TA462 BRAKIE TA462,What you fail to realize is I did replace some with Athearn gears since I read and heard some of the replacement gears was cracked so,I opt out and bought Athearn gears up to the 17th loco to have crack gears..I then said the H with 'em and sold 'em at a lost because the word was out on the street about the crack gear issue... Believe as you will and call me what you will but,it was 30.... Again the ONLY thing I have against P2K was the crack gears.. I have even recommended their EMD and Alco switchers. You need a GP9? The P2K is the only '9 in town..EVERYBODY knows that.Same for the SD7/9s. A funny thought cross my mind..Its ok to bash Bachmann,Athearn,Atlas,Kato for their bo-bos but,not the former LL gear problem? So you sold your loco's at a loss because you didn't want to do the two minute fix on them that wouldn't have cost you a penny to fix? LOL, let me know if you have anything else that you can't fix that you want to sell. I think its OK to bash any company that doesn't stand behind their products but in Life Like's case they went way above my expectations, even though they have a life time warranty by replacing every single cracked gear that was brought to their attention. I don't think its fair to Life Like or Walthers to bash their products that they fully stand behind. You probably got some bad advice from your train club buddies, who probably bought your loco's and your still angry about the soaking they gave you. Don't blame Proto for your foolish mistake. The next time you want to bash Proto just think about what other manufacturer stands behind their product like Proto does. Also remember how easy it would have been to fix your own loco's instead of how much money you lost because you didn't want to fix them.
BRAKIE TA462,What you fail to realize is I did replace some with Athearn gears since I read and heard some of the replacement gears was cracked so,I opt out and bought Athearn gears up to the 17th loco to have crack gears..I then said the H with 'em and sold 'em at a lost because the word was out on the street about the crack gear issue... Believe as you will and call me what you will but,it was 30.... Again the ONLY thing I have against P2K was the crack gears.. I have even recommended their EMD and Alco switchers. You need a GP9? The P2K is the only '9 in town..EVERYBODY knows that.Same for the SD7/9s. A funny thought cross my mind..Its ok to bash Bachmann,Athearn,Atlas,Kato for their bo-bos but,not the former LL gear problem?
TA462,What you fail to realize is I did replace some with Athearn gears since I read and heard some of the replacement gears was cracked so,I opt out and bought Athearn gears up to the 17th loco to have crack gears..I then said the H with 'em and sold 'em at a lost because the word was out on the street about the crack gear issue...
Believe as you will and call me what you will but,it was 30....
Again the ONLY thing I have against P2K was the crack gears..
I have even recommended their EMD and Alco switchers.
You need a GP9? The P2K is the only '9 in town..EVERYBODY knows that.Same for the SD7/9s.
A funny thought cross my mind..Its ok to bash Bachmann,Athearn,Atlas,Kato for their bo-bos but,not the former LL gear problem?
So you sold your loco's at a loss because you didn't want to do the two minute fix on them that wouldn't have cost you a penny to fix? LOL, let me know if you have anything else that you can't fix that you want to sell.
I think its OK to bash any company that doesn't stand behind their products but in Life Like's case they went way above my expectations, even though they have a life time warranty by replacing every single cracked gear that was brought to their attention. I don't think its fair to Life Like or Walthers to bash their products that they fully stand behind. You probably got some bad advice from your train club buddies, who probably bought your loco's and your still angry about the soaking they gave you. Don't blame Proto for your foolish mistake. The next time you want to bash Proto just think about what other manufacturer stands behind their product like Proto does. Also remember how easy it would have been to fix your own loco's instead of how much money you lost because you didn't want to fix them.
Actually I sold them at a train show not my club buddies who was having the same problems..
When word hits the street that the GP7/9/30 had crack gears you couldn't give 'em away..Why else do you think they was being dumped for $29.95 new from several on line dealers and going dirt cheap on e-Bay?
So,your insinuations and straw man argument doesn't hold water for knowledgeable modelers that is well aware of the past GP7/9/30 gear issue..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
TA462 & Brakie,
Comm on guys, just forget it. Everyone chose their own road with the P2K models. Ta462, you and I stand on the same thinking about the early Proto models. And Brakie is right, they were being sold for $29.99 and cheap "buy it nows" on ebay. Heck I snagged up like 20 of the ones in the road names I wanted at that price. Being able to repair 5 loco's for $10, that was a no brainer. As far as your opinion Brakie? Hey P2K left a bad taste in your mouth, no big deal. You have your opinion of the Proto's, and other people have theirs, Its like argueing over Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Everyone is going to have an opinion on whats good and whats bad, its going to happen.
A year ago I was at a train show, and a small vender had like maybe 50 Proto models in all kinds of different road, and he was selling them for like $25, I picked up 4 of them knowing they had cracked gears in them, these were brand new never run. I also had 2 guys ask me if I knew anything about the engines, and got this big long talk about quality issues and cracked gears, think they thought I didn't know anything about the cracked gears. I brought them home and one out of 4 had gear problems, but I changed out all the wheel gears in all 4 units to be on the safe side.
Brakie, I understand where your coming from, buying a product that seemed to be bad from the start, does put a thorn in your saddle, been there done that, way to many times. Had that problem with my Harley I bought brand new in 2002, fought with them for 2 years until they had to replace the whole motor. But I still like the HD company, but thats me. I respect your thoughts on what you think. Hope people keep selling off their Proto's cheap, they will find a home with the people like TA and I who like to tinker with things. I like my Atlas and Kato models to, and will always cherish my supply of BB Athearns.
ICRR
For anyone that isn't sure, this is all you need to correct the problem....from Litchfield Station or any other LHS.
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=999003095&cat=0&page=1
TA462:
Ignore anyone that prefers the 50 yr.old Athearn GP-9.
First.(and least), the Athearn GP-9 is a GP-7, not a GP-9
2 FAR WORSE: The Athearn has a un-protoypical WIDE body to hide its motor.
3' 'Jack-rabbit' starts, stops, and 120 mph speeds
4.12 volt Headlight in cab varies with speed of loco
5.Old style motor pulls 1/2 to 1 ampere (depending on age - average 3/4 amps -and takes 6 volts to start
The Proto 2000 is geared for prototipical starts, stops, and speeds,,(Stops and starts like a real engine)
Runs @ 1/3volt,
Directional Headlight comes on before engine starts to move
Correct body and superior paint job,
Old 'ATLAS/Kato:
Superior running to Athearn
Correct body, but similar paint job
Atlas GP-7 (Last run)
Superior paint job+ available in different paint schemes;, .(Example:: had 1972 war-bonnet freeight scheme).
scheme
aster than P2K chassis
Cost is higher
Runs @ 1/4 amps each
"Cracked gears - Old news (2 cyears old)
1. Limited primarily to OLD 8 wheel Chassis' (GP-20, GP-30, GP-9)
2. FREE gear replacements,sent NC for the asking.
3. Super simple home replacement or Erly runs ewere closed out at unbelievable low prices.
Where's the complaint?.
Don Gibson "Cracked gears - Old news (2 cyears old) 1. Limited primarily to OLD 8 wheel Chassis' (GP-20, GP-30, GP-9) 2. FREE gear replacements,sent NC for the asking. 3. Super simple home replacement or Erly runs ewere closed out at unbelievable low prices. Where's the complaint?.
armchair,
No big deal, we just had a few conflicts over the state of the issue between members.
So how did your repairs or trouble shooting come out on your problem with your loco?
It would be best to let it go, but I will answer Your question. Walthers wanted Me to send them all the gearsets out of the 6 bad locos with a copy of the original sales slips & I would have to pay shipping & handling both ways IF they decided to warranty them. I will try to do what someone else suggested & just order the gears from Athearn. I don't like dealing with Walthers. Two many if's . I did not intend to start a feud on this post, seems to Me too much of a Ford vs. Chevy issue. The detail on the P2K are great, but I will stick to Atlas & Kato from now on, because I did not like the CS at Walthers. This is only MY experience with them so let's not have another feud, please. Thanks to all that actually answered the original question asked . Randy........
Randy,
Ya, if you bought them at a train show or snagged them up of ebay, Walthers probably won't cover the gears. And the added cost of shipping, so fixing them with the Athearn gears is your best bet at this point. Here is a link as to where to get them. I would order a few extra packs just to have on hand though.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH60024
ICRR , I ordered 8 packs @ 2.25 . This seemed like the best way to go. Those locos were ALL bought new, that didn't seem to matter . It is no big deal ,lesson learned. Folks @ Horizon were pleasant to deal with, I ordered some horns while I was at it, an SD 50 mysteriously had one missing,(broke off while I was installing coupler). Randy....