Problems with Lionel Western Pacific F3 shells?

[twaldie]

Can anyone out there tell me if Lionel had problems with the shells on some of it's Western Pacific F3s? They have a manual consisting of replacement procedures for the (I believe) 6-18192 and 6-18193 shells.
Thanks for any help?
Tim

[1688torpedo]

Hello twaldie & [#welcome] Your best bet would be to call Lionel at 1-586-949-4100 and let the Service Department know what your situation requires.They did have some problems with those particular shells and may be able to replace yours.Good Luck.

[Warburton]

I know that registered owners of the engines were offered replacement shells shortly after their release. Apparently, they had a lot of complaints that the shells were not close enough copies of the postwar originals -- especially the 3 vertical raised lines which run along the cab sides and did not appear on the PW versions. Owners could obtain revised shells by removing the shells they had and returning them directly to Lionel for a switch. I didn't do it for mine, but it was offered as a no-cost option. This would appear to mean that 2 different legitimate shell versions exist for these engines. Which has more value, I don't know!