Why are some folks selling their new Lionel engines already?

"I have purchased 6 new LEGACY engines (American Flyer) and five had board failures and went back to Lionel for repairs."

You didn't ask for advice, but I cannot help but wonder whether this is bad luck or some electrical thing on your layout blowing boards.  If this is unwanted advice, or superfluous, I apologize.  Do you have transient voltage suppressors across all of your transformer outputs, and, if older transformers, current limiting circuit breakers or fuses that limit the amperage to your track? 

@Mikado 4501 posted:

Say what you want about it, but Lionel really went all in for the sounds on that locomotive, and unique sounds are now a big factor in the new locomotives I buy. Comparing the Dreyfuss' sounds with 90's felt like such a letdown, and I don't say that often about LEGACY locomotives.

Maybe I'm just extremely picky about my NYC sounds compared to most people (and this goes for MTH sounds as well), but I still didn't feel particularly satisfied.

Also doesn’t help when we know Lionel has solid recordings of NYC whistles. The ‘96 Commodore Vanderbilt still has the most incredible sounding whistle ever put in a model train. The first time I heard one of those, it gave me goosebumps. Have yet to hear anything that eclipses it.

Personally, I think many of the whistle recordings used in the RS2 and RS2.5 boards sound better than most of what Lionel has put out since. I’d be fine if they dropped the quilling whistle effect and went back to high fidelity recordings of the real whistles.

Laqndsteiner,

My power supply  meets all the current protocols and none of my 25 other legacy engines have any trouble.The dealer I purchased these from had eight that tested bad.

Gunny

I don't think anyone is buying a BTO loco speculating that they can resell it for more later.  I think when a recent release NIB loco is sold on the secondary market it is generally at a significant loss for the seller.

As others have stated, I feel the main reason is because the engine doesn't meet expectations.  If someone really likes their new engine, why would they part with it?

There is also probably the case where someone wants the latest and greatest, and needs funds to be part of the crowd that purchases the latest and greatest.  A financial downward spiral.

Bad paint, bad gears, and bad boards can tend to dampen the draft a bit I guess. Both of my L1s had incorrect paint, locked up gearboxes, and now one has no Legacy response at all. I am waiting on the half off parts sale to get another board and then hopefully I can dispose of them.

I really did not like that the I1s arrived with the same cheap-o budget drive. I thought they’d arrive with Canon drives, especially considering the higher price tag. One of my two examples needed some attention to get the sounds working. They are still mediocre runners, nothing to get excited about. The I1s and L1s were a big letdown after the well executed Class A (which was never followed up with something for it to pull). MTH should have kept the I1/L1 tooling.

I tend to wonder if the guys buying those fantasy hot dog schemes come to their senses not long after the initial dopamine rush they get when unboxing them.

Back to 3rd Rail and ERR.

Norm,

It's for this reason, I only pre-order what I know I want for sure. Even in that event I prepare for what could possibly be wrong, based on past issues with other models. I usually watch others get excited or not, about their long awaited models. Typically once all of the hype is over, I'm happy will power won. I really got excited about those L1's but once I saw the gear issue people were having, I took a deep sigh of relief that I didn't have to deal with that. I honestly don't have the patience for such shenanigans with the money these things cost. Plus, I have the MTH version.

The only time I believe it's acceptable to purchase big ticket items to only be content, is when it's something essential to life. That's not to say that there aren't some who are totally satisfied with their locomotives.  If I decide to get an L1 , I will be prepared to have it repaired. Obviously, it shouldn't be that way but such is life. The one bright and important side I look at, is if people didn't make these initial purchases, our vendors wouldn't be in business. So to all who make these initial purchases, thank you and please keep doing it. This helps people like me make a more informed decision if I want to take the plunge. Then, I keep forever.

Dave

@Mikado 4501 posted:

I guess it didn't help that I received mine just after getting the new Strasburg Decapod, after having just ridden behind the real 90 during the holiday season before she went to the shops for her 1472.

Say what you want about it, but Lionel really went all in for the sounds on that locomotive, and unique sounds are now a big factor in the new locomotives I buy. Comparing the Dreyfuss' sounds with 90's felt like such a letdown, and I don't say that often about LEGACY locomotives.

Maybe I'm just extremely picky about my NYC sounds compared to most people (and this goes for MTH sounds as well), but I still didn't feel particularly satisfied.

I appreciate that Lionel made a noble efforts you say, but I want to hear loco sounds independent of peripheral noises. The bang-clang sounds, IMHO, be something you can turn down or sit off completely.  A continual engine noise at 10:00PM along with the sound of rolling wheels is relaxing and doesn't disturb the household. I rather enjoy most if not all the MTH sounds.

I have warned about this in the recent past....keep your discussion about the topic at hand.  Off topic posts above were deleted.  This is not a truck and car forum so posts about car depreciation and selling/buying vehicles is not what this forum is about.  If you want to discuss those kinds of topics, then find another forum that has been created for that purpose.  We get charged for page views and bandwidth so lets keep this forum about our hobby rather than discussing off topic material....please!!!  The more you guys chit chat about off topic subjects, the more costs go up which eventually is going to affect the forum negatively.

@OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

I have warned about this in the recent past....keep your discussion about the topic at hand.  Off topic posts above were deleted.  This is not a truck and car forum so posts about car depreciation and selling/buying vehicles is not what this forum is about.  If you want to discuss those kinds of topics, then find another forum that has been created for that purpose.  We get charged for page views and bandwidth so lets keep this forum about our hobby rather than discussing off topic material....please!!!  The more you guys chit chat about off topic subjects, the more costs go up which eventually is going to affect the forum negatively.

Thank you Alan, I have been following this discussion and I was thinking that how did we get from selling newer trains to where it went talking about power supplies and manufacturers quality control and everything else that could possibly come up. It happens a bit too often.

Do you think that MAYBE the lack of QC is a major reason people are selling relatively new model trains?  I'm not sure how you can avoid making that connection.

One of the deleted posts makes mention that the cost to get something repaired down the road....in the hundreds of dollars....is a turn off to modern, three rail O-Scale.  I think that's true.

But that's only part of the problem.  Expense aside, what if there are NO PARTS available to fix a broken $2,500 steam engine?  Or a box car you paid 80-100 bucks for?

Years ago, I met someone who sold most of his newer model trains before the warranty period expired.  i thought he was nuts.

Now, I don't.

So other than the controversial light gray Dreyfuss, for which no other "quality" issues have been reported, where is the evidence that there are increases in sales of new engines from dissatisfied customers?  I haven't seen anything remotely resembling actual data, just assertions .

As for me, I'm not a big fan of the modern high tech trains. All of my trains are Lionel postwar, mpc, and six early Williams engines. I like to control my cost to repair them and not be at the mercy of a limited shop or company to repair the electronics or replace a circuit board.

   I have only been back in this hobby for about 3 1/2 years, so I can only speak from personal experience.

   I only buy new locomotives in the $150 to $275 range, and maybe only two or three a year.  I have gotten rid of 3 of them shortly after purchase, not because of colors or stylistic matters, but because of highly disappointing operational features.  One loco had a "whistle" that sounded like a cat being killed.  Another had a bell, that was so low and pathetic that you couldn't hear it over the sound of two engines running on the tracks.  The third had its rollers so close together that it would stall when travelling over back to back 021 turnouts.

    I have enough junk in my life, and if I don't like the way an engine runs, I send it out the door.  Life is too short to keep stuff you don't like.

  I always list them at a bargain price, in as-new condition, and lose money on the resale.   The loss is the price of a lesson learned, and an uncluttered life.  I don't have the time to mess around trying to make a "profit."   

Mannyrock

PS.-  Way too many folks buy new stuff based on impulse alone.  Look at the frenzy that occurs when the "New Catalogue" comes out from a major manufacturer!  This and other boards light-up with excitement.

Back in 1973, when I was 18 years old, and weighed 118 pounds soaking wet, my father (who was rich) made me work for the summer as a laborer for a construction company that was converting semi-swamp land to public parks.  I dug ditches and carried buckets of mud in the 98 degree summer weather, for 3 months, 10 hours a day, WORKING ALONG SIDE THE CHAIN -GANG FROM THE COUNTY PENAL FARM!

I made a whopping $2.00 an hour, and $3.12 an hour for the two mandatory hours of overtime every day.

Every time I get the slightest whim or impulse to buy a really expensive engine, my mind flashes back to that, . . . and I don't buy.

Perhaps other older folks remember those days, and when they receive their impulse buy, think the better of it.

Mannyrock

Just saw on Facebook someone trying to sell a Lionel Big Boy super set for more than you would have to pay new in stock at Mr Muffin's.