I had purchased 3 Powered and 1 Non Powered Lionel PRR ES44ACs that I took delivery on at the beginning of the year.
Some may remember that I had one engine that had a problem out of the box the first time I ran it. It would buzz from the from coupler, and make a noise during movement and to boot it added a 3 Flashing Cab Light (Smoke Fan Motor Issue)
Since it was still under warranty, it left my LHS and headed to the former Ohio Service Center. It was repaired by fixing a short in the front coupler and no other issues were found.
We checked it out for about 5 minutes before I left the store and all seemed well.
I then proceeded to run all 4 engines during a show and had issues with this same engine again. Front Truck Noisy when running and the 3 flashing cab lights designating a issue with the Smoke Fan. Since I was New Member of the NPOG, Harry H3, said he would have his guys at Henning's send it back to the Lionel Service Center now re-located in Concord, NC.
Bill Henning followed thru and let me know when the RA was processed and it was on it's was South from PA.
I emailed Lionel Customer Service to advise them that this was a continuing issue from the first repair that had not been solved and to see if this repair could be it's last travel by UPS.
Angela said that she would make sure the tech looked it over and made sure that it was back to 100%.
I then remembered that I had planned a weeks vacation in Charlotte NC to see my In-Laws about the scheduled time the repair was to be completed.
I contacted Lionel Customer Service and asked if it was possible to pick up the repaired engine sometime during the week I was to be in the area.
Meghan got back to me promptly and said it was possible and to call when I was in the area last Monday to confirm the repairs had been completed. Since also I was at the last Service Center Open House last August, I had met some of the techs, service personnel and their significant others. We got to talking and I said I would send a batch of Home Made Peanut Butter Fudge to them for Christmas but I dropped the ball and was not able to keep my promise at that time. Since I was going to be stopping at some old friends house in Raleigh on my route from New Jersey to Charlotte, I brought all of the makings to make two batches of the fudge. One for my friends and their family in Raleigh and the other to keep my delayed Christmas Promise to the gang at Lionel.
I confirmed on Monday that the engine had been repaired and verified when I could make the pickup and the drop off of the promised fudge. All was set to go!
I then plugged in the Service Center's New Address into the GPS and the wife and I headed to Concord!
I was able to speak with the Tech (due to my age, I forgot his name) but he said he had just replaced the entire front truck and coupler assembly, the smoke fan motor and I guess during one of the repairs, one of the shell screw holes had gotten stripped so he also replaced the shell.
I then spoke with Dean to drop off the fudge for the service techs and the customer service reps. Upon hearing that the fudge that was promised had finally arrived, Phil stepped out of his office and stated that he would need to perform quality control on a piece of the fudge to make sure it was OK to be distributed to the rest of the staff.
To my delight, and my Grand Mother (her recipe) it passed and Dean even said that the sugar high would increase the productivity of the repairs as long as the fudge held out.
I thanked them for the repair and headed to Charlotte...
Well I made a trip back to PA to help work on the NPOG Modular Layout to start adding the LCS System to the layout. Due to a member's wife having her birthday yesterday, our member with some of the LCS parts was not going to be present. I had brought the repaired ES44AC Engine with me just in case we had a little time to check her out. Since we didn't have the power supply for the LCS, we had time to chat and run trains.
Unboxed the engine and added about 25 cars for her consist test run.
Well, to make this long story come to the end, the engine worked flawlessly, it was now quiet from the Front Truck Coupler Area, and Smoked like a champ for over 45 minutes of non stop running.
So, I wanted to take the time on the Forum to personally thank Angela, Meghan, Dean, Tech with the forgotten name, and Phil for going the extra mile to making sure my engine would now run as it should! 
Thanks in writing until I can thank some of you again in person on Saturday at York!
PS If the repair turnaround sped up last week more than just what was expected as the normal targeted quota, Phil, just let me know, and I can send more fudge down when needed to help maintain the higher level of output!
PSS Sure hope you saved a piece for the Big Tall Guy (Mike R) as he may want a batch or two of the fudge to take with him to China to ensure all the Big Boys are all ready for Christmas Delivery! 
PSS We will try and make sure the fudge keeps it's distance from Al and the LCCA Gang, otherwise they might be able to have an unfair advantage during the next Fastrack Layout Assembly Contest! 
