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A few months ago I did a post regarding my Lionel Train layout that I've been working on once again. I took 20 years "off" while I was busy with my Businesses, Wife & Kids, House, Family etc. as well as my other hobbies.
Half of my Lionel's are from the post war period and run in a conventional manor. I am quite familiar with them as those are the ones I've grown up with. They are all mechanical as are the accessory's from that time, are easy to repair and parts are plentiful.
The new Lionel trains and accessories built after the late 1990's are TMCC (Train Master Command Control) which is a fancy phrase meaning computer chip controlled. I won't get into the specifics here but they are pretty complicated. They do offer a much broader range of operation, sounds, speed control etc. but it has been a whole new learning curve - especially when integrating then with traditionally run trains and accessory's.
What I've come to find out lately is that the "old" Lionel is pretty much extinct and the "new" Lionel Company offers little to no support on any older items that have not been in a relatively current catalog. That means that anything more than just a few years old has no parts, no support and no advise from the Company. I'm not talking about the Post War stuff - parts and instructions are plentiful for them - but referring to the products made over the last 25 years! Again, they are a "new Company' now and have no responsibility on offering parts and support on products they never made under the new regime. That said - it sucks! Sort of reminds me of a "Gun Company" we all know about.
Over the last week or two I've opened up and installed brand new in the box accessories that I purchased 20 - 25 years ago that have unfortunately had operating problems due mostly to dry rotting rubber and plastic parts, congealed grease, bad Mother Boards, etc. Lionel has absolutely no parts or advise to offer and many of the websites I've viewed are not much assistance either.
So I have been busy making parts out of materials never intended for such, figuring out how they work and what is wrong and repairing them. Again, I'm pretty good with most electronic items but not very familiar with computer boards and chipped stuff.
So far I've been 100% successful with the repairs but the process is frustrating and difficult - as well as being very time consuming. I'm almost done with the new Lionel accessories (YEA) and will then be wiring up the old traditional stuff once again, - really looking forward to that.
I am enjoying this experience, I've learned a lot, I've been enjoying (for the most part) the time I spent doing this and have come to REALLY appreciate the OLD Lionel products more than ever! Like most other items - they just don't make 'em like that any more!!
Half of my Lionel's are from the post war period and run in a conventional manor. I am quite familiar with them as those are the ones I've grown up with. They are all mechanical as are the accessory's from that time, are easy to repair and parts are plentiful.
The new Lionel trains and accessories built after the late 1990's are TMCC (Train Master Command Control) which is a fancy phrase meaning computer chip controlled. I won't get into the specifics here but they are pretty complicated. They do offer a much broader range of operation, sounds, speed control etc. but it has been a whole new learning curve - especially when integrating then with traditionally run trains and accessory's.
What I've come to find out lately is that the "old" Lionel is pretty much extinct and the "new" Lionel Company offers little to no support on any older items that have not been in a relatively current catalog. That means that anything more than just a few years old has no parts, no support and no advise from the Company. I'm not talking about the Post War stuff - parts and instructions are plentiful for them - but referring to the products made over the last 25 years! Again, they are a "new Company' now and have no responsibility on offering parts and support on products they never made under the new regime. That said - it sucks! Sort of reminds me of a "Gun Company" we all know about.
Over the last week or two I've opened up and installed brand new in the box accessories that I purchased 20 - 25 years ago that have unfortunately had operating problems due mostly to dry rotting rubber and plastic parts, congealed grease, bad Mother Boards, etc. Lionel has absolutely no parts or advise to offer and many of the websites I've viewed are not much assistance either.
So I have been busy making parts out of materials never intended for such, figuring out how they work and what is wrong and repairing them. Again, I'm pretty good with most electronic items but not very familiar with computer boards and chipped stuff.
So far I've been 100% successful with the repairs but the process is frustrating and difficult - as well as being very time consuming. I'm almost done with the new Lionel accessories (YEA) and will then be wiring up the old traditional stuff once again, - really looking forward to that.
I am enjoying this experience, I've learned a lot, I've been enjoying (for the most part) the time I spent doing this and have come to REALLY appreciate the OLD Lionel products more than ever! Like most other items - they just don't make 'em like that any more!!
