Problem with Overland?

[Anonymous]

Hi Y'all!

One of my best freinds lost his UP three unit coal turbine in a break in several months ago. It was nicely detailed and both the head end and second unit were powered. He replaced them and much to his dismay only the first unit was powered. The thing could barely pull itslef out of the yards. Overland said there was nothing they could do. Has anyone else had a problem like this with Overland?

LP

[Anonymous]

I don't see this as being an Overland problem. The replacement model was just a different one. If your 1989 car was stolen, it would not be replaced with an 1989 model would it? Things change.

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with Fundy! I also think that the title of your thread is not really what you wanted to say, as it lacks description. Better to have said; "New Overland UP three unit coal turbine lacks pulling power"!

Sorry to have heard of the break-in and loss of the loco!

[Bob Hayes]

I agree; it's not an OMI problem. Your friend should have paid better attention to the replacement model and made sure it was what he wanted. The problem is his.

Bob Hayes

[Anonymous]

That's not too realistic. Prior to the delivery of the model I bet none of the customers had any idea that only the A unit was powered. The perpetual problem with new brass is the "pig in a poke" aspect of it. Now, if they offered a 100% refund if you weren't satisfied that would suffice but I think that once you buy it you are stuck. There seems to be no obligation on the importer's part to accurately and completely describe what is being produced beforehand. Nor is the item guaranteed to operate and function as well as or better than the prior version. I don't see that as the customer's fault at all except falling for the siren's song of brass in the first place.
Charles

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Speleon

Hi Y'all!

One of my best freinds lost his UP three unit coal turbine in a break in several months ago. It was nicely detailed and both the head end and second unit were powered. He replaced them and much to his dismay only the first unit was powered. The thing could barely pull itslef out of the yards. Overland said there was nothing they could do. Has anyone else had a problem like this with Overland?

LP

I have many Overland models and using the 91 run and 97 run of the FEF-3's as an example, they are not identical. The Turbines have been run many times and some have the interior of the B unit with the actual model of the turbine inside. They ran an early model that only has the A unit powered, and the tank drive which had both units powered. I believe another run used the new drive with both units powered just a few years ago.

For some reason, they decided to offer the new Turbine with the single powered unit only and I cancelled my reservation to purchase one as soon as I found out. The model I wanted was the earlier one with both A and B unit powered so it could be used on a layout to pull trains. The reason might be price. I have found this new Turbine available for 1650. That is low for a three piece brass model.


The best option is to purchase one of the older units and sell this one if your friend can do that.

Each new item that Overland runs is just that, new and usually good or better, but this one to me is a display model only.

I am curious, does it have the interior installed in the B unit??

[dacort]

I don't know if this would apply to your model or not, but I have a couple of Overland diesel mechanisms and both of them have suffered from loose universal couplings on the shaft that connects the motor to the trucks. The plastic universal will spin on the shaft, drastically reducing the performance of the locomotive. A very carefully applied drop of CA glue (maybe you could also use loctite) will help to fix it. It seems that even with just one unit powered, it should be able to pull something. My mechanisms went from not being able to pull themselves up a grade, to being able to pull a train of weighted cars up a grade by themselves.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tip! I bought a used 2-8-8-0 on Ebay that I found was slipping on the front unit while pulling anything else or going more than slow speeds. I returned it and the guy had it repaired but never said what was wrong. Sounds like it could easily have been what you mentioned. I'll know what to look for if it happens again.
Charles

[randybc2003]

Sorry to hear about the break-in. [:(][:(!]
Not to pry, but your profile doesn't list a location. In a general area, where was this? If the thief doesn't know what he has - it may show up at a swap meet or train show. I hope your friend gave the police good information, so that bells will ring if somebody sees it. Alert the LHS and clubs too.
Good luck!!!

[dinwitty]

I believe PSC and/or NWSL have a 6 wheel underfloor power unit you could drop on and flop sideframes onto it.
the only issue is speed differences between original and the underfloor trucks.

[trolleyboy]

Just my two cents but OMI and indeed all brass importers should ensure that their products peform well because they are starting to lose thier detail edge over the more affordable aand better reliable plastic out there.For the money yyou pay for the model they should darn well have all the units powered instead of cheaping out.I'm sire that the price didn't drop from run to run.Therfore this is a manufacturer's problem and good customer service needs to be applied here. Rob

[davekelly]

I remember reading in MRR years ago that a portion of a brass run was accidently equipped with 9V motors. Only one or two were reported to the importer even a couple years later. The author concluded that either the purchasers replaced the motors themselves or that the things were purchased by collectors and were never ran. Perhaps OMI doesn't expect many of its engines to be run and isn't as concerned about the running qualities.