Did you ever have any success with the service department?

I have a similar issue with a new product that was defective (also a Christmas present for my son).

After a month I received my first contact stating that they couldn't find the item that I had shipped for replacement, and I responded immediately with the information showing that the package had been shipped and delivery had been signed for. I've received no word since. This was my first purchase of a Bachmann product and so far I'm pretty disappointed considering I'd gone with Bachmann based on their reputation.

Stephen & Conrail Quality:

Thank you for the replies - you've validated what I thought was probably the case, and you've saved me a lot of time searching.

This is great discussion board for someone new to this hobby.

Thanks again!

Can you purchase EZ Track manual turnouts? Or, can the remote turnouts be manually operated?

I have an EZ Track layout plan in mind that would require three right hand turn-outs (18" radius). As this layout will be on a 4'x8' sheet of fiber board on the floor, I'm trying to minimize wiring until my son gets older - accordingly I'm hoping to use manual turn-outs. One manual left hand turn out is included in the Bachman DCC that I'm buying him for Christmas, but I haven't been able to find manual turn-outs for sale.

I'm new to the board, but I did check the search function and did not see this question posed before. I know about the DCC controlled turn-outs, but these are a little too expensive for what I have in mind.

I'm also completely new to model railroads, so I'm open to any related advice on setting up a minimally wired plan.

Thanks in advance for any help.