Update: MTL Life Like SW Chassis Rot

[peteski]

I don't think it would have been storage conditions. I had 8 IM F3's and F7's all stored in the same box 3 got rot and 5 didn't. I couldn't tell you which run(s) they were from.

Well, storage condition *AND* poor quality metal alloy.  Maybe the the unaffected ones were made in a batch using "good" metal alloy.  Just a speculation.

[randgust]

Wow.

I've seen some pretty ugly Rivarossi zinc pest, but nothing ever like that.

The only good part is that there's so many of those LL SW's out there that you can re-power it with another, and remember that if it's a LL-style SW chassis, you really can get a Kato NW2 drive in there.   I repowered my LL with a Kato drive simply because of the pesky wheel oxidation issue.

[MTL_Brandon]

@mecgp7 , Joe has the week off, but I looked into this, and we have a spare chassis that is in good condition we can send to you. I'm very sorry this happened, certainly one of the worst cases of zinc pest I've ever seen. These are older Life-Like produced frames for their SW1200 locomotives. We sourced them in the early 2000s for train sets, like the USN one you have. I'll PM you to get this squared away!

Brandon
Lead Graphic Artist
Micro-Trains Line Co.

[mecgp7]

@mecgp7 , Joe has the week off, but I looked into this, and we have a spare chassis that is in good condition we can send to you. I'm very sorry this happened, certainly one of the worst cases of zinc pest I've ever seen. These are older Life-Like produced frames for their SW1200 locomotives. We sourced them in the early 2000s for train sets, like the USN one you have. I'll PM you to get this squared away!

Brandon
Lead Graphic Artist
Micro-Trains Line Co.

Brandon,
Thanks you for the offer. I happen to have another set. I hope no one thinks I was calling MTL out. It was just a way of dating the loco

***I hope you guys take note of this type of customer service from MTL!!***

[mu26aeh]

Brandon,
Thanks you for the offer. I happen to have another set. I hope no one thinks I was calling MTL out. It was just a way of dating the loco

***I hope you guys take note of this type of customer service from MTL!!***

Thats why I tagged them, we have representatives from different companies here on TRW and best to bring things like this to their attention.  Joe has helped me out of a few things I've needed in the past, always willing and able to help out and very quickly as well

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I think this might be a case where Walthers had their B team in China produce the parts - sending the frame tooling to a lower grade factory to save costs. They could also have been stored at the factory in unfavorable conditions for years before Walthers decided to re-run the engine.

None of this is on MTL. They have no control over the chassis production.

[nscalbitz]

I think this might be a case where Walthers had their B team in China produce the parts ....

None of this is on MTL. They have no control over the chassis production.

Not at all critical of MTL (and I've never bought these, just the FTs), but that last comment is a cop out. It IS UP TO THE SUPPLIER to ensure they are  providing top quality and performance, not dodging responsibility with 'we didn't know' contracted-out BS and avoidance. This is just so much of what is wrong... "ohh sorry it wasn't us" excuses!

Like pathetic proxy-capitalism, your businesses are reaping the benefit of tying profits to lowest quality and costs servicing that frankly, the Chinese could care less about.
-

[oakcreekco]

Demming quality holds true today, but is SO overlooked by many.

[eja]

Demming quality holds true today, but is SO overlooked by many.

One "m" in Deming.     Author of Quality is Free

[oakcreekco]

Yep, fat fingered that, but it's nice to know someone else knows what I'm saying. 😆