USA TRAINS has anyone got a loco thats not missing any parts ???

Richie

Richie

Rio Grande Railroad , Mountain biking , Gardening
I'm a great fan of the loco's that USA Trains make :thumbup: but do wonder if anyone has one that is mint:thinking:
I have 10 USA Trains loco's in total and all have parts missing or damaged :crying: after every run round the garden i always find some bits of coloured plastic parts from loco's or freight cars seem to be worst with loco's that are a few years old the plastic must get very brittle . I think USA Trains should include a tube of glue with their loco's . I know that these models which are very well detailed can be very fragile i just wish that many of these parts that break or go missing are the same on each loco should be made of metal . All these problems aside won't stop me from buying their products next on my shopping list is a SD70 Mac.
Two of the loco's i brought new but were still damaged :wits:

SD40-2 Rio Grande has a broken snow plow and engineer seat missing
GP38-2 Southern Pacific Knocked out side windows

Second hand locos have a mix of damage
GP38-2 Santa Fe broken motor block fixings, fuel lines on fuel tanks ,broken wire springs on couplings
GP-38-2 Rio Grande damaged hand rails
F3 Southern Pacific missing air horns , missing air hoses
F3 Southern Pacific broken wire springs on couplings
GP9 Rio Grande missing air line, crack in front part of body ,broken springs on couplings
PA1 & PB1 Rio Grande knocked out window in rear door ,broken steps , damaged air hoses , broken lift bars
NW-2 Rio Grande broken body fixings , damaged motor block side frames missing air hoses , broken steps .
So it would be nice to here other peoples stories of their USA Trains & stock
Has anyone got one that's mint :laugh:
 
its getting the parts to replace them,,, I have a bur northern gp9 with a broken cab door,,
and I could do with some gp38 handrails

think I have 2 f3s, 2 f3bs 2 gp9 1 gp30, 2 gp38-2s

they are fragile but I would like a few more,,,,
 
Hi david
I know what you mean about getting spares got some air horns and air hoses for my F3 cost over £20 so with the NW-2 I made my own hand rails from brass rod and air hoses from wire outer core cable .
 
I also have quite a few USATs...... PA1-AB, F3-ABBA, 3xGP30s, GP38, S4, GP9, NW2, SD70 (heritage), SD70 (I am converting to SD50) All Rio Grande. Also a lot of rolling stock, freight and passenger.
I know what you mean about bits falling off though. A lot of parts are just friction fitted so they can be loose if not entirely pushed in. The plastic is not so flexible as LGB, so vulnerable detail like boxcar/reefer steps etc can snap if hit by stones on their journey around a layout .
It is a good idea to glue the parts on when the item is new or even if obtained second hand.
I have been lucky with new stuff as I have only had one loco arrive with parts broken. Nearly every loco was bought from the States.

The most robust rolling stock are the aluminium streamline passenger cars. They are a thing of beauty, heavy and have metal details.

I have just got hold of one of the wood sided cabooses (the 1:24th scale version) and is well built with metal grab irons, ladders etc but it had a loose piece of glazing. But as it will be repainted, all the windows will be taken out so it is not a problem really.
 
I just added an F3 AB set to my collection. They are currently Chicago, Burlington & Quincy but will eventually be relettered to Norfolk Southern I'm amassing the parts now to do a proper rebuild into the Executive OCS units. Since they have only been out of the box for pictures, I'd still class them as mint.

I also have.... An undec 44-tonner, minus trucks, a beaten and tattered old CB&Q 44-tonner. I also picked up a modified PRR 44-tonner, and I have a Santa Fe unit enroute. Two of theme will be used for a custom-designed kitbash, one which I designed with intents of having done on two units in real life. Unfortunately a change in management on that railroad shot the idea, but I'm gonna do it in model form anyways.

Apparently the gent who sent me the ATSF 44-tonner is also sending me an SD-40-2. Yippie. When he told me about he "I don't need it, it showed up along time ago, I just want it gone at this point, feel free to cut it up for parts." Can hardly argue with a freebee like that!

Finally, I have an undec Mighty Moe for conversion into a small road-switcher. Shawmut Shops designed the original using an NW-2 frame trucks & hood, but an Aristo U25 cab & shortened nose. I'm shrinking the model even further into a 3-axle version I've dubbed the US-30-C (Universal Service, 30tons, 3-axles) which I'll use an Aristo SD45/D9/E8 brick to power.

I also have a single USA 55' tanker and 4-bay hopper. Both are gorgeous and well detailed, but I'm afraid to even take them out of the box. Finally, my last USA item is one of their new cabeese. It's... CN I think, but will be slightly modified and repainted into the Blue, Red, Silver of the Freedom Central's diesel paint scheme.

Added Edit: Forgot all about my intermodal cars: 1x TTX 5-pack; 1x TTX single bucket; 2x CN single buckets; and 3x BNSF single buckets plus a plethora of misc containers to fill them. The two CN buckets are pretty detail-less after nearly ten years. The TTX 5-pack and single have been modified to form 2x 3-pack cars, and one of the buckets has been damaged. The BNSF cars are all mint, never opened.
 
Thanks for the reply from Mike ,David & J.D . Very nice to hear your stories on USA Trains loco's and stock , so it looks like it's not just bad luck for me but saying that I didn't have much luck with my Alco PB on Sunday when I had it up side down on some foam on the work bench to oil the wheels I turned my back for a few seconds and then heard a crash the loco had rolled over off the foam and dropped 3ft to a concrete floor didn't bounce very well all the steps air lines side frames on the motor blocks Brock off :( out with the super glue .
 
Ritchie,,,, remind me never to buy a second hand loco off you!!!

im not saying your jinxed but,,,,,:bigsmile:
 
Richie... don't feel to bad. I sold a couple of Bmann connie tenders on LSC a couple weeks back. Got the first one packaged up, went to get the second box, turned around just in time to see the non-broken tender roll off the table and onto the floor
 
The four bay hoppers and the large modern tanks don't seem to lose parts.
All mine are perfect but the Ski train coaches have lost the odd airline under the body.
Busted the ploughs on the SD40s......apart from that......the odd engineer has come loose.
Oh and watchout for a broken bracket that holds the swivel gearbox, on the SD/PA trucks,
they can break in transit.
 
I started out 10 years ago with a USAT GP38-2, caboose and some wagons. Great detail but fragile. In short order I bust the handrails, front and side step, air hoses, "cowcatcher" and had sundry other bits drop off in the balast. Same with their box cars. Even had some minor (repairable) issues with their stunning streamlined cars when supplied new. F3 A and B no probs' as was all the Aristo' stuff that followed after.

Learnt my lesson, switched out of 1:29 USAT/Aristo to 1:20.3 Bachmann/Accucraft/AMS. Now I just have to hunt arround for the odd gladhand and axlebox cover in the three foot :wits:.

By the way, Bachmann Fourneys bounce quite well. Did the roll off the bench onto the floor bit with my brand new one a year ago :@. Just bust a coupler shank, and that was replaced FOC by the Bachman upon asking. Phew !

Max.
 
I love USA Trains locos, coaches and wagons. Ok they do shed items but thats because the detail is quite finely done. Most of mine have lost a few bits over time but I usually find them and glue them back on. I don't think my B&M Alco S4 has lost any bits at all - ever.

All of my USAT locos are working smoothly and pulling well which is most satisfactory, especially as most of my early purchases were USAT locos so they are the longest serving. I have some Aristo and Bachmann as well but USAT are my favourites.

I have found that USAT have a good stock of spare parts to replace bits that have gone missing and are never found. I have always found USAT staff to be very helpful and friendly although response to emails is not always fast. Could I suggest for those of us in the UK that we all work together on spare parts. After the end of the operating season - say November - we make an inventory of missing parts and place one order between us for the whole lot thus saving ourselves a lot of postage costs.

Parts lists are on the web site - for example http://www.usatrains.com/r22450parts.html
 
My Bachmann Connie has shed far more bits than any USAT item. Aristo don't tend to shed because they don't have the bits to shed.
 
Chris M said:
My Bachmann Connie has shed far more bits than any USAT item. Aristo don't tend to shed because they don't have the bits to shed.
Click to expand...
If only that were true Chris. But I am speaking about a feature rather than a detail part.......
The Aristo SD45 is pretty well detailed and unfortunately has a cover for the switches fairly centrally on top of the long hood. This clips on/off and is shaped as the flared radiator pod. That is also where you tend to naturally go to pick it up.......luckily I found this out the hard way in a soft way..the loco landed, minus its switch cover, on a bush as I lifted it from the track....It is a very heavy loco and the bush is not the same as it was......I wonder how many folk have done the same.......
 
Very similar experience here Richie. Orange and black bits of my GP-38 lie around, my three Aristos nowhere as bad, except for those long brake cylinders that stick out, they're easy meat for lumps of ballast etc. I just shrug my shoulders and say, they run, that's the important thing, but it is disappointing.

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Pretty bad mess, eh? I really should do something about that, I should have most of the bits
 
Just had a look at some of my fleet and found they are not too bad - especially compared to Cyril's.
NW2 still has plenty of bits - maybe all of them while the S4 never had that much and is complete
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The GP38s look ok but the Rock Island one has lost the long pipe.
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Bit of an issue with the LH side of the GP30
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Comparison of USAT SD40 on left to Aristo SD45 on right. The USAT plough is a replacement. When it comes to stones vs thin plastic the stones always win.
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I was wrong about Aristo. My Aristo GP40 (on the right) seems to have started shedding. The GP7 has lost its coupling bar. Didn't realise until I saw the photo so maybe it isn't that important to me.
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Yes, Chris, I have to say that I am a bit ashamed of that ole GP38. I may well, in the long winter months which are probably just a month or so away, I may withdraw this loco temporarily, and put it into the shops for a good dressing down. I should say that the U25s are a bit better.
 
daveyb said:
its getting the parts to replace them,,, I have a bur northern gp9 with a broken cab door,,
Click to expand...

Don't worry too much about getting a matching livery cab door .........
.....anything that fits will do

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