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Post by rapidotrains on May 31, 2012 7:25:10 GMT -8
That should be a great test, but please video the tests and post them on Youtube if the unit has no major damage. I for one would like to see the tests and you might just win some new customers in the non train world and if you post them, please include the link here. There may be reasons that you would not want to do this and I understand if that is the case. Thanks for bringing to us some really great looking projects. :Larry You are most welcome! And filming the tests is a great idea. Now the factory has come back to me with a new idea. They want to build a rigid plastic (ABS) frame which will lock the FP9A models on all four sides and not allow them to move a millimetre. This would allow us to use the existing packaging and not require a separate box for the locomotives. Have a look: (ABS is rigid plastic, while EPS is white styrofoam.)  There would be EVA foam between the hard plastic holder and the locomotive so that the paint does not get scratched. What do you think about this option? My only concern is the grills. The plastic frame would need to clear them to avoid crushing them. -Jason |
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Post by upwpfan on May 31, 2012 8:55:57 GMT -8
Folks; I received my Canadian yesterday. It was delivered by an agent of "Big Brown" who carefully set it on my door step. I opened it up and gave it a brief examination. Only problem was with one A unit. Speed recorder had fallen off and one wind screen was broken off. I read the manual and I plan to go over it as instructed before I run it. (tonight) So far I am very happy  ....I filled the scotch tumbler with a shot of Glenlivet, faced north, and toasted Rapido....a superb product. Regards Jere Ingram |
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Post by calzephyr on May 31, 2012 9:10:16 GMT -8
Jason
As a preface to this reply, I am not a packing engineer or anything to do with designing the box so my questions might not be relevant to the rework on the packing box. If the questions help or clarify any of the new design, that would be OK, but your testing will be the final OK to go with the new or retain the present packaging.
Looking at the new setup, the U shaped green ABS along with the top ABS holds the unit in place to prevent side movement, right? What keeps the outside blister tight with the inside blister and the total package together to prevent movement in relations to the outside purple colored holder, which is labeled the Canadian EPS?
I do not have one of these so I might be getting the concept incorrect, but looking at the drawing makes me wonder if the outside blister is retained tightly in relations to the inside blister. If these move in relation to each other, the new parts will move with that movement in case it is dropped. It does look as if the overall concept of holding the chassis with the lower ABS and the top with the upper ABS along with the new end pieces is a good start for testing. I like the Athearn way of packaging for several of their new projects.
As for the grills, the ABS plastic could have recessed areas for the grills with a slight amount of tension on them. The surface below the grills looks to be sufficient for the new ABS to hold the sideway motion. The top ABS would hold the unit down and the grills should not be damaged.
Thanks for asking. I hope the new design solves the problem.
Larry
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Post by calzephyr on May 31, 2012 9:14:17 GMT -8
Folks; I received my Canadian yesterday. It was delivered by an agent of "Big Brown" who carefully set it on my door step. I opened it up and gave it a brief examination. Only problem was with one A unit. Speed recorder had fallen off and one wind screen was broken off. I read the manual and I plan to go over it as instructed before I run it. (tonight) So far I am very happy ....I filled the scotch tumbler with a shot of Glenlivet, faced north, and toasted Rapido....a superb product. Regards Jere Ingram This is good news Jere. Maybe the damage to Andy's unit was due to a major malfunction of the shipping department and will not be a large problem overall. There is no way of telling what his package experienced. If you can post some pictures of the cars, that would be great!!! Thanks Larry |
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2012 11:01:39 GMT -8
I think the ABS stands a chance of digging into the shell with a sufficient enough impact. Now if you add the ultra thin plastic like Athearn uses on its Genesis F's to keep the plastic from the clam shell from directly contacting the paint, then the ABS should be good. I used to work for a U.S. shipping company. I'll just say that this "company" is owned by the U.S. government  . The ENTIRE shipping line from point of origin to doorstep is all about getting the job done in the least amount of time. The closure of sorting facilities has meant the ones still operating are moving more parcels with nearly the same work force. Carefulness isn't even part of an employees vocabulary since you are judged by getting the job done in the shortest amount of time. I'm personally surprised that unless you are shipping a pound of feathers, that more things don't get broken. When I first started selling a few things on e-Bay I shipped models via UPS. I'd take my boxes to a UPS facility, where the UPS employee working the counter would push down hard on the box to see if it would push inward. If it did, they'd reject the box and tell me to pack it with more cushioning. I still practice this today with anything I send either by UPS or USPS. I later learned WHY UPS does the "crush test" before accepting the package. I knew a person that worked briefly for UPS. It was through them that I learned that UPS tells its drivers it is acceptable and expected that they have to stand on the boxes. UPS has their drivers spread as thing as air so they MUST cover a lot of territory and are loaded down with packages and pick-ups. So sometimes the drivers have so much they must climb on top the packages to reach other packages. Like USPS, for the UPS employee it is all about time! For any driver or carrier, you are constantly reminded about your time and that if you don't meet the time goals, you will soon have no job. So most choose having a job over not and only want to get that damn box delivered within the "allotted" time so you don't have to have your supervisor crawling up your back-side for being "slow". |
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Post by riogrande on May 31, 2012 11:50:30 GMT -8
I used to work for a U.S. shipping company. I'll just say that this "company" is owned by the U.S. government . The ENTIRE shipping line from point of origin to doorstep is all about getting the job done in the least amount of time. The closure of sorting facilities has meant the ones still operating are moving more parcels with nearly the same work force. Carefulness isn't even part of an employees vocabulary since you are judged by getting the job done in the shortest amount of time. You mean the one which is closing record numbers of offices and lately interchange centers? =P My cousin is married to one such currently employed on SoCal and his knee's gave out so he processes VISA's now. =D But if these gov workers are like most, they don't move fast enough to cause that much damage so maybe thats part of why more damage doesn't occur. And as an aside, I've had pretty good luck with the USPS as far as packages go, and often they are cheaper than big Brown or FedEx etc. |
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Post by Christian on May 31, 2012 18:16:50 GMT -8
What do you think about this option? My only concern is the grills. The plastic frame would need to clear them to avoid crushing them. How much damage will I (a common klutz) cause dumping the locomotive out of that new package onto my hand? |
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Post by upwpfan on Jun 1, 2012 8:08:18 GMT -8
Folks; I received my Canadian yesterday. It was delivered by an agent of "Big Brown" who carefully set it on my door step. I opened it up and gave it a brief examination. Only problem was with one A unit. Speed recorder had fallen off and one wind screen was broken off. I read the manual and I plan to go over it as instructed before I run it. (tonight) So far I am very happy ....I filled the scotch tumbler with a shot of Glenlivet, faced north, and toasted Rapido....a superb product. Regards Jere Ingram Folks; Here is an update on my continuing Canadian inspection. Last night I got the optivisor and NMRA guage out. Checked all the passenger cars and found that the wheel sets are little on the tight side (narrow) with respect to the guage. All passenger car brake chains are not attached at one end of each car. Locomotives were fine except that for missing air piping on brake cylinders on two of the four side frames. I will make an attempt to run the locomotives tonight with a short consist and see what happens. Regards Jere Ingram |
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Post by shoofly on Jun 1, 2012 11:32:39 GMT -8
Jere! Great to see u made it to the new forum, thanks for the updates  |
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Post by nhguy on Jun 1, 2012 21:57:37 GMT -8
Take off the Fragile label and put on "You will loose you job if you break the contents of this package" label. OR just put 'Perishable' on it. I've never had one destroyed that was food. |
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Post by el3637 on Jun 4, 2012 6:32:58 GMT -8
Take off the Fragile label and put on "You will loose you job if you break the contents of this package" label. Of course anyone who has worked for the post office for more than a week knows that's not true. Andy |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2012 6:57:18 GMT -8
Take off the Fragile label and put on "You will loose you job if you break the contents of this package" label. Of course anyone who has worked for the post office for more than a week knows that's not true. Andy As someone that formerly worked for the post office, knows its all about just getting the crap delivered in the time that is calculated for that particular route. If stuff gets bounced around in delivery, then it was not packed well enough for "normal handling". The absolute worst time to have a package in the "loop" is when the mail is heavy. For you are STILL expected to get the stuff delivered in X amount of hours. |
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Post by upwpfan on Jun 4, 2012 8:59:05 GMT -8
Folks; I received my Canadian yesterday. It was delivered by an agent of "Big Brown" who carefully set it on my door step. I opened it up and gave it a brief examination. Only problem was with one A unit. Speed recorder had fallen off and one wind screen was broken off. I read the manual and I plan to go over it as instructed before I run it. (tonight) So far I am very happy ....I filled the scotch tumbler with a shot of Glenlivet, faced north, and toasted Rapido....a superb product. Regards Jere Ingram Folks; Here is an update on my continuing Canadian inspection. Last night I got the optivisor and NMRA gage out. Checked all the passenger cars and found that the wheel sets are little on the tight side (narrow) with respect to the gage. All passenger car brake chains are not attached at one end of each car. Locomotives were fine except that for missing air piping on brake cylinders on two of the four side frames. I will make an attempt to run the locomotives tonight with a short consist and see what happens. Regards Jere Ingram Folks; I got a chance to run the entire train set at my local club on Friday night. Needless to say there were a number of admiring looks as I unpacked the train set from the box. I pre programmed 4 digit addresses into the two a units before I went. Only one has the sound unit...the other just a decoder. Both units ran flawlessly. Interesting to operate the two A's with dummy B between. Dirty track becomes very noticeable! Ran two loops and things seem to be OK. Lights, sound all work OK. I had one derailment which I believe was caused by the "tight" wheel sets. I broke another wind screen on one A unit (ouch)  Those things are delicate. Lost two grab irons some where. They just fell out some where along the line and I did not recover. I wish that the locomotive lights had a little less of a greenish cast to them. Not sure what to do about this at this point. I will try and get some video and/or photo of the train in action and post.... Regards Jere Ingram |
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Post by calzephyr on Jun 4, 2012 9:21:09 GMT -8
Folks; Here is an update on my continuing Canadian inspection. Last night I got the optivisor and NMRA gage out. Checked all the passenger cars and found that the wheel sets are little on the tight side (narrow) with respect to the gage. All passenger car brake chains are not attached at one end of each car. Locomotives were fine except that for missing air piping on brake cylinders on two of the four side frames. I will make an attempt to run the locomotives tonight with a short consist and see what happens. Regards Jere Ingram Folks; I got a chance to run the entire train set at my local club on Friday night. Needless to say there were a number of admiring looks as I unpacked the train set from the box. I pre programmed 4 digit addresses into the two a units before I went. Only one has the sound unit...the other just a decoder. Both units ran flawlessly. Interesting to operate the two A's with dummy B between. Dirty track becomes very noticeable! Ran two loops and things seem to be OK. Lights, sound all work OK. I had one derailment which I believe was caused by the "tight" wheel sets. I broke another wind screen on one A unit (ouch) Those things are delicate. Lost two grab irons some where. They just fell out some where along the line and I did not recover. I wish that the locomotive lights had a little less of a greenish cast to them. Not sure what to do about this at this point. I will try and get some video and/or photo of the train in action and post.... Regards Jere Ingram Jere Thanks for giving us the update on the first run. It looks to be a beautiful train much like the real prototype was in its day. We are glad you had a good experience running the train and getting a great reception to its first run. The details on most of the latest models are fragile and a lot of care must be taken to prevent any damage to the model. We cannot handle any of the new items like we used to handle the old blue box Athearn cars with no detail and molded on parts. Yes, Model Railroading has improved a great deal and the Canadian is one of the many new highly detailed models that set new standards for quality. I believe you indicated most of the wheel sets were on the tight side. Would they have caused derailing if you had not loosen them to the NMRA standards or just on the fringe of being tight?? Larry |
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Post by el3637 on Jun 4, 2012 10:54:02 GMT -8
train set from the box. I pre programmed 4 digit addresses into the two a units before I went. Only one has the sound unit...the other just a decoder. Is that what it's supposed to be? Both of my A units have sound. I would like to see better color on the LEDs in general. If it's going to be a fleet loco, I will generally replace with bulbs, but the Canadian was never supposed to be a "project" for me and it's likely to be a long time before I start doing any messing around with the equipment other than repairing the damage to the A units when I get the replacement steps. At this point the couplers are functional, so I probably won't change them out until they give me trouble or it's a really slow day on the workbench. Andy |
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Post by calzephyr on Jun 5, 2012 5:44:25 GMT -8
train set from the box. I pre programmed 4 digit addresses into the two a units before I went. Only one has the sound unit...the other just a decoder. Is that what it's supposed to be? Both of my A units have sound. I would like to see better color on the LEDs in general. If it's going to be a fleet loco, I will generally replace with bulbs, but the Canadian was never supposed to be a "project" for me and it's likely to be a long time before I start doing any messing around with the equipment other than repairing the damage to the A units when I get the replacement steps. At this point the couplers are functional, so I probably won't change them out until they give me trouble or it's a really slow day on the workbench. Andy Andy The color of the LED headlights seems to be a problem in general for most of the model trains today. The new smt led's are really good and bright and yet so many models come in with a red, green or yellow tint that is so bad it is disappointing. Maybe we should all email the importers and continue to request good sunny bright led lighting for our future models. The industry has always responded to our requests over time and maybe it is time for us to email our thoughts on this subject. I for one don't mind changing out the led to a suitable color, but some of the latest articulated steam locos are really hard to change. The smt led are so small, I need to magnify the item to even see it well. Larry |
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Post by espeenut on Jun 5, 2012 8:20:24 GMT -8
...so how come Atlas manages to get the color right on their model loco's? All my current Atlas diesels have a nice color to the LED's, or maybe they aren't the smt variety...
...the color is also pretty good on my Kato's...
Lorne
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Post by calzephyr on Jun 5, 2012 8:50:07 GMT -8
...so how come Atlas manages to get the color right on their model loco's? All my current Atlas diesels have a nice color to the LED's, or maybe they aren't the smt variety... ...the color is also pretty good on my Kato's... Lorne Lorne They do and I give them credit for the good choiced of color for their led use. I have three of the first run Santa Fe Dash 8-40BW units with the blue lights but added two more of the second run with the proper light color. All of the Dash 80BW use the smt led type in the ditch lights and Atlas got it correct. Thanks for giving credit to Atlas products for this quality color choice. We don't have to email them for sure. Larry |
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Post by nhguy on Jun 5, 2012 9:47:09 GMT -8
...so how come Atlas manages to get the color right on their model loco's? All my current Atlas diesels have a nice color to the LED's, or maybe they aren't the smt variety... ...the color is also pretty good on my Kato's... Lorne Lorne They do and I give them credit for the good choices of color for their led use. I have three of the first run Santa Fe Dash 8-40BW units with the blue lights but added two more of the second run with the proper light color. All of the Dash 80BW use the smt led type in the ditch lights and Atlas got it correct. Thanks for giving credit to Atlas products for this quality color choice. We don't have to email them for sure. Larry My guess would be they bought a bunch of LEDs and didn't test the colors before putting them in the locos.  There are two ways to tone down the green. One is to add a touch of Tayama clear amber or orange paint on the LED. That should warm them up a bit. Or you can change them out with a Richmond Controls golden white or warm white LEDs or Miniatronics' yelo-glow 3mm LEDs. If you want to stay with small LEDs then TCS (train control systems) and Richmond Controls both sell smd LEDs in a golden white (steam era incandescent) and warm white (diesel era). You can get the smd LED 0603's pre-wired if soldering magnet wire to a smd is not your thing. One other thing to remember is that some folks can not see green in the color spectrum. It may be perfectly normal to them in their eyes. |
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Post by rapidotrains on Jun 5, 2012 10:50:46 GMT -8
Folks; I got a chance to run the entire train set at my local club on Friday night. Needless to say there were a number of admiring looks as I unpacked the train set from the box. I pre programmed 4 digit addresses into the two a units before I went. Only one has the sound unit...the other just a decoder. Both units ran flawlessly. Interesting to operate the two A's with dummy B between. Dirty track becomes very noticeable! Ran two loops and things seem to be OK. Lights, sound all work OK. I had one derailment which I believe was caused by the "tight" wheel sets. I broke another wind screen on one A unit (ouch) Those things are delicate. Lost two grab irons some where. They just fell out some where along the line and I did not recover. I wish that the locomotive lights had a little less of a greenish cast to them. Not sure what to do about this at this point. I will try and get some video and/or photo of the train in action and post.... Regards Jere Ingram Hi Jere, Both of the locomotives should have sound. I suggest you unconsist them and check them individually to be sure. It is possible you have a broken wire to your speakers. For any parts that fall off, give Dan a call at the office. If he has them he will be happy to send you replacements. Similarly, if you can't get the sound to come on one unit then call Dan. 1-877-738-6445. As for the headlights and number boards, that has been quite frustrating for us. Our samples were golden yellow, but then the production models had a cooler yellow tone (with more green).... but some of them had the golden yellow. It turns out that both yellows fall within the QC specs of the LED suppliers - they are both considered "golden yellow." To date we've only had a handful of complaints about the colours - most people are happy with them, and I have to say that so far we have not seen any that we've considered offensive. The trouble is that they can't be checked effectively until they are installed in the locomotives, at which point it is very time-consuming to remove them so it only happens if the LED is the wrong colour, such as red or bright green. The factory does not seem able to differentiate between golden yellow and golden yellow with a hint of green. I think at this point, delaying the rest of the shipments by several months while we try to nail down a small variation in tone would put us out of business, so we have to keep chugging along with production. -Jason |
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Post by el3637 on Jun 5, 2012 12:02:12 GMT -8
Both of the locomotives should have sound. I suggest you unconsist them and check them individually to be sure. It is possible you have a broken wire to your speakers. I have had the sound drop off on mine... loco keeps running but sound goes off. I didn't realize the lead unit had lost sound since the second one was still working, until I hit the horn. I think killing and re-consisting brought the sound back. Last night I had the train continuously running (with sound off) and after a while it just stopped. Lights were still on, but no motor. I lifted both off the rails and back on, and they started up again. I'm not going to change out the LEDs just because there's too much going on, the roof beacon and all that. I would like to tone down the number boards a bit. I don't normally light my #boards at all since they aren't visible in the daytime anyway. Do I need to get on the list with Dan for the replacement side steps? I think that's all I'm going to need. I don't think anything else was actually damaged, just fell off. Well the front coupler on the one A unit was mangled, but I can replace that myself. Andy |
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Post by el3637 on Jun 5, 2012 12:04:36 GMT -8
If you want to stay with small LEDs then TCS (train control systems) and Richmond Controls both sell smd LEDs in a golden white (steam era incandescent) and warm white (diesel era). You can get the smd LED 0603's pre-wired if soldering magnet wire to a smd is not your thing. Is the difference between "steam era" and "diesel era" reflector vs. sealed beam? Well into the 1970s IHB was operating NW2s with the large reflector single headlights - you could spot them way down the track because they had a more yellowish color than the newer Pyle type sealed beams. Andy |
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Post by northern on Jun 5, 2012 20:57:57 GMT -8
I received my Canadian set and all three of the engines were damaged. The damage was mainly the steps and a few of the yellow handrails. One engine had the pilot off and the coupler and mounting box was pulled off of the body of the engine. There was also a few loose parts in the box which I have not yet identified, but they can be re-installed once I figure out what they are.
The coaches, with the exception of a couple of wheels knocked loose had no damage.
I guess some damage is to be expected when you realize the amount of detail that has been developed with this set.
The twisted coupler and having the pilot knocked off of the A unit certainly demonstrates that the packing box really took a shock somewhere in its travels. My box traveled to the East Coast of the USA and then back to Canada on the West Coast about 60 miles from where the container with all of the Canadian sets landed.
I was in touch with Jason and he assures me that replacement parts will be sent to me.
I only hope that my other set does not suffer the same amount of damage.
I will be out of town for a few weeks so will not be able to break in the set until then.
On my first impression, not taking into consideration the damage which can at some point be repaired. I sure am impressed with the engines and the coaches, Great Work Jason.
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nhguy
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Post by nhguy on Jun 6, 2012 0:06:04 GMT -8
If you want to stay with small LEDs then TCS (train control systems) and Richmond Controls both sell smd LEDs in a golden white (steam era incandescent) and warm white (diesel era). You can get the smd LED 0603's pre-wired if soldering magnet wire to a smd is not your thing. Is the difference between "steam era" and "diesel era" reflector vs. sealed beam? Well into the 1970s IHB was operating NW2s with the large reflector single headlights - you could spot them way down the track because they had a more yellowish color than the newer Pyle type sealed beams. Andy Yes that is the difference. A reflected light from a bulb is different from a sealed beam headlight. The bulb in a steam and early diesel had almost a 360 degree light emission. Where as the sealed beam was the filament reflecting off the reflector at the back of the lamp. This caused the bulb to seem warmer yellow than the sealed beam lamp. The Alco RS3's bulb is warmer looking than the GP7 twin sealed beam lamps. |
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....I filled the scotch tumbler with a shot of Glenlivet, faced north, and toasted Rapido....a superb product.
. The ENTIRE shipping line from point of origin to doorstep is all about getting the job done in the least amount of time. The closure of sorting facilities has meant the ones still operating are moving more parcels with nearly the same work force. Carefulness isn't even part of an employees vocabulary since you are judged by getting the job done in the shortest amount of time. 
Those things are delicate. Lost two grab irons some where. They just fell out some where along the line and I did not recover. I wish that the locomotive lights had a little less of a greenish cast to them. Not sure what to do about this at this point. I will try and get some video and/or photo of the train in action and post....