I also bought the infamous Lionel Construction Zone set and was furious to find out that the RS-3 had no reversing unit not even a manual reversing switch.Luckily I only paid Fifty dollars for it,so I took the Rs-3 to my LHS and had the owner install a 3 position E-unit and an additional can motor to make it a dual motored locomotive.After I repainted it in NYC Lightining stripe livery,it pulled a 25 car train with no wheel spin and is a very reliable addition to my locomotive fleet.[:)]
Sorry for the duplicate post,I just joined today.
Thanks for info Bob N and others.
Welcome to forum philo426,
I positioned a DPDT switch atop the unit, added weights and another pickup and repainted myself, but taking to dealer sounds a lot easier. Learned next time to ignore the low end stuff.
Mac D
Try adding some weights inside the shell of the RS-3. Position them over the traction tires that are powered. you’ll notice an immediate improvement.
I payed a whopping $99 for my set from Toys R Us (sorry can’t make a backwards R)
You are about to read about a customer that WASN’T satisfied with JT’s Megasteam smoke fluid:
I purchased some JT’s Megasteam back in January to boost smoke output and to make the room smell more pleasing when the train was running. After using it daily for over a month, I noticed that it never equalled Lionel’s fluid for output or duration. I tried all kinds of things to boost the output. I filled it more. I filled it less. I drained the unit and filled it, ran the train with longer and longer consists at higher voltage- it made no difference.
I e-mailed Jeff at Megasteam about my problems with the product and asked him what he suggests I do to improve the performance. I was not abusive in any way towards him or the product and as a matter of fact, made a point to tell him how highly I thought of his service and turnaround when I bought the product. He wrote back and told me to use Lionel’s fluid and finished by saying “Please do not order again”.
I was really taken back by his attitude. “Please do not order again”?! All because I asked him to stand behind his product? As a merchant, he has to expect some unsatisfied customers, and perhaps needs to learn to be as pleasant during the problems as he is when he’s taking their money. I was greatly disappointed. He ended up refunding my money. I’d rather have settled the issue differently, as I wanted to give the product (and Jeff) the benefit of the doubt, and at least one more chance. I was given no other option and was told I’m not welcomed to order from him again. Well, don’t worry JT, I won’t! The funny part for me was that he referred me to the OGR forum to see how people rave about his smoke fluid. Sure enough, there was a person with the same complaint I have.I may not be the first to be unsatisfied with Megasteam, but I’m the second.
Jim
Can’t say that I have been - I’ve been surprised by things like a lack of instructions - but I guess I’m fortunate in that I either expect things to be wrong with used items I pick up or buy the most basic things like manual 027 turnouts that are pretty bullet-proof.
Some things drive me crazy like the 153C connectors that you have to continually fiddle with to get just right - but I like their ‘basic-ness’ - so it’s a trade-off I guess.
Mine was my first ebay purchase. Thought I got a steal. Two trolley cars HO for $5.00. They arrived. Looked great. No motors, as they were made by avon. Looked just like the bachmann versions. Reread description, never said they had motors, just said trolley cars. Learned to pay attention better next time.
Tim
You betcha…3 items come to mind, all from MTH:
First up was their version of the re-issue-- 23769 Revolving Aircraft Beacon ($90.00)
This beacon was nicely done, and the little hut on base added allot to it’s look, however this operating accesory does’nt work very well.
The unit has a light-wieght tin/alum. beacon housing which has beveled fan blades at the top. Inside, there’s a pin that sitson the top of the lightbulb, in which the glass of the bulb has an indentation for the pin to sit in.
Ideally, the heat from the lightbulb is supposed to spin the beacon once it passes through the fanblades, but REALISTICALLY, it doesn’t work. Using the recomended voltage, the bulb never produced enough heat to spin the beacon.
Putting the unit on variable voltage, I even tried juicing it up to 22 volts, to only get inconsistent results.
Upon emailing Mr. Elderman (?) he suggested sending me a new lightbulb and and the lense assembly, saying that if the blades were’nt exactly positioned correctly it might not work.
After getting these items in the mail, it worked just as poorly as before, so I returned it to the hobby store, and replaced it with the MTH 30-9033 op. rotary beacon, which works flawlessly with a vibrator motor, for less than half the price!!!
Secondly, is the 30-9032 Operating Radar Tower from MTH:
This worked good untill the warranty expired. (figures) Now it spins so slow, that sometimes it stoppes spinning altogether…
Thirdly is the MTH 30-11027 Lighted Yard Master Tower.
Inside, It is divided into 3 floors, each with it’s own lightbulb. The top floor bulb is accessed by removing the top, while the other 2 are incorporated into one assembly the pushes in from the bottom.
After the warranty expired, (again-Naturally), the middle bulb kept shorting out, and one of the plastic window panes fell out.
After examining t
I purchased an Atlas fm-erie built last month, electronics were reversed-push bell button, whistle would blow, push whistle, bell would ring. Also, sound system wouldnt shut off when power was turned off, engine sound continued to diesel on with my Z4000 totally turned off. Final complaint-smoke system wont operate. Sent unit back to Atlas-at my expense-received engine back with most items fixed-except for the *** smoke unit. Pulled shell open to examine smoke unit-No smoke,no blower operation,-nothing! (yes, slide switch is to “smoke” ,plenty of fluid.) No response from Atlas.Lemon
Hello TTim: It’s 11:45 pm EST. & I am LOL, that is priceless, I would have like to have seen the look on your face when you opened the package, If you had it on video you probably could have had a spot on Jay Leno. Anyhow thanks for having the courage to share that one, Kind regards to You & Yours Steve
My biggest disappoint was when I purchased an MTH boxcar that was painted in Reading Blue Mountain and Northern colors only to discover everything about the car was so wrong except the road number and color. The second disappoint came when I brought the mistakes to Mike Wolf’s attention and he would not even acknowledge me or the mistakes
Skip
My biggest disappointment was with Lionel’s Halloween Haunted House. It was an accessory I just had to have, because our grandkids get a big kick out of me setting up a Halloween theme scene on the layout each Halloween season.
I paid almost retail for it and after much anticipation, we set it up and it proved to be a piece of over-rated, over-hyped junk. My money would have been much better spent if I had waited and then purchased some of the recent K-Line Halloween buildings, which, by the way, are a value for the money.
BillFromWayne
www.modeltrainjournal.com
A recent one, I bought a SD 40-2 MTH Wisconsin Central from a Hobbytown USA store, who refused to return it, and then the area service center refused to fix it, and the national service center refused to fix it. I am hoping the factory will fix it. I have owned it almost 50 days. (Fix it under warranty)
I purchased LAST MONTH a MTH SD 40-2 from Hobbytown USA it looked immaculate new on the outside, it did not run. Someone was insde the locomotive with a soldering iron and unplugged circuit boards. The Hobbytown USA store refused a refund or credit. I took it to several state wide train service stations who refused to service it under warranty as it had ben tampered with including the National recognized MTH center. It is now at the factory, and I am hoping that MTH will fix it for me. Time will tell if I ever will purchase another MTH product. This is the test of time. It was only $400.00 so I guess I learned where not to shop.