Boy I just went through the ringer with a recent train purchase.
I bought a (NOS) K-Line 2-6-6-T Boston and Albany Tank Engine w/TMCC from an outfit called Eastern Depot. I've always wanted one of those, growing up in B&A Country.
When I got it, it didn't smoke and it ran horribly so I sent it back. When I called them, they said they were going to "fix" it and return it to me.
I get it back and notice the the right pilot light on the boiler front was bent backwards, and although it smoked, it literally ran worse than whe I first got it and now the sound was on the fritz. I returned it for a refund. That was sad because it was a great looking engine.
I have (4) K-Line locomotives and all of them are delicate by comparison to a Williams, MTH or Lionel. Out of the 4, Two of them have been sent out for repairs (failures). So maybe I should have known better.
I've had trucks on K-Line cars literally desintigrate due to zinc pest, but was able to refit them with Lionel trucks.
Has anyone else had these problems with K-Line stuff?
Now that the B&A is non-starter, I guess I'll spring for a new Williams Pacific
Wow, not like that!
I've got a K-Line Pacific with a dead smoke unit and a dead whistle unit in the tender. I substituted a Williams steam whistle kit for the K-Line unit (easy install, by the way) but still haven't gotten around to the smoke unit. It's an oddball size, more like an HO unit than an O gauge unit. I'll do it eventually.
Aside from that, the engine's a good runner.
I've had a lot of K-Line trucks with zinc pest. The trucks comprise several castings, only some of which are affected. I save all the intact parts and have been able to piece together a very few good trucks from them. Otherwise, I just substitute Lionel trucks, as you do.
I also have a couple of K-Line semi-trailers whose roofs are decaying; but everything below the roofs is just fine.
I have had some zinc pest on MTH and Lionel. A lot of little glued-on detail parts rotted away on my Railking Big Boy. I shipped the main casting to them; and they offered me a whole new boiler, which I accepted. (The old cab was numbered 4020, which is incorrect for the handrail radiators that they put on it; so I was happy to have the number change to 4017.)
The motor of one of my Lionel 773s is affected, but hasn't gone so far that I have felt like putting in the spare motor that I acquired as soon as I saw what was happening.
Bob Nelson
Oh no!
I've got some real nice K-Line boxed passenger cars. I better check them.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
I've got a few K-Line freight cars myself, nice quality billboard cars, and haven't seen any evidence of zincpest. I've had 'em a few years, I'll take a look this weekend.
Not that I'm saying it hasn't happened to anyone else, by the way. It just hasn't happened to me.
Hmmm...think I'll check mine too.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Well, I don't know what to say.
Just checked my K-Line stuff in the Chugger Barn, some of it going back fifteen-plus years, and there's no sign of zincpest on anything.
Maybe I'm just lucky, or the other folks are the victims of a bad production run.
What is '' zinc pest '' ?
Zincpest is a condition where a zinc alloy metal, such as the alloy referred to as "diecast" in the toy train world, begins to deteriorate due to improper smelting of the zinc. If all the impurities in the zinc aren't absolutely, positively removed the alloy will begin to break down after a number of years and nothing can stop it.
It's the toy train and toy collectors nightmare. The first toy train manufacturer to use diecast was Dorfan back in the late 20's,early 30's, and their products were plauged by zincpest. Almost none have survived to this day intact. Maerklin even had a serious problem with it for a while.
Not to worry too much, if you've got some pre-war or post-war Lionels or American Flyers and it hasn't happened yet I wouldn't be too concerned, it's not likely to at this point in time.
Zincpest (actually a German term) is also known as zinc disease or zinc rot, zincpest being the more popular phrase.
There's another thing that can happen with zinc, it's a surface oxidation the Germans call "weissrost," or white rust. It's strictly a surface thing and has nothing to do with zinc pest, it responds like any rust to cleaning and oiling or painting.
Personally, I don't lose any sleep over it, but I do check my stuff from time to time just the same.
The term "die-cast" literally means "produced by the die-casting method". The material can be any of a number of elemental metals or alloys, of which zinc and predominantly-zinc alloys are most common for die-cast toys like toy trains.
Lionelsoni's correct. The alloy mostly used is called Zamac, it was developed around 1929, and there's several grades of it, too many to go into here. You can find all the whys and wherefores about Zamac with an easy on-line search.
Some of you may remember Zamac from junior high or high school metal shop classes. Liability concerns being what they are nowadays I don't know if metal casting's even done in schools anymore.
<knock on wood>
I have 5 scale K-line diecast locomotives, all exquisitely detailed and run great. Also have 20 scale aluminum passenger cars, and a dozen scale freight cars with diecast trucks, all without problems. K-line scale trains in the later years of the company had excellent craftsmanship. Zinc Rot has occasionally plagued several manufacturers over the years, but certainly is the exception and not the rule.
Admittedly, I bought all of these on the secondary market in the last 5 years, where the damaged items might not be put up for sale.
I'm surprised the shop was not able to get the steamer running properly, but I don't blame you for ditching it after 2 attempts.
Bob
At least you don't have to worry about zincpest with steel track!
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