If you got yours, how do you like it?
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Set wasn't in yet when I visited my dealer last week, but I picked up 2 of the add-on cars I had ordered.
Some of the flaws I experienced make me a bit nervous on the set itself.
For each car, I needed to look at a second one to try to get one with fewer flaws (never did get to what I would consider truly acceptable at ~ $150 per car street price). In one case, the second example was far worse, so I actually accepted the first one I opened instead.
Things I observed:
- There was a gold "splatter" on one side of one car near the pin striping(small, but noticeable to my picky eye). I actually kept this after opening a second one with a worse problem (gold paint on the ROOF - how the heck they managed to get a splash of gold paint on the roof is beyond me since there is no gold near the actual roof, it all seems to be on the sides of the car). The car with the gold on the roof also had a loose piece inside that I heard rattling around when doing the inspection - probably not the end of the world, but it would have required disassembly to figure out what it was and/or actually re-glue whatever fell off.
- The first one I opened for the other car had an issue with one of the center axles having no play in the sprung truck on one side. The springs themselves worked (as they are shared with the outer 2 axles), but the center axle mounting point on one side would not move at all within the side frame as the properly working ones do. This was only on this one side of one truck on the 2 cars, so it was probably an isolated incident. I can't say for sure what caused the lack of motion, might have been something jammed in there somewhere, or maybe paint that caused it to be "glued" in place.
- I noticed on one car (think it was the one with the truck issue) that there seemed to be some notable rust on the springs themselves. The ones I kept I don't think had this problem (or at least not as noticeable as on the one with the truck issue that I rejected), so this may be hit or miss. It would seem some of the springs were kept somewhere quite humid for a while before being used to assemble the cars.
- The trucks themselves had some significant paint chipping off. I actually bought a small jar of olive paint to try to deal with this, even though I think it's ridiculous to have to do so on something brand new.
It's been a while since I purchased a decent high end set. Based on my experience with the add-on cars so far, I am worried rather than excited about what I will find when I try to receive the set itself.
I realize I have a picky eye for this stuff in general, but these examples to me seemed over the top. Also had an issue with significant paint touch up showing on an unrelated lower end car I picked up at the same time (but not relevant to this thread).
I'll try to add a picture or 2 of the issues for the cars I kept, but I might not get a chance in the next few days.
-Dave
I swear I think they hate us! Not Lionel. But the folks making their and all other model train folks stuff! Sloppy work, in all departments. As others say, I think different trains by the same manufacturer are being made in different factories. Some much better, some much worse. All of the rolling stock I have purchased although 95% Lionel has been excellent! Then these passenger cars that you folks bought are slopped together. Unreal.
Jim
Might be same factory different shift. Maybe night shift gets a little sloppy.
Well here is one:
Unboxed my Broadway Limited Set today and happy to report no issues!!! Cars are beautiful, no rattling passengers and journal hatches all intact.
Skip,
Nice to hear that your Broadway Limited Set looks good with no issues (what a relief for everyone!!). Would love to see a picture posted when you have a chance!
Carl J
