While unwrapping my NEW "T-Reproductions" Dorfan crane a few minutes ago, Kay and I discovered one of the diecast struts was broken in two! I do NOT know if the damage occurred during the transit from Korea or from the UPS delivery to me. The original outer carton was in EXCELLENT shape with NO punctures or dings. It is anyone's guess where and when the damage occurred.

I am heartsick, as I have always wanted one of these awesome accessories. I am in the process of returning the crane to its owner. NOT a good day at Bear Creek!

Kay said I must have been in a state of shock, as I uttered NO cuss words!

Life, more often than not, throws you a curve ball!

Art,

That is really disappointing. Nothing worse than having something bring you happiness in your life and then something unexpected happens to screw it up. I've been through that myself this week. I feel your pain my friend.

Joe:

THANKS for your concern! I cannot think of a bigger disappointment with my tinplate trains! I received the box on Tuesday, and enjoyed a healthy dose of anticipation until today, when it was possible to actually open the box and see my treasure. The seller, of course, will take it back, but I am sorry that he has to contend with the damage!

BAD NEWS all around!!

Can't it be fixed? I would think a repaired reproduction crane would be better than none at all. There would be a tell-tale scar, but I would think the repaired part could be stripped and repainted to hide it.

Unfortunately, I am too obsessive-compulsive for such a repair. Short of an entire new casting professionally painted, I could not deal with it.

I feel your pain. I purchased a 129B station terrace on e-bay and UPS destroyed it. I wanted the terrace not my money back.

Art,

I am really sorry to hear about your item. I have been through your disappointment more than once and the insurance reimbursement is a lame compensation for an item that cannot be replaced.

I can only offer one bit of advice: don't ship valuable train items through UPS. UPS uses a very large metal forwarding device that whacks the heck out of packages. It isn't exclusive to my UPS "zone", it is used nationwide. It is GUARANTEED to obliterate any valuable toy train item that isn't super packed and double boxed. I also to pay for professional packing at the UPS Store (while I don't care for their shipping, their double boxing and packing is consistently excellent in my area).

I try to send sellers (TCA and Ebay alike) prepaid airbills from DHL or Fed Ex. I double and triple insure packages to provide incentive for the firms not to destroy my gear. So far my success rate has been 100%. I've opened a DHL and Fed Ex account. I also do this because the service I receive from them is consistenly better than the alternatives. They have tracking that is a bit better than "Electronic information received".

Again, I am really sorry to hear about your crane. You should put an advertisement in the TCA Quarterly. I bet you'll have one within a few weeks. I know it won't make you feel any better but here's a small list of things I've had destroyed or lost:

A Boxed 214R Reefer in mint condition (vaporized by USPS)
A T-Repro 114 Station and Terrace crushed (UPS Never reimbursed)
Complete destruction of a Pride Lines Ives Station (reimbursed $200 by the auction house and I lost half the station (I am left with a useless second half).
An MTH President's Special set given to someone in the next block over by UPS(I got it back).

Oh yes and some items from UPS and USPS taking up to two weeks for delivery from California (completely unacceptable).

Shall I go on?


Marc

Marc and Jim:

Yours are some horrific experiences, and I am sorry for YOUR individual pain! Whew! There was a time when UPS was THE premier way to ship, but sadly, that time has long GONE!

I,too, use the UPS Store for extra packing and "double-boxing", and they do an excellent job.

I have had 100% success with using mattress foam material for packing. I once rolled-up a $2500 live steam engine with that material, and cushioned the ends of that very large cylinderical mass with more foam, so that the heavy-duty corrugated carton in which it was placed could have been kicked across the room with NO damage!

PS: It arrived with no damage!

When inspecting the broken strut, I noticed that the break appeared to have occurred along the crystalline structure of the zinc alloy, possibly indicating that the struts may have a mettallurgical defect that caused mine to break more easily.

If that is true, then problems with these cranes may occur down the road!

I certainly hope not, but time will tell.

I was the shipper of the crane. It was double boxed and in its original packaging including styrofoam inserts. Somebody at UPS must have dropped it from a good height! As Art points out, the real bummer is the lost of the item. There just aren't that many of the cranes out there. If someone else has a duplicate in their collection like I did, it would be nice to share it with Art at a reasonable price.

BTW, it was fully insured. If anyone has the original ad from T-Reproductions I would really appreciate a scanned copy sent to my email address (kirklindvig@mac.com) to prove the value of the crane when I take it to UPS to show them the damage.

Thanks,

Kirk

As Kirk has stated, the crane was in its original heavy-duty shipping carton, PLUS and inner, lighter carton with two sustantial blocks of styrofoam (possibly medical grade?). The crane was reasonably well-protected, but a severe shock could be transmitted through the styrofoam. The mattress foam material, which I have sucessfully used in the past, would most likely ABSORB any external "hits" rather than "passing it on" to the item enclosed in it.

By the way, most shippers consider the plastic "peanuts" as merely FILLER, and NOT packing material. Scrunched-up newspaper is actually MUCH better than "peanuts"! Pre-formed, sufficiently thick styrofoam inserts, such as were included with the Dorfan crane, are considered acceptable (insurance worthy) packing by UPS.

Arno sent me a scan of the T-Reproductions flyer for the Dorfan crane, so it's on to UPS. I'm having trouble deciding whether or not I want them to make good on the insurance. I'd almost rather fix the crane and keep it!

Kirk

Could someone possibly make a replacement leg from an aluminum casting?

Kirk, I can see your point, If turned over to UPS then it gets destroyed and if you keep it then you are holding on to a piece of history and a great looking piece. Maybe the part can be made up. I would keep it (my opinion) and make up a part. The SGMA Group should be able to come up with ideas. If a part is made up then maybe we all should look at our T-Repros and look for flaws. Maybe more need to be made.

The only problem with an aluminum casting would be paint adherence. Most aluminum is color-anodized rather than painted, although aircraft aluminum is painted. A resin casting would be easier to make, and the color could be closely matched.

Have any of you Gents dealt with the TCA insurance? Do you use the shipper's -- UPS or USPS -- insurance or do you prefer to have your own policy cover transit? Regards.

Peter:

THANKS for the tip!!

Completely forgot about my TCA coverage - DUH!

I have always used the carrier's insurance at EXTRA expense, instead of my TCA insurance. Of course, I have had NO damage with any of my trains that I have shipped!

I do not know if Kirk has TCA coverage.

Peter,

Not sure you read the prior parts of the post. I don't use UPSP or UPS to ship anything unless the seller is married to them at the hip! Insurance does exactly squat for you when you have an antique toy that you probably won't see again in your lifetime and the shipper offers you "market value" for it.

TCA Insurance is an additional home owners insurance policy covering your collectibles and it has to have some kind of list or inventory of the items in your collection. It doesn't cover shipping although I seem to remember seeing some kind of rider on it to do just that.

I wouldn't recommend that kind of insurance to cover shipping hassles, just use a good shipper like Fed Ex and buy the max insurance you can.

Marc

I'll be off to UPS Tuesday, and will let you all know how it works out.
Kirk