My 777 just came in today. As soon as I opened it and picked up, the locomotive part fell out of the Plastic wrapping. It was one of the air pumps or compressors whatever you wanna call it. I was disgusted. I put it down and I walked away. Out of all the things I have purchased stoves, safes, dishwashers, etc. I have never had anything be as messed up as these trains.
Get in touch with the dealer that you bought it from. One way or another, you should be made whole.
Few things are as disappointing as eagerly awaiting an expensive model train......only to be disappointed upon its arrival.
Hi Dave, the hardest thing to accept is when a long awaited train arrives damaged either from the manufacturer or the shipping company. The scale products we purchase are both complex and delicat. Our expectations are set so high it is hard to be pragmatic and just put our emotions on hold and ship it back for repair but as you know thats the only solution. If nothing else this hobby makes you stronger. Keep the faith!
Duncan
Hey there Dave; as rightfully disappointing as your initial response is, perhaps cool off a bit with a favorite beverage and take a breather. Can you easily ascertain what the part is and where it was located? If so you may want to consider the feasibility of repairing it yourself and avoiding the risks and pitfalls of trying to return it if it must be packaged and shipped. Especially this time of year. We've all seen the videos of delivery drivers (of all kinds) tossing an obvious boxed TV set across a fence into a yard. Why subject your prized locomotive to such adverse possibilities!
If you bought it from a local shop, this is a mute point but only a suggestion sir. :-)
Just my two cents....but my personal philosophy on these types of things is to hold the dealer and Lionel responsible.
Big Orange offers a warranty....so why not take advantage of it? Your dealer will probably go to bat for you...either with the shipping company or Lionel.
If you try to fix something yourself, you may well void the warranty.
So, my 777 runs pretty well, but the Whistle Steam does not work at all. I've double checked that Whistle Steam is set to on, made sure I had enough smoke in the whistle steam and still nothing. The Main Smoke Unit works really well. Any ideas on why this is happening?
When you say "enough smoke in the whistle steam", what did you mean by this?
Does this engine have a dual chamber smoke unit which serves both the stack and whistle?
Got to 4:22 or so in this video. Granted, it's a sample size of one.....but even with an essentially black background where needed, whistle steam output is weak...or nonexistent. This assumes, of course, that smoke fluid was added where it should be.....but I would expect Nicholas Smith to know this:
I had commented early on experiencing two issues: one of which was the static sound any other was the whistle steam smoke ( low volume). I subsequently sent it back to Lionel and a technician has changed out the hose internally to improve the whistle steam output. I’ve not received it back yet, but that problem was identified. The sound may not be fixed or fixable.
Mustang66 - thank you for sharing the tech's notes. The information has me thinking...should I be checking the whistle steam hose on all my Legacy steamers - to date, I rarely get good steam whistle effects...and on my Challenger I don't get any at all, and that's a VisionLine item that I purchased new old stock.
And as far poor-quality control, it's something those of us who are brave enough to talk about have experienced for a long time with all the importers. Unfortunately, the hobby "press" doesn't address it and some people even lambast those who complain as if they or their beloved train company experiences hurt feelings.
@Soo line - I made sure to add the correct amount of smoke drops into the whistle steam hole as there are two 'holes' (for lack of a better term) where you can add smoke fluid. I'm hoping that this isn't a QC issue overall
your only supposed to add smoke fluid to the stack, i think that engine has the daul smoke unit that does both stack & whistle. not 100 % sure
Paul,
My pleasure. So Lionel’s helping me with this so I’m grateful for that and in the end, if it comes back working properly, that’s all I can ask. It is kind of a challenge to return it with the freight there and back, etc.. I would much rather bring it to a local dealer to handle even if I had to pay a little bit out-of-pocket. I would just prefer that personally ( less risk). But currently, authorized Repairs have to get sent back to the factory.
Mustang66, since your loco is less than one year old, it is still under warranty.
When you contact Lionel to ask for a RA # for a warranty repair, they send you an email with a shipping label, prepaid, for you to ship the unit to them.
When it is repaired, they will ship it back to you, at no charge.
I am not sure why they did not send you the prepaid shipping label.
It seems like more than half the items I buy go back at least once for warranty repair. My Acela went back numerous times. (It is now working fine.)
Jeff2035,
Thank you. Yes they did do that. They effectively handled the freight both ways and they did send me a label to return it with. My comment was more about being able to just drop the package off to a dealer versus having a risk of damage and freight, etc. Shipping requires me to make sure either I’m home or my wife is home or around and likewise track the package diligently Because of the value.
@pbuff posted:@Soo line - I made sure to add the correct amount of smoke drops into the whistle steam hole as there are two 'holes' (for lack of a better term) where you can add smoke fluid. I'm hoping that this isn't a QC issue overall
There is no manual on the Lionel site for this new engine. Perhaps someone can chime in and advise if this unit has only one smoke unit for both stack and whistle. Until we are sure of this I cannot comment on the "two holes..where you can add fluid".
Page 8 of the manual says, "Loading smoke fluid into the smoke stack will provide smoke fluid for the stack smoke effect and whistle smoke effect."
Page 9 shows the location of the switches. Make sure both the "main smk" and "whistle smk" are on.
My Triplex and new PRR Mountain both have fluid only added through the main stack.
Initially they were weak smokers.
I added 2/3 of a dropper full of fluid and blew down the stack, then let the loco sit for 30 minutes, then blew down the stack before operating.
Once running, it usually takes one or two whistle blows before the unit is heated up enough to blow smoke out the whistle.
Now, as soon as I finish a session, I add the 2/3 dropper full of fluid (If the stack smoke was getting weak), blow down the stack, and then leave it sit overnight. The next day it should have ample fluid that is at the whistle unit.
Just my opinion,....so don't blame me if you flood your unit, but I have found the Lionel recommendation of "10 to 20 thereafter" is not near enough.
Dean Brasseur suggested to me to use only Lionel premium smoke fluid in Lionel locos. Your choice.
@Jeff2035 posted:Page 8 of the manual says, "Loading smoke fluid into the smoke stack will provide smoke fluid for the stack smoke effect and whistle smoke effect."
Page 9 shows the location of the switches. Make sure both the "main smk" and "whistle smk" are on.
My Triplex and new PRR Mountain both have fluid only added through the main stack.
Initially they were weak smokers.
I added 2/3 of a dropper full of fluid and blew down the stack, then let the loco sit for 30 minutes, then blew down the stack before operating.
Once running, it usually takes one or two whistle blows before the unit is heated up enough to blow smoke out the whistle.
Now, as soon as I finish a session, I add the 2/3 dropper full of fluid (If the stack smoke was getting weak), blow down the stack, and then leave it sit overnight. The next day it should have ample fluid that is at the whistle unit.
Just my opinion,....so don't blame me if you flood your unit, but I have found the Lionel recommendation of "10 to 20 thereafter" is not near enough.
Dean Brasseur suggested to me to use only Lionel premium smoke fluid in Lionel locos. Your choice.
Jeff has captured all the important information.
So, you may have put smoke fluid into the whistle hole which will definitely plug the passage. You can undo this by placing the locomotive upside down overnight to drain the fluid from the tube that runs from the 2 chamber smoke unit to the whistle hole.
@JohnB posted:Mustang66,
I do not know if the Berks have a separate smoke unit for the whistle or if they share the stack smoke unit. If it is a shared smoke unit try blowing some compressed air to un-block any bubbles that may be clogging the tube that goes to the whistle. If it has a separate put no more than 10 drops of fluid in the whistle hole. For the shared smoke unit I put about a third of the eye dropper in the unit resulting in significant smoke from both the stack and whistle. If you think a third of the dropper is too much try a quarter then go up if needed. The whistles got to be wet to work great. Try the air blow down first then try more fluid if needed. Let us know how you make out.
JohnB
I removed the actual silver whistle piece that covers the hole where smoke comes out.If you go slow the main stack doesn't wash it out and it looks good.That piece deflected the smoke to much.I can always glue it back on if needed.
@mustang66 posted:This engine is stunning. Reminded me of the orange greenbrier with the sense of a visual “wow effect “. Mine seems to have an excessive crackle noise as part of the sound effects. All other sounds are fine just has a noticeable and honestly distracting static continuous crackle like a broken speaker. Whistle steam effect seems weak and intermittent too. It doesn’t billow out like other engines (almost nonexistent when running ). Anyone else experiencing this ?
Mine is doing the same sound thing.As far as the whistle smoke I took off the whistle piece above the smoke hole and now it's quiet visible at very slow speed.Once I go a little faster it gets washed out by stack smoke.The piece diffused the smoke so it was barely visible.I can always glue it back on if I wanted to.
Bug Boy,
I had sent mine back in to Lionel. The whistle steam was addressed , via a new whistle steam hose, but Lionel determined the sound was fine. I Don’t have it back yet to confirm. Prior to returning it, I had to turn the volume down quite a bit to dilute the ambiance noise from being distracting.
It is two days past Christmas and I am sitting in my chair just enjoying the look of my new #777 Berkshire engine. I puchased a fleet of MTH Wabash passenger cars on the gamble that the colors would at least be complementary and that gamble paid off. I know Lionel will be releasing their 21 inch cars next year but I prefere 18" for my systems. No offence to the thousands of Polar Express enthusiast's but this engine is as close as I am comfortable with bright colored models. We spend thousands of dollars to make our trains look accurate and real so why buy a model made to look like a toy? Every one has their own tastes and that is best for our hobby. Wishing all engineers in training a Happy New Year.
Duncan
