Lionel Sante Fe Scout heavyweight passenger set issues

I have this set and have not had any issues with them. However I recently purchased the Lionel 18" Canadian Pacific aluminum passenger cars from a forum member and 4 of the 6 cars had broken frames and springs gone. I posted pictures on the forum and members said this was "Rotted Zinc".

Contacted seller and he said they were fine when he packed them up. It was shipped via FedEx and was very well packed. There was no damage to the box or the styrofoam inserts. 

Lionel does not sell the frames by themselves. You have to buy the complete trucks. I had to purchase 8 sets of trucks. These cars were 6 years old so there is no warranty on them. 

I have 7 sets of heavy weights, to this day I find these friction bearing boxes all over my layout... they pop off like popcorn. Some are not even mine...they are from visiting sets that run during my club open house....

Best bet is to carefully glue them in with super glue. Toughest thing is to not only find the part, but finding the truck that is missing it!

I live in west Texas and everything arrives via UPS. I have found that it is better to do my own repairs when possible rather than file a freight claim. At least half of the locomotives, rolling stock and structures have arrived with some damage. I really wish that the package delivery companies wouldn't toss my Legacy locomotives out of the plane as they fly over Texas on their way to the west coast. I sometimes envy O gauge railroaders who live in the northeast: large, well-stocked stores; the opportunity to hold prospective purchases in your hand before plunking down the credit card; a network of hobbyists in close proximity. Sigh!

I had similar experience with both the Santa Fe Scout set (broken truck frames within a year of operation) and with a 4-pack of NYC 20th Century Limited passenger cars (frames broken in the box). Some of the axle journal caps fell off, exposing the round end of the axle. Three broken frames also had to be replaced (i.e., the whole truck). On the good news side, all the replaced trucks are holding up well.

I don't know about the zinc thing. The trucks looked plastic to me. But I often find that I am wrong.

I seem to recall Eric of Eric's Trains saying something to the effect that if you are going to be in the hobby you better be willing to tinker. It's not the most enjoyable part of the hobby (for me) but with patience most do-it-yourselfers can manage it.

In short, to quote the Gospel, "Be not afraid". I'd just order the parts, replace the busted ones, and go on running trains.

Mike:  I would return them...especially if you are concerned with resale value.  If not, if you are as skilled as dad, you could fix or replace.

Are these cars from a 2014 set or older run?

Pete

They show as 2014 Catalog, I'd contact Lionel and send them back for repair. Looks like a very nice set!

I talked to Lionel today and they are having me send them back to them for repair and they are covering the pick up costs. They were very easy to deal with.  Hoping to get the repairs done quickly and then move on to replacing windows with a lighter green plastic.  I am really excited to run them.

Mike 

I purchased the add on two car pack from A different authorized Lionel dealer.  All of the trucks were broken in these also, not only the journal covers, but the entire casting  holding the bushing in place for the axles.

After sending cars to Lionel they do not have the trucks in stock and have offered a refund.  I am surprised no one else has had issues with these.  If you are looking into these for yourself 2nd hand or new , inquire about the trucks.

Mike

Hi Mike,  I had a similar issue with the trucks on the same passenger set and even posted pictures here on the forum a few years back.  While I consider myself "handy"  the repairs were  well beyond my pay grade, so I sent them back to Charles Ro who sent a replacement set that was perfect. The box had no noticeable issues that would indicate some damage in shipping.   I thought the issue was unique to me, but it looks like a more common problem, perhaps they are too fragile for normal shipping.

How about a video of them on your layout Mike?  Merry Christmas to you and your family.

John

Once I get the cars back and fixed, I will be happy to!

Mike

Yep, had the same thing happen to me.  Last year, I went searching the internet for Polar Express Heavy passenger cars.  Managed to find 6 new ones at various dealers but left the boxes unopened for a year.  Just opened 3 of them for the Christmas layout for the first time and 2 had broken plastic suspension parts; 1 truck on each.  The trucks still worked on the tracks OK.  Tried gluing some of the plastic parts together; but, then no way to get them back into the truck anyway and after a few attempts to force them into the trucks, the glue gave way.  Now I am looking for new trucks.

Mike, This is a common problem. If you are lucky, the pieces (Journal Covers) will be in the box and can be glued in place. Avoid getting glue on the axle. This happened with my ATSF "Scout" set.  It also happened with my 21" C&O, NYC and Wabash passenger cars.  Lionel does not have the replacement Journal Covers, so they sent me an entire Truck with four Journal covers I carefully removed.  It seems like an expensive way to give a customer a part to cover warranty issues.  Oh, The covers will fall off again, and again, and again. Glue it, or loose it.

I received the cars back from Lionel and added a video of the cars and they look great.  They are being pulled by an older mth northern that we upgraded to PS3 and changed a few physical features on.  I can only run 4 out of the 6 because the trucks are so bad and need replacing.  Others are runable, but the cars are at different heights.   You can see the difference in the windows I replaced on one car as they are more clear then green.

I am convinced the zinc rot is to blame for the trucks.  I attached a  picture of the baggage car trucks, just horrible and remind me of prewar metal issues.  You can see mess of broken parts left behind in the box and the none existent truck frames.

 Excited to get the replacement trucks in february and getting all the windows replaced at the same time.  I will post a video when I get them done.

Mike