$700 for Chinese-made Lionel trains? I didn't pay that much for several of the vintage Lionel and American Flyer trains I own. Just goes to show that not only is quality control lacking, but the powers-that-be at Lionel are guilty of price-gouging too. Joshua Lionel Cowen must be rolling over in his grave!

I may be a child, I may put more time into junior firefighting then model railroading some days, but take my advice and just always buy post war locomotives and rolling stock. Never disappoints.

Yes, stay away from Chinese Lionel, it is crap. Back in 2000 I visited a model train expo at the Ohio State Fair and I was awestruck by this large Allegheny steamer with this broad sounding whistle. From that point I just had to switch to the higher end products. So, I decided to sell some postwar stuff to fund the newer purchases. A mistake it was. A total of five engines, three in the $1,000 plus range all experienced problems right out of the box or shortly after. Had one past the warranty period that I had to send out for repair, it took me three months to get it back. So I thought, the heck with this I don't need this frustration, I can get that in life for free otherwise.

You absolutely correct... If Joshua was alive today.....? He'd be throwing a fit over what they've done to his empire...

I have quite a few Lionel sets, locos and cars and I have not had any issues with mine.

My neib bought a ' replacement motor almost as pictured above for a standard g. loco...right out of the box ..the armature was dragging on the field housing (frame)...the second engine was ok....I purchased a SF ABBA set in 2000...new...the powered A loco cab came right off as I was removing it from styrofoam..the 2 small screws remained in the packaging..where they had fallen out after STRIPPING the plastic threads...Great quality control...that was last item I purchased new from Chinonel