Were you ever disappointed with a purchase?

[FJ and G]

Most of what I've got I like. My most disappointing purchases were:

1. Anything HO; a real pain to operate

2. Recently purchased 6 tortoise switch machines, only to discover that the contacts are too small to solder anything to

3. Railking 2-8-0 came without valve gear. I was (admission) too stupid to realize it was missing until saw photo of prototype

4. Lionel construction set that didn't come with a reversing unit and didn't state so on the box; also only one pickup

5. 027 turnouts: they make a terrible noise when anything is parked on them and then fry out

Fortunately, most of what I purchased works great and I'm satisfied with. Just the 5 percent.

[wrmcclellan]

Dave,

A further disappointment with the Tortise machines are that the contacts only handle 1 amp maximum (unless that is what you meant by the contacts being too small) so you have to use the Tortise to switch a relay that has a 10 amp capability for O ga trains (scale, toy, or tinplate).

[FJ and G]

Roy,

Hadn't thought of that but that too could be a problem. Using an HO pak (DC setting) to operate mine.

I was referring to the electrical contacts where the wire's supposed to be hooked up.

After paying $16 you'd think they'd make the connection large enough or add a connector device!

[FJ and G]

another disappointing purchase was a lemon (have you ever gotten a lemon?). A 1986 Hyundai, the first year they came out. After a couple of years, the repairs I made exceeded the cost of the car and ended up giving it away.

So, trains aren't the only disappointments!

Don't even talk to me about dental insurance; that beats all. So far they haven't covered my crown or implant; just piddly stuff like cleanings and fillings.

What good for nothing insurance!!!!!

[wrmcclellan]

Dave,

Are you talking about the PC board edge connector that comes out the bottom and also has small holes for soldering a wire?

Be aware that these machines motors only draw a few milliamps and you only need something like telephone hook-up wire (i.e. 22 AWG) to connect them to the power source. You should also be aware that they are made to draw current all the time (motor stays in a safe low current, low heat dissapation mode), resting at each limit with the motor stalled. This way it keeps pressure on the point rails. (Some DCC controllers even have a nifty feature to reset the points on each powerup of the layout to ensure the switch points are securely engaged).

These are actually pretty nice switch machines and by keeping the drive voltage low can simulate the slow action of a prototype power switch. Some folks also use these machines to power semphores prototypically.

The biggest complaint from the Model RR community is the auxilary relay contacts that are inside the motor are only rated for 1 ampere, which is not enought to safely handle switching of power to the frog in a 2 rail environment (includes some HO applications - 5 amp DCC driver/PS - and definitely a problem for O scale - 10 amp).

These contacts are pretty handy for low current signaling and/or feedback to a control panel for switch position. But to power and unpower an adjacent block in O scale, you need to add an external relay that is rated for 10 amps that is triggered by the Tortise aux contacts.

Let me know if you want to discuss any thoughts on how to wire these guys up.

Regards,
Roy

[lionelsoni]

Dave, I am surprised you can't solder to those. That's a .156" card-edge connector. If I remember correctly, they even put holes in the pads. If you want to try a connector, here are a couple of postings about them:

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=-1&TOPIC_ID=29255&REPLY_ID=288540#288540

[FJ and G]

Roy,

I haven't yet wired them up and am glad you brought this info to my attention! What sort of transformer would one use for these and how can the connections be made? I was thinking of using 12 v DC from an HO pack to power it. But there's no loop for my wire to connect.

Will be using these to power some handmade turnouts. May also use to power a crossing gate and some other animation.

[Anonymous]

RED Caboose gp-9, A COMPLETE peice of junk. I was leaning toward two rail in the begining, not any more. THree rails are where its at. Bill

[Anonymous]

I get dissapointed daily with the trains......

[Anonymous]

My 319 dollar kline Penn makado. It arrived in a factory box that had been opened and then retaped with a different tape and when I took engine out the drivers and rollers had wear marks on it indicating it had been run.
When I ran it in command it ran very jearky and when in neutral the smoke came out the bottom of the engine. The instructions said the fan would come on when in neutral, lwhen it got too warm in the smoke unit. Mine did not do that it just burned out.
I feel I got a factory reject as no other engine has come to me with the outer factory box taped back with different tape.
I had to send it back at my cost of course and am unable to get another Penn as they are out of them. They did agree to refund my money or subsitute another road name.
I selected C&O and hopefully will get a good one. Dave.

[lionelsoni]

Dave, you can power the Tortoise from an ac source through a rectifier diode, like a 1N4001. The direction of the diode determines which way it runs; so, use two diodes and select which one is in the circuit with an SPDT switch or two normally-open pushbuttons or a Lionel-style switch controller.

I have had a Tortoise apart; and the switch is just fingers moving on a circuit board. I suspect that it can handle much more than 1 ampere, especially if it does not have to switch under load. If you are using it to power a siding, that shouldn't be much of a limitation.

[iguanaman3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by northern 1

My 319 dollar kline Penn makado. It arrived in a factory box that had been opened and then retaped with a different tape and when I took engine out the drivers and rollers had wear marks on it indicating it had been run.
When I ran it in command it ran very jearky and when in neutral the smoke came out the bottom of the engine. The instructions said the fan would come on when in neutral, lwhen it got too warm in the smoke unit. Mine did not do that it just burned out.
I feel I got a factory reject as no other engine has come to me with the outer factory box taped back with different tape.
I had to send it back at my cost of course and am unable to get another Penn as they are out of them. They did agree to refund my money or subsitute another road name.
I selected C&O and hopefully will get a good one. Dave.

Dave, Are you sure your Mikado came with a fan driven smoke unit? I thought they had the puffer type. My UP is coming this week and I hope I don't have your troubles and have to return it. Good luck with your new one. Neil

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by northern 1

My 319 dollar kline Penn makado. It arrived in a factory box that had been opened and then retaped with a different tape and when I took engine out the drivers and rollers had wear marks on it indicating it had been run.
When I ran it in command it ran very jearky and when in neutral the smoke came out the bottom of the engine. The instructions said the fan would come on when in neutral, lwhen it got too warm in the smoke unit. Mine did not do that it just burned out.
I feel I got a factory reject as no other engine has come to me with the outer factory box taped back with different tape.
I had to send it back at my cost of course and am unable to get another Penn as they are out of them. They did agree to refund my money or subsitute another road name.
I selected C&O and hopefully will get a good one. Dave.

Northern1,
I ordered one of those 319 PENN K-line Mikado critters too! I haven't recieved mine yet. Sure hope I don't get the one you returned! [:)][?][:(] I will inform the board when it arrives and its condition.
My most diappointing purchase was a Bachmann HO K4. The driver wheels were all out of alignment. I sent it back to the factory and didn't get it back until more than six months later after several confused phone calls. Loco was repaired OK, but they returned it with a burned out headlight! [:(!]

[MartyE]

Yep...

Many times to varrying degrees. My Lionel T-1 when it's running is a favorite but I have had a bad run with the speed magnet Lionel uses for Odyssey. The Southern 2356 Fs from a few years back...love the engines but wi***hey offered the original PW line up as the cars instead of the passenger set.

[railfanespee4449]

My great-looking Lionel ACL Sd-18. Good price, great looks, nice horn, fine puller, and BAD TRACTION TIRES! i guess that happens after 20+ years on the shelf. As soon Red's train shop at trainland USA opens, I'm getting the tires fixed.

[Dr. John]

I picked up a Lionel GP-20 in GM&O scheme (not prototypical, but who cares? It looked great.) Ran it half a lap before the front truck came apart and the weight fell out! I got it back together, but it always derails on turnouts.

The 1983 Buick Skyhawk I had 20 years ago. That car was a DOG!

Sorry, Rocky and Misty! I wasn't talking about you!

[macdannyk1]

An $80.00 new SantaFe RS-3 (Lionel) which is completely plastic, has one cheap DC can motor and can barely get itself around my layout; forget about pulling any cars.
:(

[Bluecometk]

Lionel 840 power station remake. Just has no smoke output
MTH 45 degree realtrax crossing. It had a short when I took it out of the box and then after I fixed it a lot of my engines stall when they cross it at slower speeds.
An MTH 400E PS 2 that had no sound rite out of the box. After Christmas I sent it back and the MTH service people fixed it up.
I purchased a #80 signal from Ebay. The description said base is crackedbut works fine. When I received it, it had no insides. You learn as you go.

Dissclaimer: Im not whining, you asked

[Anonymous]

Bought the Wabash gp-7 3 unit lashup. It worked for about 10 minutes then one of the engines went silent. Sent it back to the dealer and about 10 long-distance calls and about 9 months later finally got it back but still didn't work. I was frantic! By switching parts from one of my other locos found the speaker was bad. Bought one from a dealer in Chicago and installed it myself. Seems to me a dealer could've repaired it more easily than I did. OH, and he didn't return it in the original box. John

[philo426]

I also bought the infamous Lionel Construction Zone set and was furious to find out that the RS-3 had no reversing unit not even a manual reversing switch.Luckily I only paid Fifty dollars for it,so I took the Rs-3 to my LHS and had the owner install a 3 position E-unit and an additional can motor to make it a dual motored locomotive.After I repainted it in NYC Lightining stripe livery,it pulled a 25 car train with no wheel spin and is a very reliable addition to my locomotive fleet.[:)]

[philo426]

I also bought the infamous Lionel Construction Zone set and was furious to find out that the RS-3 had no reversing unit not even a manual reversing switch.Luckily I only paid Fifty dollars for it,so I took the Rs-3 to my LHS and had the owner install a 3 position E-unit and an additional can motor to make it a dual motored locomotive.After I repainted it in NYC Lightining stripe livery,it pulled a 25 car train with no wheel spin and is a very reliable addition to my locomotive fleet.[:)]

[philo426]

Sorry for the duplicate post,I just joined today.

[FJ and G]

Thanks for info Bob N and others.

Welcome to forum philo426,

I positioned a DPDT switch atop the unit, added weights and another pickup and repainted myself, but taking to dealer sounds a lot easier. Learned next time to ignore the low end stuff.

Mac D

Try adding some weights inside the shell of the RS-3. Position them over the traction tires that are powered. you'll notice an immediate improvement.

I payed a whopping $99 for my set from Toys R Us (sorry can't make a backwards R)

[Jumijo]

You are about to read about a customer that WASN'T satisfied with JT's Megasteam smoke fluid:

I purchased some JT's Megasteam back in January to boost smoke output and to make the room smell more pleasing when the train was running. After using it daily for over a month, I noticed that it never equalled Lionel's fluid for output or duration. I tried all kinds of things to boost the output. I filled it more. I filled it less. I drained the unit and filled it, ran the train with longer and longer consists at higher voltage- it made no difference.

I e-mailed Jeff at Megasteam about my problems with the product and asked him what he suggests I do to improve the performance. I was not abusive in any way towards him or the product and as a matter of fact, made a point to tell him how highly I thought of his service and turnaround when I bought the product. He wrote back and told me to use Lionel's fluid and finished by saying "Please do not order again".

I was really taken back by his attitude. "Please do not order again"?! All because I asked him to stand behind his product? As a merchant, he has to expect some unsatisfied customers, and perhaps needs to learn to be as pleasant during the problems as he is when he's taking their money. I was greatly disappointed. He ended up refunding my money. I'd rather have settled the issue differently, as I wanted to give the product (and Jeff) the benefit of the doubt, and at least one more chance. I was given no other option and was told I'm not welcomed to order from him again. Well, don't worry JT, I won't! The funny part for me was that he referred me to the OGR forum to see how people rave about his smoke fluid. Sure enough, there was a person with the same complaint I have.I may not be the first to be unsatisfied with Megasteam, but I'm the second.

Jim

[cnw1995]

Can't say that I have been - I've been surprised by things like a lack of instructions - but I guess I'm fortunate in that I either expect things to be wrong with used items I pick up or buy the most basic things like manual 027 turnouts that are pretty bullet-proof.

Some things drive me crazy like the 153C connectors that you have to continually fiddle with to get just right - but I like their 'basic-ness' - so it's a trade-off I guess.

[TurboOne]

Mine was my first ebay purchase. Thought I got a steal. Two trolley cars HO for $5.00. They arrived. Looked great. No motors, as they were made by avon. Looked just like the bachmann versions. Reread description, never said they had motors, just said trolley cars. Learned to pay attention better next time.

Tim

[Anonymous]

You betcha....3 items come to mind, all from MTH:

First up was their version of the re-issue-- 23769 Revolving Aircraft Beacon ($90.00)
This beacon was nicely done, and the little hut on base added allot to it's look, however this operating accesory does'nt work very well.

The unit has a light-wieght tin/alum. beacon housing which has beveled fan blades at the top. Inside, there's a pin that sitson the top of the lightbulb, in which the glass of the bulb has an indentation for the pin to sit in.

Ideally, the heat from the lightbulb is supposed to spin the beacon once it passes through the fanblades, but REALISTICALLY, it doesn't work. Using the recomended voltage, the bulb never produced enough heat to spin the beacon.
Putting the unit on variable voltage, I even tried juicing it up to 22 volts, to only get inconsistent results.
Upon emailing Mr. Elderman (?) he suggested sending me a new lightbulb and and the lense assembly, saying that if the blades were'nt exactly positioned correctly it might not work.

After getting these items in the mail, it worked just as poorly as before, so I returned it to the hobby store, and replaced it with the MTH 30-9033 op. rotary beacon, which works flawlessly with a vibrator motor, for less than half the price!!!!!!

Secondly, is the 30-9032 Operating Radar Tower from MTH:

This worked good untill the warranty expired. (figures) Now it spins so slow, that sometimes it stoppes spinning altogether....

Thirdly is the MTH 30-11027 Lighted Yard Master Tower.

Inside, It is divided into 3 floors, each with it's own lightbulb. The top floor bulb is accessed by removing the top, while the other 2 are incorporated into one assembly the pushes in from the bottom.

After the warranty expired, (again-Naturally), the middle bulb kept shorting out, and one of the plastic window panes fell out.

After examining the light assembly, I couldn't find any broken contacts or soldier joints, yet even with a different bulb, the middle one kept shorting out.

My resolve to this issue was to disassemble the entire building, and remove the middle floor divider, so that the light from the bottom bulb would pull double duty & illuminate the middle floors windows as well. I also had to tape/glue the lost window pane back in.

For as much money as they charge for accesories, you'de think theyd'e make them with more quality......

[tbwilson4]

I purchased an Atlas fm-erie built last month, electronics were reversed-push bell button, whistle would blow, push whistle, bell would ring. Also, sound system wouldnt shut off when power was turned off, engine sound continued to diesel on with my Z4000 totally turned off. Final complaint-smoke system wont operate. Sent unit back to Atlas-at my expense-received engine back with most items fixed-except for the *** smoke unit. Pulled shell open to examine smoke unit-No smoke,no blower operation,-nothing! (yes, slide switch is to "smoke" ,plenty of fluid.) No response from Atlas.Lemon

[Anonymous]

Hello TTim: It's 11:45 pm EST. & I am LOL, that is priceless, I would have like to have seen the look on your face when you opened the package, If you had it on video you probably could have had a spot on Jay Leno. Anyhow thanks for having the courage to share that one, Kind regards to You & Yours Steve

[1Trainman]

My biggest disappoint was when I purchased an MTH boxcar that was painted in Reading Blue Mountain and Northern colors only to discover everything about the car was so wrong except the road number and color. The second disappoint came when I brought the mistakes to Mike Wolf's attention and he would not even acknowledge me or the mistakes

Skip