Mine had a broken switch fixed but if I could get my 1765 back I gladly do it. Mean while I love the veterans engine .. For the 1765 I spent I rather threw in a little more and got a Santa Fe 2-10-10-2 . If this engine was 1300 I probley wouldn't feel the same .

Heres it running. Make the call for yourself for the money though. You could probley find a Vl challenger or big boy and there both way better . https://youtu.be/nfKggMqslf4

Last edited by jojofry
MichRR714 posted:
Scrapiron Scher posted:

If I had the choice I would prefer my $1750 back. This is as uninspired a loco as I have purchased and I have plenty. Recent Lionel steamers have been truly superb. This one? A big shrug of the shoulders.

Scrappy

I don't understand at all what an "uninspired" locomotive is?

Forgive the guy.  Obviously, he derives no inspiration or satisfaction from this model.  He's out $1,765 that he'd rather have back.  And who can blame him?

palallin posted:

While I understand the frustration with breakage, I don't understand the general dissatisfaction (based on watching the video--I haven't seen one in person).

Well when you pay in the 1700 range you seem to get a lot more. In this Engine that's not the case. You can get more bang for your buck on Other legacy steamers. Like buying a visionline challenger or Hudson or a cc2 even. 

Wow...  Didn't you guys get the memo that folks were supposed to feel like this after spending $1200 for a GG-1 with flashing pantographs?    I expected the Allegheny was gonna be a grand slam.  Glad to see not everyone is singing the blues with theirs. 

Hopefully the early reviews on the GG-1 will fare better.  Otherwise, Lionel is gonna have one heck of a time garnering BTO pre-orders for the next catalog.  

David

Last edited by Rocky Mountaineer
Rocky Mountaineer posted:

Wow...  Didn't you guys get the memo that folks were supposed to feel like this after spending $1200 for a GG-1 with flashing pantographs?    I expected the Allegheny was gonna be a grand slam.  Glad to see not everyone is singing the blues with theirs. 

Hopefully the early reviews on the GG-1 will fare better.  Otherwise, Lionel is gonna have one heck of a time garnering BTO pre-orders for the next catalog.  

David

Well unless it says NYC and Or 611 and isnt over 1400 they can keep it my 1700 days are over ..

romiller49 posted:
david1 posted:

A LHS had six returned for refund, HE SOLD 9. Not a good percentage. 

Most were returned because of DOA and some others had broken parts. 

Not bad, pay $1800 and get a paperweight. 

Sorry David. I just don't believe that.

Rod Miller

Believe it or not but it is the truth. Two others refused to pick them up bacause of problems they heard about and was not willing to take a chance.

Now when the VL big boy came out there were very few problems. Why the change now?

jojofry posted:
palallin posted:

While I understand the frustration with breakage, I don't understand the general dissatisfaction (based on watching the video--I haven't seen one in person).

Well when you pay in the 1700 range you seem to get a lot more. In this Engine that's not the case. You can get more bang for your buck on Other legacy steamers. Like buying a visionline challenger or Hudson or a cc2 even. 

Get "a lot more" what?  Like I tell my students:  give specifics.  I'm asking for help understanding the dissatisfaction, and all I hear is, "It's dissatisfying."  Why? 

palallin posted:
jojofry posted:
palallin posted:

While I understand the frustration with breakage, I don't understand the general dissatisfaction (based on watching the video--I haven't seen one in person).

Well when you pay in the 1700 range you seem to get a lot more. In this Engine that's not the case. You can get more bang for your buck on Other legacy steamers. Like buying a visionline challenger or Hudson or a cc2 even. 

Get "a lot more" what?  Like I tell my students:  give specifics.  I'm asking for help understanding the dissatisfaction, and all I hear is, "It's dissatisfying."  Why? 

Every engine not named Allegheny in this price range had more features .. Like one or two of the following . Blowdown affects ,coal load depleting ,swinging bell or other smoke affects .. The smoking whistle was poorly done . The white walls with the darken side rods looks horrible. 80% of them do or will have the broken pipe that connects the front wheels to the boiler.  Look at the Jlc one . Maybe fix the problem on the remake! Na! The funny thing is I love Lionel engines . I know when I made a poor choice. I was running trains tonight and was running a s3 and I said to myself man what a home run this engine is ..I  know where my allegheny is heading eBay .. I wish Lionel would take mine back. I would gladly pay the shipping. My y6b smokes this engine ..Once again as many have said if this engine was like1300 most probley wouldn't care but good lord it was 1700 .. I can buy 4 mth diesels  engines and still take my wife out to dinner or 3 Lionel diesels. Or a Vl gg1 and something else. I ponied up on the big boy .I *****ed about the price but after I ran it at least I saw the work that went into it.  Like so many have said the Jlc one right now is a way better buy .. Half the price no clashy siderods .  

I was also curious about the number of Alleghenys that were OK.  I wanted one because I am from coal producing Pa.  I am OK with sending a loco back to Lionel for service because I have had good experiences with that.   However, when I saw that even sending the loco in for repair was chancey, I opted to get an FEF instead and am glad that I did.  In this case, it is hard to make a decision because I don't know how many were produced and how many had defects out of that.

It is simply the nature of the hobby that dissatisfied owners have an opportunity to air their gripes. It is also human nature that those who do not own a specific item want to hear only good things. Obviously, mixing the two in any given thread results in a gnashing of teeth. One group wants to vent and the other is annoyed to read complaints.

I do know this, Lionel listens or they better listen. Those of us who have reached saturation with expensive items must vote with their dollars. At the same time, others who would like to buy these items have no patience listening to the gripes. What to do? 

I have a suggestion. I will continue to patronize companies where Mike Reagan is in charge of the manufacturing process. In other words, if Mike ain't there, my cupboard will be bare. If I knew Mike would be gone before these items arrived I would never have made these decisions. Mike Reagan leaving will mean major changes for me. Anyone want a perfectly good Legacy Allegheny? 

Scrappy

Last edited by Scrapiron Scher
MichRR714 posted:
jojofry posted

 ..I  know where my allegheny is heading eBay .. I wish Lionel would take mine back. I would gladly pay the shipping.

We know how you feel.  How many times are you going to tell us though?

If it's not happening to you it's not happening.

Understand both sides of this  & have no dog in the fight.

There was a good thread about the Allegheny issues but it was locked. Go figure...

Lucky for Lionel, the VL GG1 arrived to deflect the heat of the Allegheny.

Scrapiron Scher posted:

I have a suggestion. I will continue to patronize companies where Mike Reagan is in charge of the manufacturing process. In other words, if Mike ain't there, my cupboard will be bare. If I knew Mike would be gone before these items arrived I would never have made these decisions. Mike Reagan leaving will mean major changes for me. Anyone want a perfectly good Legacy Allegheny? 

Scrappy

Sorry to burst your bubble but these were under made under Mike's tenure.  I'm not sure how much involvement he had but regardless he was there when these were produced.

jojofry posted:
palallin posted:
jojofry posted:
palallin posted:

While I understand the frustration with breakage, I don't understand the general dissatisfaction (based on watching the video--I haven't seen one in person).

Well when you pay in the 1700 range you seem to get a lot more. In this Engine that's not the case. You can get more bang for your buck on Other legacy steamers. Like buying a visionline challenger or Hudson or a cc2 even. 

Get "a lot more" what?  Like I tell my students:  give specifics.  I'm asking for help understanding the dissatisfaction, and all I hear is, "It's dissatisfying."  Why? 

Every engine not named Allegheny in this price range had more features .. Like one or two of the following . Blowdown affects ,coal load depleting ,swinging bell or other smoke affects .. The smoking whistle was poorly done . The white walls with the darken side rods looks horrible.

Thank you!  That was exactly the information I was looking for.

I understand people being annoyed. QA is done in China and units are randomly selected for review prior to bring shipped to the USA. If I was running Lionel the highend Steamers all, 100%, would be inspected in Charlotte before being shipped to dealers. First to ensure my products had outstanding packaging to support the initial air freight or container shipping (ocean). Second to pinpoint where potential damage could / can / does happen abd address that ASAP.

Finally, because I wouldn't want to deliver damaged goods. Most folks dont realize that these items probably get shipped 3 or 4 times before we get them. China to the USA to Lionel in Charlotte then to dealer - distributor then to us. Way to many touches where items can be damaged. If I were Lionel I would inspect then drop ship to the end user - me - you.

I spoke to Mike about this last time I saw him - Fall York.

Lots of factors that go into a d result in out of the box damange. Not always Lionel, MTH or Atlas's fault.

PSU1980 posted:

We have three members with the new Allegheny and none of us have had any issues at all. 

Posted you will see a combo video of the Allegheny 1604 with 35 cars behind if followed by the Up 4014 Big Boy with over 40 cars in tow.

Video was take less that one hour ago.

Allegheny and UP Big Boy 

Thanks for posting these videos, The Allegheny looks and sounds great. 

Gary

oldtimer posted:

Did I say how much  I love my PW?  My F3's, FM's, Geeps, 773, 682 , run all day long without a hitch.  Run R N T in the gear boxes, a drop of oil on the spur gears and I'm good to go 4 another week.  Loved the '50's & '60's.  Hot rods, pony tails ,Nam, jute boxes..  Best of times.    JMHO    bob

Some of us are fine with 60 year old toys.  Others prefer scale models.  Other's fall somewhere in between.  One man's coffee is another man's tea.

If our only options in 3 rail O Scale are/were Post War style model trains, I never would have gotten back in to the hobby in 2003 after a 13 year absence.

MartyE posted:
Scrapiron Scher posted:

I have a suggestion. I will continue to patronize companies where Mike Reagan is in charge of the manufacturing process. In other words, if Mike ain't there, my cupboard will be bare. If I knew Mike would be gone before these items arrived I would never have made these decisions. Mike Reagan leaving will mean major changes for me. Anyone want a perfectly good Legacy Allegheny? 

Scrappy

Sorry to burst your bubble but these were under made under Mike's tenure.  I'm not sure how much involvement he had but regardless he was there when these were produced.

I have read in several threads of complainers that "if mike were still there...". Which makes me wonder why mike left. Does anyone know?

BTW, I have had dozens of issues with new out of the box items that I bought while mike was there. It is my impression that he is an excellent employee, talented and motivated, but just because he was there doesn't mean he could intercept every issue that occurred. And I was dissapointed with his advice to me to "just glue" in the broken bearings when the pilot wheels of my new berkshire fell on the floor when I took it out of the box.

I think we should move on and support the new guy by wishing him every success.

cjack posted:
MartyE posted:
Scrapiron Scher posted:

I have a suggestion. I will continue to patronize companies where Mike Reagan is in charge of the manufacturing process. In other words, if Mike ain't there, my cupboard will be bare. If I knew Mike would be gone before these items arrived I would never have made these decisions. Mike Reagan leaving will mean major changes for me. Anyone want a perfectly good Legacy Allegheny? 

Scrappy

Sorry to burst your bubble but these were under made under Mike's tenure.  I'm not sure how much involvement he had but regardless he was there when these were produced.

I have read in several threads of complainers that "if mike were still there...". Which makes me wonder why mike left. Does anyone know?

BTW, I have had dozens of issues with new out of the box items that I bought while mike was there. It is my impression that he is an excellent employee, talented and motivated, but just because he was there doesn't mean he could intercept every issue that occurred. And I was dissapointed with his advice to me to "just glue" in the broken bearings when the pilot wheels of my new berkshire fell on the floor when I took it out of the box.

I think we should move on and support the new guy by wishing him every success.

I didn't know Mike and don't know the new guy. I don't buy new trains. That said, I agree you guys should be supporting the new guy. Don't pick on his video. This is new to him and he may be a bit nervous as well as just learning the ropes. I see many comments like "where is Lionel?"  "Are they reading this?" In regard to monitoring opinions on this forum.

 Well, he just introduced himself and was trying to open the door to that relationship and only a few comments down and he wasn't feeling to welcomed, more embarrassed. If I was him I know what I'd be saying to myself.  If you're going to make him feel stupid all the time, he won't be back. Instead of creating a great contact that'll work for you,  (like Mark the Menard's guy)  you'll be even more lost with Lionel than you already are. 

It's your loss not mine. I don't need to deal with them. Plus, it's called being polite.

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