Model Train Journal

I don't know if this is ok, but I've taken a couple of photos from the OGR site to post here:





Examples of the shoddy work coming over from China; I would have thought that these mold lines went out with the Dodo bird, but apparently not.

I don't wish to bash anyone or any company, but to dismiss this as a trade off for "more sophisticated electronics" or to help keep these models "affordable" makes no sense to me.

Heck, I remember taking a class in model building back in junior high; if we had turned in something that looked as unfinished as this, we would have failed the assignment!

I just don't get it...

Mark in Oregon

well.....China, yes, or anyplace else where the manufacturer or importer have no pride.
You will get some responses here to the effect that it's just fine, they're all that way, and maybe questioning you for being observant.

I have had to trim, file and repaint so many locomotives, rolling stock.....it's nutz.

However, one of my hobbies for many years was restoring old US made die-cast H0 steam locos (all on display in my office), and English, Mantua, Roundhouse, Varney, PennLine...all needed cleanup before painting.

They are not going to fix it or replace it with one not so afflicted.
They sell everyone that they make, so why change it?

Early MPC also did not remove the parting lines. I'm working on a die-cast one from 1971 right now, that still has it's parting lines.

BTW. the stanchions on that E6 are ridiculously long. It looks like it was made for cotter pins, but they used turned stanchions, for some reason.

Might also be overuse and/or misuse of the molds......

the stanchions on that E6 are ridiculously long.

Huge mounting blocks for the stanchions, too.....

Man, Lionel has taken a real downhill slide of late.

I don't wish any company ill, but they really need to take a step back & examine what they are doing. The QC issues out of China are out of hand. The management team really needs a reorg.

ScaleCraft wrote:well.....China, yes, or anyplace else where the manufacturer or importer have no pride.
You will get some responses here to the effect that it's just fine, they're all that way, and maybe questioning you for being observant.

I have had to trim, file and repaint so many locomotives, rolling stock.....it's nutz.

However, one of my hobbies for many years was restoring old US made die-cast H0 steam locos (all on display in my office), and English, Mantua, Roundhouse, Varney, PennLine...all needed cleanup before painting.

They are not going to fix it or replace it with one not so afflicted.
They sell everyone that they make, so why change it?

Your comment about old HO is (almost) exactly what my first comment on OGR forum alluded to: and some of those older HO models needed considerable cleanup. That was just part of the process: not any more, apparently...

Mark in Oregon

Mold lines are a FEATURE that allow the customer to see he's getting real diecast metal and not a cheap imitation engine made out of sheet brass...

Are you kidding me? You are fussing about the mold lines (and you should), but, what about those handrail stanchions? Pitiful!!!

The really funny part of this is when folks get accustomed to parting lines and flash.

Several, many years ago the then editor of Mentally Reta.....oooops....Model Railroader Magazine did a review, in which he castigated the Chinese manufacturer and Pennsylvania Importer of a Half 0 steam outline model for leaving the flash on the parting lines of the boiler.

But that's where it all went off the track.

Seems in this case they were carefully modelled (and to-scale) lagging clamps.

But, the photos provided at the beginning of this thread do not enter into that discussion.

And what about those wheels?



The legacy models are so far from the prototype they can actually negotiate O-31 (14.29 in radius at centerline) curves.

Why do we keep buying these models?

Come on Lionel, give us realistic boilers, realistic stanchions, realistic wheels and realistic minimum turn radius for our three-rail trains.

webenda wrote:Why do we keep buying these models?

Maybe the best question.

webenda wrote:And what about those wheels?



The legacy models are so far from the prototype they can actually negotiate O-31 (14.29 in radius at centerline) curves.

Why do we keep buying these models?

Come on Lionel, give us realistic boilers, realistic stanchions, realistic wheels and realistic minimum turn radius for our three-rail trains.

I partly disagree, especially with the realistic minimum turn radius. I like the size of the O gauge trains, and the fact that they'll run on layouts that fit in the homes of ordinary folks. Which is to say, I like O27 curves.

Not the old track with the round railheads, or the new PlastCrap. I'd like to see Lionel go to realistic 2 rail track with proper T-shape rails. They should be a magnetic type of stainless steel, to accommodate Magnetraction.

Roy wrote:

webenda wrote:And what about those wheels?

The legacy models are so far from the prototype they can actually negotiate O-31 (14.29 in radius at centerline) curves.

Why do we keep buying these models?

Come on Lionel, give us realistic boilers, realistic stanchions, realistic wheels and realistic minimum turn radius for our three-rail trains.

I partly disagree, especially with the realistic minimum turn radius. I like the size of the O gauge trains, and the fact that they'll run on layouts that fit in the homes of ordinary folks. Which is to say, I like O27 curves.

Not the old track with the round railheads, or the new PlastCrap. I'd like to see Lionel go to realistic 2 rail track with proper T-shape rails. They should be a magnetic type of stainless steel, to accommodate Magnetraction.

I had my tongue in my cheek the entire time I was preparing that.

The rounded shape of the "flash" makes me think the "flash" was designed into the mold. Often it is the case if you give a vendor something with a flaw and ask them to reproduce it, they will painstakingly reproduce the flaw. Remember the Japanese resistors? The USA manufacturer specified the allowable out-of-tolerance product in the production run, "And no more than 4% of the resistors out-of-tolerance." When the USA manufacturer received the resistors they came in two packages, a large and a small package. The USA manufacturer called the Japanese company and asked, What is the small package for?" The Japanese company quality control engineer answered, "Those are the 4% out of tolerance resistors you specified."

The amount of layout we can get with O-27 track is the secondary reason I changed from N scale to O-27 scale (which is not 1:48, as you know.)

webenda wrote:The rounded shape of the "flash" makes me think the "flash" was designed into the mold.

Maybe it's there to remind the toy collectors that these are toys......

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:

webenda wrote:The rounded shape of the "flash" makes me think the "flash" was designed into the mold.

Maybe it's there to remind the toy collectors that these are toys......

Maybe that is why the hobby is loosing buyers. Too many think they are NOT toys.