Kudos for Bachmann service if you can contact them!!! Not everyone has the good fortitude to be living in the continental United States. In a cyber world why is it that B’mann Service will not respond to emails and only takes personal phone calls? The continuing manufacturing shortcomings at the company have seen me look elsewhere when it comes to product purchases. If prices are to increase with increasing complexity and product reliability is not increasing then a reliable service centre is essential. However, that service centre should be available to the whole market and not only to those who live next door. Bachmann is a ‘world’ company. About time it looked at its basic operating premise and realised that its market is not simply the United States. My only recourse to date has been to buy extra new items, simply as a source of spare parts. This is definately not cost effective!
In so far as Irv getting the parts delivered the next day, well a bit of basic engineering design skill would have shown that the initial crank design on the K-27 was flawed. We waited several years for the K to arrive and yet it seems that, while the initial idea was not rushed, the actual production was a last minute affair. Could it be that the design, being based on a HoN3 loco, was flawed in that the designers of the G scale loco simply expanded the original HoN3 model dimensions to G scale and thus amplified the original clearances in the engineering designs for the smaller loco? If so, then what other problems are we to anticipate. Long before this loco was released I hinted at the possible problems that may be expected, due the complexity of this loco and was shot down in flames as a rumour monger. Well, so far I have not had to eat humble pie as the end product has fulfilled my predictions.
If it were not for the likes of ‘troubleshooter’ wizards like Dave, then would Bachmann still be riding the crest of the wave or would we still be running basic r/c trains with batteries in the boiler? Dave’s constant product improvement to achieve reliabilty has helped the company attain the current ‘high standings’ that it enjoys. Who in Bachmann actually improves the product as Dave does? Is there anyone employed to actually correct design flaws or is the beta market a cheaper economic solution? A beseiged ruler will always kill the messenger when he hears news that he, or his advisers, does not agree with. However, the death of the messenger is an indication of the future prospects for the ruler’s survival. If I were Ceasar, in the Colisseum, then it would be a definate ‘thumbs down’ .
At least then one would see right off the bat what needed a “touch up”.