Engine House Hobbies
Authorized repair services and upgrades

 

Copyright 2010 by K. Ferlic,   All Rights Reserved

 

Repair Service and upgrades: Repairs are performed or available for all gauges of model trains and many manufacturers.  Engine House Hobbies is an authorized MTH Repair Center. Lionel Authorized repair services and warranty services are also available through Engine House Hobbies.

Mail order repairs are welcome.  However, one should consider the cost effectiveness of having something repaired when postage, parts, and labor are considered. Any shipping and handling to and from the store is at the owner's expense. If the item cannot fit into a standard US Postal Service Flat Rate Container, shipping can be expected to be between $10 and $20 (or more) depending on its weight and size of the container.  Additionally, there is a diagnostic fee which is applied towards any repairs performed when the problem with an engine, operating car or accessory is not clear and diagnosis and exploration is needed. Therefore, in considering costs, shipping two and from the store and the diagnostic fee, mail order repairs can begin at $45. Hence, it is more cost effective to replace some items rather than having them repaired by mail order.

Upgrades: Engine House Hobbies also performs upgrades on MTH engines from Proto-Sound 1 to Proto-Sound 2 and Electric RR upgrades for older Lionel engines.  Steam and diesel upgrades are comparable in prices. Articulated engines will cost a little more. Upgrade of a pair of powered A units is about twice the cost of a single A unit. 

Diagnostic fee:  Often we do not know the cost of repairs for engines, operating cars or operating accessories which are not operating properly or do not operate until we perform a diagnostic on the item. Also, it is not uncommon that once the time and effort is expended to open an item the problem can be quickly fixed. There is a $25 diagnostic fee to evaluate such items.  The $25 fee covers the labor of opening and closing the item and the associated evaluation.  The $25 fee will be applied to the cost of any work performed and parts.  There is a separate diagnostic fee for each item to be evaluated.

If the customer chooses not to have the work done, the $25 covers the labor of the diagnosis and is not refundable. 

If the requested repair is obvious no diagnostic fee is necessary.  For example a car with a broken coupler does not need a diagnosis. Here the part cost and labor is rather well defined. However, an engine which does not run will most probably require taking the engine apart and looking at internal components. In these cases a diagnostic fee will apply. An operating car, operating accessory or engine which is not working properly in some way can be expected to have a diagnostic fee. Here again, this fee is applicable to any work performed.

Types of repairs - a la cart versus packaged deals: The following types of repairs and services are available. A la cart pricing will normally be more expensive than a packaged deal such as refurbishing an engine and/or a defined work package. Call or email for current prices. It does need to be noted Engine House Hobbies is located in a rather expensive part of the US. As such cheaper labor prices may be available elsewhere if they can be found. Contact Engine House Hobbies for a sample of repair pricing.

MTH Engine Service: clean wheels, polish third rail rollers, oil axles, lubricate gear box

Replace coupler spring

Replace pickup shoe

Bulb replacement

Clean and lubricate an operating cars’ wheels, rollers, shoes and/or mechanism

PS-1 chip reprogramming

PS-1 board replacement

PS-1 to PS-2 Upgrade (except for Shays)

PS-2 Upgrade for other manufacturer’s engines or shays with fly wheels.

PS-2 Board replacement

Reprogram PS-2 board

Replace battery (includes battery

BCR upgrade installation - 3 volt

BCR upgrade installation - 9 volt

Installation of lighting in non-powered diesel units (excludes kit)

MTH Smoke units
Replace fan
Replace gasket
Replace wick
Replace heating elements
Replace impeller
Replace entire unit

Replace traction tires

Install coupler insulation

Reprogram TIU and handheld

Replace speaker

Replace volume control

Lionel engine service - postwar steam and whistle

Lionel engine service - postwar diesel

Lionel engine service - TMCC/RS

 
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