China Strikes Again!

railtwister Jan 31, 2015

  1. railtwister

    railtwister TrainBoard Member

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    Everyone,

    My purpose in starting this thread was to try and find out if anyone else has had a similar problem with "zinc pest" metal deteriation in their relatively recent production Atlas N scale locos, specifically, but not limited to, their SD35's. Unfortunately, the thread has wandered a bit, and no one has spoken up to say they have had a similar experience to mine, so I hope that my two locos are a rare occurance. Still, I find it pretty hard to believe that I'm the only one with this bad luck...

    It looks like I'll be calling Atlas' customer service later this week.

    Thanks,
    Bill in FtL
     
  2. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    Well your request did not go unheard.

    I have spent a couple of hours today sampling my Atlas locomotives, and so far, I do not have any that are cracked or in any way disintegrating.

    But by no means, does that mean I don't have that problem. I only looked at a couple of dozen locomotives which is a small sampling. Statistically, I have enough locomotives that I should see similar issues. I just haven't found one yet.
     
  3. railtwister

    railtwister TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for checking. I hope this issue is limited to just one production run of a specific loco type. I haven't checked, but someone mentioned the SCL and ACL SD35 paint schemes were run in 2009. I've also been checking the rest of my roster, and thankfully haven't found any more problems (yet).

    Bill in FtL
     
  4. rrjim1

    rrjim1 TrainBoard Member

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    I own two SD35s and both are fine, no cracks!
     
  5. brokemoto

    brokemoto TrainBoard Member

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    None of my Chinese manufactured Atlas power is showing this. I bought some of it in the late 1990s. None of the LL shows it, either.

    If this does become a widespread problem as the years pass, it could put N Scale of Nevada back into business.
     
  6. Burlington Northern Fan

    Burlington Northern Fan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Check with Atlas and see if they will replace or repair? What could they say?
     
  7. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    So, now that some time has passed, has there been any contact established with Atlas? And if so, what has transpired?
     
  9. kmcsjr

    kmcsjr TrainBoard Member

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    Good question. I've haf contact with Bachmann, Atlas, Concor, KatoUSA, TCS, NCE, Lionel and MTH. I have as yet to have a truly bad experience (maybe a frustrating one, or one I didnt like the answer), but I've clme away with the impression our model train companies want to be in business and value thier customers. Lets not rehash any specifics. My point is, always call them, if its a question where youcant get a quick fix here. Even then, the service golks do seem to want to help.
     
  10. SinCity

    SinCity TrainBoard Member

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    I had an Atlas VO-1000 shell that fell apart when you pick it up. Looks like the pieces just don't fit and snap together. Frames are ok on all of my Atlas of varying vintage. The only issues I have are on older LL locos with cracking paint jobs.
     
  11. johnh

    johnh TrainBoard Member

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    I have a couple of the LL C424 mechanism that have some frame corrosion going on. IIRC, they were purchased from an Ebay seller that seemed to have a lot of the LL mechanisms for the GP38 and C424. In addition to that, I have had one of the Altas Geeps with frame corrosion, but not to the point of being a concern
     
  12. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    John are there cracks or warps or swelling in the chassis or just dulling or other discoloration?

    Doug
     
  13. steamghost

    steamghost TrainBoard Member

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    LOL

    Some of you might recall that a lot of people grabbed them when they first came out, but the material was quite soft and AFAIK nobody came back for seconds.

    I'd like to see something other than a cast split frame, period, like the adjustable slot car frames, and with tungsten blocks added. But it'll cost more . . .
     
  14. rrjim1

    rrjim1 TrainBoard Member

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    I have a first run Kato U30C loco purchased new, that the frame must has shrunk. I first noticed the trucks were very hard to turn and the body was very loose. I ended up making plastic washers to hold the frame apart. I was going to purchase a new frame but it runs just fine, in fact I had forgot all about it until this post! Another U30C purchased at the same time and from the same store is just fine, I also own two more purchased a little later that don't have the same problem.
     
  15. railtwister

    railtwister TrainBoard Member

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    At the suggestion of several on this group, I sent a letter to Paul Graf at Atlas, describing my problems with the "Zinc Pest" metal deterioration of the frame pieces of two of my Atlas N SD 35's (one decorated in SCL, the other in ACL, both from the last run in 2009), as outlined in my initial post. The worst damage was to the ACL unit, it's frame had expanded to a length 1/8" longer than the SCL unit, and this broke the plastic shell, damaging every component of the body shell except for the clear headlight and number board castings. While the SCL frame hadn't yet expanded quite enough to damage the body shell, it was stuck so tight that it was almost impossible to get the body off of the chassis. The ACL frame pieces had visible swelling and cracking in the metal, while the SCL didn't show any cracks, but the surface on the metal was a dark and dull looking gray color. Both crumbled during handling for closer examination. While Atlas still lists the metal frame halves for the SD35 as being in stock, my real problem was the loss of my decorated ACL shell, which is out of production and out of stock, as is the complete undecorated shell.

    Within a few days of my mailing the letter, I received a response from Mr. Graf, stating the he had received my letter and was turning it over to his assistant, Don Fidecaro. The next day, I received a phone call from Don, and after explaining the problem to him, he said he would try to find a suitable replacement shell, but it might take a few days, since in had been out of production fo a while. I was pleasantly surprised last week when I received a call from Don saying he had found a similar ACL unit (but a different road number than my damaged one), and was sending it out to me. It arrived a couple of days ago, and I now have repaired both of my locos and have them running on my T-Trak layout. I don't know how they did it, but I am very grateful to Atlas for going the extra mile in finding my parts for me.

    I have always been very fond of Atlas and the quality products they offer, and appreciate the fact that they also stock repair parts for their products. Over the years they have helped me out with parts which allowed me to restore items that I had damaged or lost the parts for, and otherwise would have had to throw away.

    Thanks again Atlas!

    Bill in FtL
     
  16. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    Another happy ending from a good, no, great supplier of quality N stuff for us N addicts!
     
  17. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    That is great news. I am glad to read of such a happy conclusion to this episode!
     
  18. subwayaz

    subwayaz TrainBoard Member

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    Nice ending to this story and Atlas comes through again.
     
  19. Eagle2

    Eagle2 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    It is nice to hear that Customer Support hasn't gone extinct.
     
  20. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    Atlas has always been top class.

    Doug
     

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