Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Your heart misses a beat when you pick up a long awaited package only to hear the tingling of loose pieces inside the box. Two out of three expensive Accucraft geese that I purchased new were found to be damaged on receipt. In the case of the #5 the front bogie and cowcatcher were destroyed/sheared off. On the #7 the front bogie had collapsed such that when placed on the track it caused a short circuit.

Accucraft were willing to repair if I sent the items back to them and I was personally contacted by phone from Cliff at Accucraft in California but I told him the cost of returning the two items was prohibitive. I had eagerly awaited their arrival and the shock of receiving damaged goods left me heart broken. When one sees how immaculately the Geese are packaged then it seems almost impossible that they could be damaged in transit.

I had three Aristo C-16 received in one heavy package all suffering boiler and cab damage with the pieces sheared off at boiler level. Basically anything attached to the boiler was broken off. Fortunately all was repairable.

I also had a new LGB mogul received that looked like it had received a crew cut. Everything above the boiler including the cab was sheared off. The seller was advised and I was told to take a hike. I offered to pay for replacement parts from LGB of A as he was located in America and could have actually gotten the parts free of charge. I posted negative feedback and he retaliated with a similar negative (the only negative received in many thousands of transactions).

I well understand your disappointment.
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Glad to see you got a positive responce. However, I'm surprised to see you have had to accept a "replacement parts" solution". Was this to "keep the peace" with a valued supplier, due to the lack of replacement stock of a complete item or risk of short odds on it happening with the replacement ? Strictly speaking that item was "not of merchantable quality" and the supplier should offer a full replacement and claim off the shipper or original supplier. Ok I can see the problems there......but. Goes back to what I said about checking the stock.

Interested to note the number/proportion of instances hinted at of damaged items arriving, with I presume personal imports from across the water. I wonder why ? I suppose the stuff ships ok in its factory packaging when it is part of a bulk(palettised) order from China - maker - retailer as there are limited opp's for tipping and shocks but the problems start when idividual packs start rolling around long distance.

Example - I always insist Bachmann locos are shipped with their outer card/foam packs to minimise risks of "shock" damage. Won't buy if not included. Bachmann seem to be the only ones that use this "secondary" packaging. I've been lucky so far, even with other makes. And that includes a K-28 :nail: The things we risk to save few quid.

Worth a new thread on this topic ?
Max.
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Hi Ross
All my Bachmann loco's have always been well packed and have had no damage come packed as you say with a large outer box with foam inserts .But the USA trains only come in a cardboard outer box no foam padding ,the loco was well packed May had been damaged before hand just can't see how the bolt holding the truck came out in transit that's even if it's there as the rattle in the loco is the window that's dropped out of the front door on the hood
Hi Dan & Max
Would have been nice to have a whole new loco but who's to know this one won't be damaged too as it looks like a QC problem , I'm also worried if it goes back I will never get one and only have a refund at least I have the loco and shouldn't be to hard to fix but like you say would be nice to have a few extra spares thrown in for the troubles , I must try and get out to the garage to test the electrics would be a great shame to get it fixed and then find a problem with the electrics , I won't be adding any of the rails etc just yet until it's all fixed and have fitted the sound that I still need to save up and buy .
Hi Tim
Sounds like you have had a real string of bad luck with your loco's some of which like your geese are not cheap and there never easy to post back what with the size and the postal cost these days . I posted some 0 gauge track the other day with Myhermes but the parcel got crushed and all the track was damaged beyond repair in the middle of a claim at the moment after watching a programme few months ago these parcels just get thrown around and mishandled in a lot of these depots .
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

It's not unusual for something to break in the USA trucks. :crying:
I had ones where the internal bracket of the front gearbox breaks off.
This is caused by bad packing around the truck.
If you ever post a loco with this type of truck make sure you pack around the truck, I
used lots of tissues to stop any movement.

I bought several replacement trucks from Al Kramer when they were cheap, just in case.
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Hi Spike
The loco seemed to be very packed round the trucks ,the damage may have been done in packing I just can't see how the bolt holding the truck has worked loose and dropped out ,just hope it's inside the loco . Have been told the parts are on there way from USAT but not sure as yet what parts they our sending lets just hope it's a replacement truck .
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

I have had to repair a number of these in the past..
For the pivot, there should be a blackened circular pivot-piece (looks like a short section of slightly-small diameter conduit), a large flat washer to top it, and a self-tapper to hold it all together.
From experience, many USA Trains come with 'spare' screws floating about inside (your mileage may vary on this).

If you get stuck, I am not a million miles away, or you can PM me a photo.
Phil partridge.
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Cheers for that Phil , will be taking the loco apart as soon as the parts arrive could be the end of this week . Anyone taken a SD70 body off ?
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

Hi there Richie
I have done a couple of them .
These two websites will give you lots of great info on all things SD70. One is for installing RC but you can ignore the install bit and concentrate on the disassembly part about halfway down the document.
http://www.rayman4449.com/USA_Trains_SD70-SD40-2-PA1_Mods.htm < Link To http://www.rayman4449.com...70-SD40-2-PA1_Mods.htm
http://www.cvpusa.com/doc_center/SD70MAC_Install.pdf < Link To http://www.cvpusa.com/doc..ter/SD70MAC_Install.pdf
 
Re:Yet Another Damaged USA Trains Loco

That's fantastic help Mike like the idea of the foam tray holding the 16 screws in place , at lease I haven't got to worry about finding the screws under the rear truck , I see from the pic that there is a wire already going into the fuel tank for the sound hope to get a Phoenix sound board once I saved up this should all fit in the tank so no need to remove the body again .
 
At last a small parcel arrived today from USAT , not big enough to hold a motor block and weighed less than a feather all that was in the box was one small plastic part of the housing body and one screw and spring very disappointing not only have I got to take the loco apart but I also have to take the motor block apart . Didn't even get a sorry from USAT for the damage and no extra's for the trouble of having to fix the problem , and what a job have just wasted the last 3 hours taking the loco apart :(thanks to Mike I had the location of the screws but the 2 under the front motor I just couldn't get too had to remove the side frames from the block and file down the handle on my screw driver to make it fit what a stupid design . Once the body was off I found that some of the cab windows had falling out and needed re glueing and the socket for the ditch lights wasn't even plugged in and the tape that holds wires in place had all peeled off , really poor workman ship on this model :(now that I have finally got it back together I just need to check the electrics if I find that any of the electrics don't work I have a very large lump hammer and a concrete floor to fix it . Over all I have not been very happy with this loco and it's very poor build quality :-[ I for one won't be buying any more of USAT products and at the moment don't feel like buying any more G scale stock which has put a smile on Sara's face ;D
 
Hi Richie,

Sorry you did not get what you thought you should from USA Trains.. However, I suppose all they contractually needed to do was supply the bit-parts to fix / replace those broken..
Offer still stands if you want another pair of eyes / hands to have a look at it for you.
Pretty sure that once it is running there will be a smile. A warm summers day next year, and all the grief will be forgotten.

Chin up!
Phil.
 
In the UK the buck stops with the retailer. Richie did you buy in the UK ? I know in the US things might be a little different. If so you should have insisted that loco was "not of merchantable quality". I understand your reasons not to but you should have left it up to the retailer to fix. It is their legal responsibility.

Unless you have delt directly with USAT I doubt they fully understand the reason for your parts request (I do not doubt you). They themselves only have your word that the item was delivered in the condition you received it in. The retailer should have checked prior to post/shipping. What you say about USAT quality is worrying though, what do they say - "out of sight, out of mind".

Anyway there is always the new fangled classified section here to empty your wallet !
Max.
 
Hi Richie
The good news is you got the part, the bad news was that you had to go through the rigmarole of fitting it.

As Max said, it is really the responsibility of the retailer to have gone through this process for you. As you bought it new in the UK the retailer should have taken on board the situation and had it fixed for you or even replaced it. That was bad service indeed.

As to the workmanship inside the loco itself. This one really does sound like one of the old 'Friday jobs' found in the car industry!
I have found that USAT kit is generally very good but perhaps this new run of 'SD70 'Heritage' locos had some poor QC. Perhaps it had already been taken apart by the retailer when they found the broken bogie (when they inspected it prior to shipping it to you or when it might have been already returned from another customer) and it was just slung back together to get it out to you and that 'inspection' was what disconnected the light and pulled off the tape! Who knows.

I hope it proves to be totally OK under the inspection and roller testing. You can then run her for Christmas and get back your G scale mojo! :D
 
Hi Phil , Max & Mike
Many thanks for your reply's I think that this loco must have been a duff from the beginning that's what you get when you buy one cheap ended up paying for it in hassle and frustration :-[ . I brought the loco from Jeremy at Dragon G Scale and since the loco arrived damaged to me he has been very helpful in sorting the parts from USAT , the main reason I kept the loco was that I thought it was a easy fix and didn't want the hassle of posting the loco back and waiting for another . But the repair just turned out to be more frustration and a lot of bad swearing just as well we haven't got a swear box as that would have cost me more than the loco ;D .
Gave the loco a test run today on the rolling road but didn't go well all the lights and smoke worked fine but the rear motor block the one that was damaged wasn't running right the axle with the swivel wasn't running >:( so it was out with the screw driver again had to remove the motor block from the truck and totally take the whole thing apart and found that the universal linkage wasn't connected >:( what a bad build after 2 hours I got it all back together and now it seems to work fine the only problem I can see now is the rear motor block starts turning a lot later than the front motor block is this normal ? have also chipped some of the grey paint off from all the rolling around on the foam on the work bench :-[ . When I feel I'm in a better mood I will add all the extra detailing parts but for now it's going back in the box out of sight will have to think hard about buying sound unit as I just don't know how much use i'll get from it :'( The only person done well out of this is my wife Sara she told me not to buy it in the first place and what a waste of money it was , it's not very often that I agree with her with trains but on this one I do . Lets just hope i feel better about the loco next summer .
 
Off to the South Staffs indoor meet today , Sara said I should take the SD70 along with me to see it running on some track and hopefully put a smile on my face :D will let you know latter how she runs.
 
Richie said:
Off to the South Staffs indoor meet today , Sara said I should take the SD70 along with me to see it running on some track and hopefully put a smile on my face :D will let you know latter how she runs.
Click to expand...
Darn-it!
Why do these things have to clash!??

Off to Warley..
Good luck Richie!
 
Richie, if it wasn't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all. What a shame. My most efficient weapon, when I feel I've been taken advantage of, is letter writing. And I mean real paper and ink. I can get my thoughts across much better on paper than in the spoken word, and I have had some satisfying results due to some of my writings to whomever it was, at the time, that took advantage of me.
 
Hi Phil
Forgot the Warley show was on at the NEC this week end , haven't been for several years now . Had a good time at the South Staffs meet today gave the SD70 a test run and all seemed well on the track with both motor blocks running ok all lights and smoke working too , the only thing that I did pick up on and several others noticed it too was when the ditch lights flashed from side to side when I increased the power to make them both stay on together they would both start flashing very quick before stopping on is this normal with this model the same would happen when I slowed the loco down before they started to flash from side to side they would both flash vey quick as the power was turned down they would then begin to flash normal.
Don't forget Phil that Steve (Back2bay6) has his steam and mince pies in Telford next Sunday be nice to meet you :)
 
Madman said:
Richie, if it wasn't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all. What a shame. My most efficient weapon, when I feel I've been taken advantage of, is letter writing. And I mean real paper and ink. I can get my thoughts across much better on paper than in the spoken word, and I have had some satisfying results due to some of my writings to whomever it was, at the time, that took advantage of me.
Click to expand...
Hi Dan
Haven't had much luck with this loco why do these things always happen with the ones you really what and have waited along time to get . Things are looking better had it running today at our local indoor meet and it did look very impressive running round even with out all the hand rails and fittings which I plan to leave off until I have saved up for the sound card (which I now think I will go ahead and buy just didn't look right running with no sound )to save damaging them when fitting . I may sit down and do like you say wright I letter to USAT just to see what they have to say .
 
Just thought I would keep you up to speed with my damaged USAT SD70 ,With the ditch light problem and motor drive problems I couldn't be bothered to go through the retailer so after several of you said I should write to USAT about the problems I sat down over the Christmas holiday and wrote along e mail to them with all the delays and problems I have had with the loco , got to say they were very quick at responding got a email back the next day they told me that the ditch light main board was faulty and that the universal joint in the motor block needed replacing all they needed was my address and that the parts would be on there way . Have to give Cindy at USAT 10 out of 10 for customer care :D But they did say one thing that worried me was that the ditch lights won't work right using Aristo power packs and they didn't say why has anyone else had problems with the SD70 ditch lights using Aristo power ?
With these parts now on there way from the States I have now placed a order for a Phoenix sound unit , hopefully it will all turn up together so I can fit the sound and repair the loco at the same time which does mean removing the body again :'(
 
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