Life Like Parts

[aaroNW]

I have a Life Like n scale SW1200 I was repainting and lost one of the copper strips that transfers power from the trucks to the motor.  I have run into a brick wall in finding life like parts,  I have not been able to fins a junker to steal parts from either, I have put some work into it and it ran good so it'd hate for it to go to waste.  any ideas

[NP2626]

Have you contacted the manufacturer?

[richhotrain]

In the "old days", Life Like could provide the spare parts but no more.  Since Walthers acquired Life Like, they don't stock any spare parts, so forget about that.

Plus, Life Like N scale locos that might be available as junkers are hard to find.

Your best best is to try to fabricate the part yourself.

I once did that on a Spectrum steamer, but it is no easy task.

Rich

[BroadwayLion]

Lost a part?

You meant you do not set up a sterile surgical field when you work on your train? Of course small parts are going to drop to the bench or worse yet to the floor. Place a white cloth on your work bench so that you can see all of the parts. Sweep the floor regularly under your work bench and paint that white. mount a bright light under your work bench so that you can see what falls on the floor. It has to be there somewhere. Get down on your knees with a bright light and a magnifying glass so that you can find it.

Failing all of this, you will have to do things they way the 1:1 railroads do when they need a part for an ancient workhorse: You make the part. Save all small brass, copper, and bronze thingamajigs for future innovations.

And above all else, keep your workbench neat and clean.

Life-Like did a better job with parts than Walther's does. But go ahead, write to them and find out what you can get. LION wishes that he could buy some Proto-1000 parts for his subway trains, but they seem to be in the business of making trains and not parts. Someone should start a company: "Parts R Us" and should contract with the manufacturers to purchase all parts directly from the manufacturer when the run is made.

ROAR

[richhotrain]

BroadwayLion

And above all else, keep your workbench neat and clean.

LOL

That might be worth starting a thread with photo included.

Any reply must include a mandatory photo of the respondent's own workbench.

Rich

[NP2626]

richhotrain

Since Walthers acquired Life Like, they don't stock any spare parts, so forget about that.

Rich

And you know this to be fact, because you have delt with the manufacturer, over what?

It is a manufacturer's duty to carry replacement parts!  To take over a line and not provide replacement parts is a travisty! 

At least talk to Life Like and/or Walthers about this, maybe they can help!  I find that people who claim empirical knowledge about things, sometimes don't, so I always check things out, myself! 

[richhotrain]

NP2626

richhotrain

Since Walthers acquired Life Like, they don't stock any spare parts, so forget about that.

Rich

And you know this to be fact, because you have delt with the manufacturer, over what?

It is a manufacturer's duty to carry replacement parts!  To take over a line and not provide replacement parts is a travisty! 

At least talk to Life Like and/or Walthers about this, maybe they can help!  I find that people who claim empirical knowledge about things, sometimes don't, so I always check things out, myself! 

Ahh, but Mark, sometimes people who make claims or assertions do so on the basis of experience.

In the case of Walthers and Life Like parts, I have spoken to Walthers on more than one occasion about needed parts only to be disappointed. 

In the most recent instance, I sold a Proto 2000 diesel on eBay with a missing horn (unbeknownst to me at the time of the sale).  I called Walthers immediately to see if they had the part.  I was told by the head of Customer Service that Walthers does not stock any spare parts for Life Like products.  The supply of spare parts originally acquired by Walthers at the time of purchase of Life Like has since been depleted, and Walthers does not intend to carry any spare parts in the future.

Also, where did you come up with the notion that it is the manufacturer's duty to carry replacement parts?  Says who? 

I have also called Walthers on more than one occasion to inquire about spare parts or missing parts for Walthers own products, namely structures.  Once again, Walthers explicitly informed me that they do not carry spare parts for their own products.  When inventory is shipped to Walthers from overseas, they only receive completed sets.  In an instance where Walthers may feel a need to accomodate a customer, they would have to cannibalize parts out of completed sets, something that they are obviously loathe to do.

Rich

[mobilman44]

Hi!

Now that Walthers has LifeLike, parts are not the easy thing to get ahold of as they were before.  An electrical pickup is - IMHO - not something a supplier would carry for individual resale.   They might have the chassis or motor assembly, but not the individual pieces.   Yes, I have had more than a few interactions with them and as I just wrote, "assemblies" are sometimes available, small parts are not.

I would attempt to find the missing part again, and do routine Ebay searches for a parts loco.   Ha, "anything" you want will come up on Ebay sooner or later!

By the way, I firmly believe suppliers should maintain a spare parts inventory, but obviously keeping money tied up in parts is not their main business.   And of course the questions of "what parts, how many, and how long to have them" come into play.   Some manufacturers do a fair job of this, but in my decades of interaction with several of them, I have concluded that most do not.

[BroadwayLion]

richhotrain

Since Walthers acquired Life Like, they don't stock any spare parts, so forget about that.

Also, where did you come up with the notion that it is the manufacturer's duty to carry replacement parts?  Says who? 

Rich

Automobile manufactures are required to maintain spare parts. NYCT contracts specify that car manufacturers must supply MTA with spare parts, this usually happens at the time of the purchase of the original rail car. Systemax is bowing out of the computer manufacturing business, but they have assured me that they will honor gaurantees for 5 more years. LIONS buy generic computers, and can use generic parts, so him seldom bothers with gaurantees.

LION must fabricate his own parts but gee it sure would be nice to purchace some drive trains for his subway cars, and even a spare carbody to replace the one that caught fire (dont ask). Cannot do that, had to fix the damaged subway car the same way NYCT does it: Get out the Bondo.

ROAR

[RR Tom]

aaroNW. The part being described sound like the electrical contact strip that is use in an Atlas GP40 Part #485307. Contact good guy Steve at [e-mail]

You can also see the PFD at

http://www.atlasrr.com/pdf/N%20GP-40%20LOCO.pdf

[Mark R.]

I've contacted Walthers numerous times for repair parts for Life-Like products. The only times they were able to come through for me was if they had an old engine they could cannibalize for parts .... and I paid dearly for those parts too !

Unlike the other model train manufacturers, Walthers seems to be more concerned about their business model being a distributorship rather than a customer based manufacturer - we sell it, we don't fix it.

Mark.

[tstage]

RR Tom

aaroNW. The part being described sound like the electrical contact strip that is use in an Atlas GP40 Part #485307. Contact good guy Steve at [e-mail]

You can also see the PFD at

http://www.atlasrr.com/pdf/N%20GP-40%20LOCO.pdf

Original thread is nearly 3 years old.  I imagine the OP has moved on...

Tom

[rrebell]

Yes, but the weird fact is that people think the manufacturer cares about people, thewy do but only as far as it furthers their buisness intrest, at least as far as mature companys are concerened. Yes Walthers founders cared, but that was a long time ago!

[RR Tom]

My point was that Atlas had a lot of n-scale diesel PFD's. I've used their parts to repair Life-Like locomotives that no one else has.

[BroadwayLion]

In days of old, when manufactures made and assembled products in the USA, this was so. Part6s could be had a plenty. Now all is made in China, not bad by itself, but all that was ever put into the boat to the USA was finished packaged products.

That is all that they have. End of Story.

 

Try eBay, though of course I do not  do so.

 

ROAR

[maxman]

rrebell

Yes, but the weird fact is that people think the manufacturer cares about people, thewy do but only as far as it furthers their buisness intrest, at least as far as mature companys are concerened.

I somewhat disagree.  I think that the weird fact is that some believe that companies should offer an evergreen warranty so that the can fix or provide a part to fix a purchased item no matter how old it is.

That's one of the reasons I will never buy a steam loco....there are just too many things that can go wrong or break, and all of them (with a few exceptions) are limited run.

[RR Tom]

Also good luck repairing a steam locomotive when a drive rod rivet comes out aka Bachmann.

[RR Tom]

Unless of course someone has an answer for doing these types of repairs.

[GP-9_Man11786]

RR Tom

Unless of course someone has an answer for doing these types of repairs.

 

i actually did this very repair on. lifelike GP20. I also had an Atlas Geep that needed new trucks. So I purchased said new trucks from Atlas and canbalizedthe old ones ones for the contacts. They aren't a perfect fit, but they'll do the job.