I picked this up at my LHS to go with my other Navy cars. I like the scene on the Navy Trailer. But, what about the box??? This ought to get some heads scratching! Any ideas about what happened?
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I had something similar happen with my "elf hand-car" that I purchased last Christmas. I wanted the Polar Express version (like it said on the box) but got the "North Pole Express" version. I could see where there was a mix up for mine but yours is a lot more obvious. Did you check with your LHS to see if they are all like that? Maybe it would be worth a call to Lionel.
What is the number on the car itself????
They were all like that. I bought it for the car, not what the box said it was supposed to be.
The flat car & trailer is 6-52597 made for the the St Louis LRRC.
Looks like Lionel needed to rid itself of extra boxes. ... or did not have time to simply slap some new stickers on the ends of those boxes in a rush to get them shipped. Nice looking TOFC, though!
Poor quality control, which will be a problem for Lionel, if not caught and corrected.
RJL
I suspect this wasn't a Lionel QC issue. More likely there's someone out there with an 'Eagle Scout' boxcar in a Navy flatcar w/trailer box from the same LHS.
Len's may be right. I've witnessed customers (especially inexperienced train customers) going through cars on shelves at hobby shops and putting the cars back in the wrong boxes. Could be what happened here. Obviously nothing to do with manufacturer quality control. It would be interesting to know if someone got this car from another source and had the correct box. The outfit to ask about this is not Lionel, but the St. Louis Railroad Club.
Originally Posted by Len2:
I suspect this wasn't a Lionel QC issue. More likely there's someone out there with an 'Eagle Scout' boxcar in a Navy flatcar w/trailer box from the same LHS.
Keep in mind the Navy TOFC is a special run item, not something a typical hobby store can directly purchase from Lionel, so its unusual for them to even carry this item.
Well I did check a sealed mailing carton from the St Louis LRRC, luckily it has the correct item in it.
I've seen misboxed Lionel accessories as recieved right from the distributor, so I guess just about anything is possible.
A friend of mine sent me this photo of a recent Lionel starter set that includes a pothole caboose.
I am surprised that Len2 would suggest such a thing and breezinup would go along with him, being that I said that all of the boxes on the shelf were exactly the same, ie. Navy truck/BSA box, just as they came out of the box from the distributer. This is a fine upstanding hobby shop and not some sleezeball operation as len2 would suggest!
I guess Len2 didn't read the following post:
Actually, I did read that thread. What I missed was the post in this thread that said all of Navy flatcars were in BSA boxes. My brain must have been elsewhere when I looked at the post saying these were a special run for the St. Louis LRRC.
Special runs in odd boxes I've seen before. Usually with either a club related label added to the box, and/or a unique UPC barcode lablel over the printed label. That's the BSA car UPC on the box, so if there's no club label anywhere that would be strange.
I wonder what st louis railroad club got?
Michigan needs a shipment of those "Pothole Cabooses". Our roads are terrible!
Gentlemen, What happened was that the club received about, as far as we know, 20 to 30 out of a shipment of 500 Navy cars that had BSA cars in boxes marked for the Navy. Unfortunately we did not notice this until the Navy cars were shipped out to those that had ordered them. Those that notified us we replaced with the proper car. The club contacted Lionel and found out that some of our Navy cars had been placed in boxes marked for the BSA. Unfortunately the distribution system had progressed to the point that the extent of the error could not be traced. The error is with Lionel's packaging. If you received your car from The Lionel Railroad Club of ST. Louis you can contact them for a replacement. Their address is:
The Lionel Railroad Club of St. Louis
200 W. Tesson St.
St. Louis, Mo. 63111
Mark your inquroi Attn: Bob Koffman
The Lionel Railroad Club of St. Louis is not associated with the Lionel Corporation or any of it's subsidiaries in any way.
Al
big jim should contact the st louis club and give them the address of that local hobby shop so that maybe a correction can be made.
Big Jim,
I'd like to get one of those Navy trailers on flat cars. Also, there's a USMC trailer on flat car floating around. Anyone have one or the other or both they're willing to part with?
