Large Scale Central

LOCO SERVICE

I’m having a difficult time finding a dealer who will work on a LGB Forney.

There are many dealers who say they service LGB and other brands but,
they will not reply to my email inquiries even after 4 requests.
Caboose Hobbies, Toy train shop, Milepost38ModelTrains, Barrys, do not
respond. I teach school all day from 7:30 to 6:00 CST so I cannot call anyone,
since my farm where my phone is, is out of town. And Ican’t call during woodshop class
because of safety. Can anyone help with a dealer who is really wanting business?

Patrick,
perhaps if you could explain the servicing required, someone could advise. Is the loco made in Germany or China? Reason I say this is that every Chinese Forney I received was devoid of lubrication. Simple lube is a five-minute job. If access required to the interior then a major problem.

Yeah, what Tim said.
What does it need?
It might be a simple fix.

Since the LGB bankruptcy, prolonged time period for a new owner to restart it, and the dissolution of all U.S. based sales and service outlets, there is a derth of both parts and service. The sources you have tried were previously good for LGB, but I’m pretty certain most have lost interest due to the inability to get new trains and parts, along with having a new distribution channel put on them.

I’m not an LGB operator, but the two places that seem to come up as still being sources these days are Watts Train Shop (link) and Train-li USA (link).

I know that Watts will at least give you good advice on getting repairs, and they also seem to still have parts available. Not certain if they offer the repirs themselves, but it won’t hurt to ask.

Train-li is owned and operated by Axel Tillmann who is an LGB expert and imports parts directly from Europe rather than waiting for Marklin / LGB to develop their new distribution. He does advertise repair service and has a really good reputation among the LGB faithful.

I understand your phone vs. work hours problem, but I have found that emailing hobby dealers, even for something they have, is often hit or miss at best. Emailing them for something they don’t have, can’t get, and can’t do is even less likely to get a response.

As a suggestion, call Axel Tillmann (508-529-9166) and leave a message anytime. Explain your situation and I’m pretty certain he will return your call on your schedule. I have also read that he is very good about responding to emails.

LSC members like Tim Brien and others are also expert on LGB problems. I would also suggest you describe your problem here and see if it can be fixed with their advice.

Hope this helps.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

Train-Li is in Massachusetts, so someone from the mid west could call them in the morning their time.

Try train-Li after 8AM eastern time. 508-529-9166

Or go to their repair page and enter info at http://www.train-li-usa.com/contact_us.php

Patrick,

I saw a “Barry’s” in your list, I hope you were not referring to me. I do respond to every communication I receive. I cannot help you with your Forney, unless you want a new drive for it. I do very few repairs, especially to non-Bachmann products. Even there I don’t work on their geared locos, just their rod engines. TOC is the geared loco specialist.

Barry - BBT

patrick beres said:
I'm having a difficult time finding a dealer who will work on a LGB Forney.

There are many dealers who say they service LGB and other brands but,
they will not reply to my email inquiries even after 4 requests.
Caboose Hobbies, Toy train shop, Milepost38ModelTrains, Barrys, do not
respond. I teach school all day from 7:30 to 6:00 CST so I cannot call anyone,
since my farm where my phone is, is out of town. And Ican’t call during woodshop class
because of safety. Can anyone help with a dealer who is really wanting business?


Have you talked to anyone at Watt’s in Indianapolis? They work on lots of LGB stuff.