LCCA / TCA Texas Special

Boy o boy, is that train a beauty.  Thanks for posting photo's.  How does the switcher run?

Steve, Lady and Tex

Very Nice!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!  They really did a great job on those.  The switchers are beautiful.  I love the window shade.

Art

How does the switcher run?

Been running for 2 days without any issues. The Railsounds is very good and does ramp up or down depending on the speed of the loco. Currently pulling 5 heavy cars without any slippage.

Very nice Bill...especially like the Mint cars... 

Where did the flatcar wth the two speeders come from?

2005 LCCA convention car from St. Louis.

Thank you for posting these photos.  They look great!  I hope all of our LCCA members who ordered this Texas Tommy set will enjoy and appreciate them.  The late Lou Caponi put a lot of attention to detail to make these desirable to our members.  It took a long time to develop and produce, but I hope you agree it was worth the wait.  Thank you for your patience and continued support of the LCCA.

Al Kolis

President-Elect

Lionel Collectors Club of America

Agkolis@comcast.net

248 709-4137

This set is a real tribute to Lou. He sure did a lot for our hobby and is greatly missed.

Mine came today and it is without a doubt a beautiful set.  I'm sure glad I bought

one.  I would like to thank my wife  for encouraging me to buy it. 

Hi Al, Lou did a heck of job in getting the detail on these switchers right, especially with his failing health. The LCCA team also did a great job in getting these great locos to us. The switcher really stands out on the layout. I think when most of the LCCA members run these locos we will be thinking of Lou.

I haven't received mine as of today.  No tracking number, no indication it was shipped or when it will be shipped.  I believe someone else is doing the shipping for LCCA.  I sure hope I get some word soon, tracking info at least.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Mine came via Fed-Ex.  Not sure why, but never received an alert email with tracking info.  The package just showed up at our door a couple of days ago.  That seems to happen with Fed-Ex more than UPS.   Could be the shipper needs to initiate the tracking email for Fed-ex, whereas with UPS once you're in their system an alert email gets generated automatically -- especially if you're registered with UPS MyChoice.  Comes in handy.  

David

Hi David, I'm glad to hear you received your set.  I called the LCCA office yesterday asking for a tracking number.  Kathy stated someone else was doing the shipping and there was nothing she could do for me.  I was told to wait until next week then call back. 

I don't believe this is a good way of doing business especially after members put down early deposit and waiting so long for the sets to come in.  Having tracking information would at least  indicate the set was on its way. 

LCCA has my email address and why some purchasers get tracking info and some don't doesn't make sense to me.  Because of the weekend, I won't know anything until Monday.  Delivery address is a business.

Steve, Lady and Tex

I did not get any tracking info on my set. On the package it has the shipping label that the package was shipped from the LCCA Lancaster PA. by 3rd party and that the ship date on the label is 2/6/14 and I received it on 2/12/14. 

I am waiting on 2013 Southern Box Car & the Coal Train - Lou they are on the FedEx truck to me now.  The shipping info on these Coal Train shipped 2/11/14 & 2013 Box Car was 2/12/14 and both are coming from MORTON, IL.

I believe the least LCCA could have done is contact the 3rd party shipper and find out what the tracking information is for my set and forward it to me.  I doubt if LCCA or the 3rd party shipper will take the time to track it to my address. 

Steve, Lady and Tex

I got the shipping info from FedEx Wednesday when the 2013 LCCA convention car shipped. It arrived today. I have not received any shipping information on the Texas Specials.

Neal Jeter

Neal, did you order and pay for the Texas Special set?

Steve, Lady and Tex

Back on 1/15/14 the LCCA Office sent me the following email

*** The Texas Specials will be arriving shortly and will be shipped in February.  When ordering the Texas Special you choose the option of 200.00 down payment.  Final payment is now due.  The balance due for members other than Illinois is  324.95    If you are a resident of Illinois your remaining balance is  362.45

I will start billing credit cards on 1/20/14     If you have any changes to your credit card that was used for down payment please contact me at the business office by Monday.  I am available weekdays 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. central time. ***

So it is possible if you did just pay the $200 deposit for the set and if any information changed on the credit card that you used. This will delay your set from coming, since they need your payment for the remainder of the set price.

No, I did not take any chances.  I received the same email from LCCA.  I called Kathy at the LCCA office the next day and made sure my credit card info was up to date and confirmed shipping address.  A couple of weeks ago my credit card was charged the final payment.  I did everything I could to make sure info was correct for shipment.  Is it too much to ask to have in return tracking info on this expensive set? 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Steve, don't panic yet.  I see from your profile that you live in Oregon.  So it's possible if these are being shipped via Fed Ex Economy, your package is working its way cross-country at a leisurely pace with no service-level requirements (i.e., such as overnight or 2-day, etc...).

OTOH, I completely agree with you that package tracking information should ALWAYS be available for the asking.  Not having that information is synonymous to the "old days" when TV ads would request that buyers allow 6-8 weeks for their product (which was sitting on a warehouse shelf) to ship!    Just shouldn't happen that way in 2014.

David

Just to note that LCCA is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization with perhaps one full time employee, I'd guess.  Sounds like they may have farmed out the shipping of these sets.  I got mine a few days ago.  No shipping/tracking information.  This issue may not be under the control of the LCCA, or the cost of including tracking through their subcontractor may have been antithetical to keeping a healthy margin on these products.  LCCA relies on these margins, not dues, to remain financially afloat.  Just my take on the issue. I'm sure we'll hear more if you complain loudly enough .

Steve,

No that is not too much to ask.  First of all, please accept my apologies for the information provided to you by Cathy.    Cathy is correct in the fact that we did not have the product shipped from our Business Office  in Peru IL.  However, we can contact the third party shipper and get you shipping information about your order.  Please send me an e-mail with your contact and order information to my e-mail addressagkolis@comcast.net     I will contact our third part shipper and obtain the necessary shipping information on Monday and subsequently get back with you early next week.    

Secondly,  If you were not satisfied with her recommendation to wait a week, then you should been directed to contact one of the volunteer members of the Board or an volunteer Officer of the club.  I recommend if any LCCA member who has any questions, issues, concerns, or problems with the club, please contact a volunteer BOD member or officer of the club or me at any reasonable time.   My cell phone is 248 709-4137.      As a volunteer organization, we try very hard to address and resolve issues as they come up.   Although understandable, venting a problem on a public forum is not going to do anything to address, resolve and fix any specific issue.   We can only solve the issues as we are made aware of them.   We try to respect our member’s  privacy about business transactions and deal with these type of situations on a one on one,  personal basis.    I hope you can appreciate this approach. 

Do you have a valid e-mail address in your club contact information?   Do you currently receive  the LCCA monthly e-blasts?   It is my understanding that members who ordered the sets were supposed to receive an e-mail when their product was actually shipped?  I will also verify this with third party shipper on Monday.

The LCCA is a volunteer run organization who tries to manage the club member’s money prudently and responsibly.  When we are shipping product, we look at several factors to determine which is the most effective and cost effective way to deliver the products to our members.   Several factors contributed to the decision to ship from an e-coast third party order fulfillment company.   Most of our member orders are from members on the east coast.  It did not make economic sense to ship the product from the east to the Midwest and then back to our members who live in the east.  

We have the Texas Tommy set and the Lou Caponi Signature Coal set going out almost simultaneously and there is limited storage space at our business office in Peru IL.    This Texas Set is also a very complicated project.  The engine and the Mint car were produced at different factories in China for Lionel.   The products did not arrive on the same shipment and at the same time to Lionel.    We decided the best method for shipment for this project was to use the same third part shipping company that Lionel uses.   Once the product was received from Lionel separately,  they needed to be reconfigured and put in the same box.    We also had to insert a Made In America LCCA Billboard into the set box.   This all took extra time an diligence. 

Because this project was so long in coming, the LCCA decided to give every person who ordered this set a special limited edition, commemorative  LCCA billboard frame and insert.   This billboard is 100% manufactured, assembled and produced in the USA.   We want to give something extra back to our members as a thank you for their patience, support and understanding of the long development time and significant  delay in getting these unique products produced and delivered.   The engine has new frame tooling which took a long time to develop and produce.

Another factor that is creating havoc on our product shipment was the recent inclement weather on the east coast and south.   They are getting bombarded with snow and ice storms.    This is adversely affecting all shipments in  that part of the country.   There are lots of shipments delayed and held up at their central shipping facilities who are also experiencing unusual weather conditions.  This is something that is much beyond our control.   No matter how hard we try to deliver the products to our members simultaneously, geography does contribute to different delivery dates.   Even if we are able to have every order shipped out on the same date, they will not arrive to our members out west on the same dates they arrive to our east coast members and vice versa.   Some of our members already received their LCCA Texas Tommy sets and others  such as you still have not.   Where do you live?   Do you live out west?

Steve,  Please accept my sincere apology and send me an e-mail with your contact and order information at agkolis@comcast.net   I  promise we will investigate and provide you with the necessary information you request.    Please just hang in there a little bit longer.    We hope you will enjoy this set once you finally receive it. 

If you have any question or concerns and need to talk, please call me at 248 709-4137.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

Al Kolis

President Elect & Special Events Manager

Lionel Collectors Club of America

248 709-4137

Thanks Al for responding and detailed info on shipping.  I will email you with the information you requested.  With my past orders with LCCA I always received tracking info and email on when my item shipped.  I was just a little surprised that this was not the case with the Texas Special set.  I appreciate your help.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Thanks  for understanding.  We will get to the bottom of this and take care of this matter.

Have a great day!

Al Kolis

I never received any tracking information but my set arrived Friday, 2/14.  For whatever reason the shipping company does not seem to be sending tracking information to everyone, although some report getting it.  I guess the shipping company is the only one that can answer why some get tracking numbers, and some do not.  Hope you get your set soon.  

JDA,

Do you have a valid e-mail address in your club contact information?   Do you currently receive  the LCCA monthly e-blasts?   It is my understanding that members who ordered the sets were supposed to receive an e-mail when their product was actually shipped?  I will also verify this with third party shipper on Monday.  I am just trying to figure out what is happening.  Additional info will follow.

You can send me an e-mail at agkolis@comcast.net or call me at 248 709-4137. Thank you. 

Al Kolis

President Elect

Lionel Collectors Club of America

Thanks for the info JDA.  Al from LCCA emailed me and I am positive he will find out why some of us aren't receiving tracking info on this set.  I'm glad you received yours and I will wait until I hear back from Al. 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Steve:

Of all of the folks out there that ordered this beautiful set, you as the "official" Texas Special ambassador of this Forum should have received yours first. There just isn't any justice in this world. I think we need an act of Congress demanding that all TS releases are first sent to you. 

I appreciate you comments but I am far from ambassador for this beautiful line of trains.  I was surprised to see how many members are attracted to the Texas Special like I am.  Yes, I am excited about any TS released but I am satisfied to get mine like everyone else, sometimes the wait is a little longer being in the land of the West.  But the wagon train will arrive someday.

I do nominate you Brian for "passenger car ambassador", you and Elizabeth have a wonderful collection. 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Steve, without a doubt, you are the TS MAN!!!

Received my LCCA Texas Specials today here in Alabama.

Neal Jeter