# NGRC2017 Convention Car



## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

The Convention car this year was a (what else) oil tanker -- a modern one with Rte 66 signs as part of the logo. It was the first model built by Ozark Miniatures, and there were growing pains. The cars appeared at the Convention only a couple of days before the Convention ended. 

The folks at Ozark said they'd fix problems for everyone who bought a car before the convention, but it's coming on two months since Tulsa, and I've not even gotten a note that know I bought one! Not an issue for me, though, because I'm in too much of a hurry to get this car on a layout!

The cars are heavy, and the trucks have working springs and couplers mounted on them. The trucks are very heavy too, not a bad thing, IMHO.

There were several problems with the car, most of them minor. The trucks appear to have been assembled and then dipped in a very thick paint, making the springs non-functioning and the wheels more or less non-turning.

The solution, in a word, is a solution -- acetone. Applied liberally to the axles and the springs, the acetone dissolved the paint. In the process, the tires became cleaned as well. After I cleaned the axles, a few drops of light oil made the wheels roll very easily. They are now sitting in the sun to lose their acetone smell.

Other problems were fixed with model airplane cement. One air hose and one of the (blank) warning signs had fallen off. Glue fixed 'em.


----------



## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Dick,

I received the following email from Greg Sturge a couple of weeks ago. I have not followed up on it, but it seems that Ozark wants to make things right. I assume you have to pay shipping to the company however.


Good afternoon

There will be another email going out tomorrow to all attendees, but this email is intended for those that purchased a convention car.

First of all, on behalf of the convention committee, we are very sorry that there are issues with some of the cars. We did not receive them until Thursday afternoon, and only found out as the day progressed that there were problems.

Some of the cars that were received had one or more issues. Those issues included poor paint jobs and wheels/trucks with so much paint that the wheels would not turn and the springs were frozen in place. Some cars were fully functional and looked good. Our observation, which may not be correct, was that there was a rush to get these out for the convention and very little if any quality control was done before they were packed and shipped. I am basing that on the few cars I did see on Thursday afternoon and from emails I have received.

I made contact with Dave at Ozark Miniature, who manufactured these cars, regarding these issues. He replied that any car that was received with a problem or poor paint job, that he would fix any issue and repaint/repair the car at no cost. All he asks is that you email him, let him know what issues you have with the car, and he will make arrangements to get those issues resolved. His email is: [email protected] He is not in a position to take all cars at once, and would like to schedule them in for whatever work needs to be done.

Please keep me advised of any problems you have getting this resolved.

Thank you

Gregory R. Sturge – Chairman
2017 NGRC
Tulsa, OK


----------



## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Two more problems with the NGRC car. (1) I put the car on tracks to pull it around to loosen the wheels. As soon as I put power to the track, the power supply circuit breaker blew. The wheels shorted the power supply!!!. I couldn't believe it, so tried it again. It shorted again!!

Then the truck broke. What a waste of a hundred bucks.


----------



## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

I've emailed them twice since my last post here. No reply, no nothing. Now I'm trying to make lemonade from this lemon, but I don't know how to fix or replace the truck which fell apart.


----------

