Lionel Service Centers, a question.

[Anonymous]

Received an email from Lionel informing me that there are no service centers near me.  Closest seems to be an 1 1/2 away in Mansfield, Oh.  It is amazing that Ohio's largest city, does not have a Lionel Service Center, but of course we are the largest city in the western hemisphere without passenger rail service.

That's because the only thing in Columbus is a University...

[spankybird]

so once again, the model railroading follows the real railroading.

Buckeye - we have both, Lionel service centers and Amtrak!

[Buckeye Riveter]

Received an email from Lionel informing me that there are no service centers near me.  Closest seems to be an 1 1/2 away in Mansfield, Oh.  It is amazing that Ohio's largest city, does not have a Lionel Service Center, but of course we are the largest city in the western hemisphere without passenger rail service.

[phillyreading]

If it is anything like the automotive repair world they hook up your locomotive to a computer to diagnose the problem, sometime the computer will say it could be one of two things so the tech replaces the lower cost item first.  The more we get into the computer age the more computers will be used to test & repair stuff.

Lee F.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Memory Station in Watkinsville, GA is an authorized Lionel service center.  As I understand it Lionel used to offer training to their dealers but I don't know if they still do.  It appears that having a good relationship with a tech at Lionel is critical to the dealer/repairman when questions come up and/or replacement parts are needed quickly.  With today's electronics knowing which board to replace seems more important that the mechanical end of repairs, though the kids, and some adults, can come up with some unique ways of disabling an engine.

Roger, my thoughts exactly.  Since the new electronics is "plug and play", it takes someone with some knowledge about the plug part and small fingers.

[Roger Bielen]

Memory Station in Watkinsville, GA is an authorized Lionel service center.  As I understand it Lionel used to offer training to their dealers but I don't know if they still do.  It appears that having a good relationship with a tech at Lionel is critical to the dealer/repairman when questions come up and/or replacement parts are needed quickly.  With today's electronics knowing which board to replace seems more important that the mechanical end of repairs, though the kids, and some adults, can come up with some unique ways of disabling an engine.

[luther_stanton]

Trainz (trainz.com) also does service center work.  They are in Buford, GA - you can send it in via UPS.  I had a Mikado that would not smoke out of the box - it was a bad mother board.  I dropped it off locally; met with the actual techs and received a nice tour of their entire operation.  They do A LOT of post war maintenance and reconditioning.  They have a number of full time dedicated technicians.  I was satisfied with the entire process and the repairs.

- Luther 

[Anonymous]

These guys repair Lionel too....

http://www.ironhorsehobbyshop.com/

 

[kpolak]

I have ordered parts from Brasseur.  Great service!

I just sent in a parts order to Dr. Tinker.  I was looking for 2025 stamped boiler front.  He seemed to be one of the few who had one.  I also ordered a few other items.  It's going to cost me $9.00 shipping each time I order anything, so I group as much as I can.  He answered a number of e-mail questions I had about parts not on the site, and responded usually within 24 hours. 

I read his first book, as recommended by another forum member, and it has a great number of tech tips I never even thought about.

I believe the Dr. still does repair.

Kurt

[chuck]

Brasseur in Saginaw, MI is also a serivice center (and a part dealer).  The work is done on the second floor of the shop.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Buckeye.....The only Lionel Service Center , that I know of is the Trading Post, in Cleveland. It's on Pearl Road. Been there many time and they are good. I mailed them an engine, years ago, and they fixed it and mailed it back to me. You may want to give them a call. They advertise in CTT magazine.

Chuck

[Buckeye Riveter]

Kurt, I have had the same thing happen.  Went to dealer, and he sent it to someone else in town.   Now the dealer is not in business, my favorite dealer, Davis in Cincinnati is not taking repairs, so I need to go somewhere else.   And as you and I know, Lionel Dealers and Service Centers are not as numerous in Ohio and Michigan as on the East Coast.

[kpolak]

Good question!

I went to a 'Lionel Dealer' and they sent me to someone working out of his basement.  He did a good job with the repairs I needed, and knew his stuff, but he just seemed to really like repairing trains.

Kurt

[Buckeye Riveter]

Lionel designates certain establishments as Service Centers supposedly so that you can have a Lionel product repaired if something goes wrong. 

My question is this, what are the requirements for becoming a Service Center?  Do you go to Lionel Service Center Training School or what?  Is it OTJT?