A Message From The Model Train Industry

Model Railroader
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A great video! Everyone please forward this to all of your model railroad AND non-model railroad friend!

Thanks Batman!!

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The manufacturers not featured in this video are Athearn and Intermountain. Is there a reason for this?

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they went there because we would not do that kind of work

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The 2008 ‘great recession’ dinged me and set my mind to wondering if I’d ever have enough money to start the layout. Beginning track laying in 2012 during the ‘great Atlas track shortage’ was fretful, until happily discovering Micro Engineering and Fast Tracks. Recently made order with Showcase Miniatures and Kadee, also some ‘tariff free’ items from Miniprints. The ‘sky is not falling’ and “You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you’ve a mind to.” There will always be storms to weather; which reminds me, there’s a gondola on my bench that needs more weathering.

Regards, Peter

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The outsourcing to China made the highly detailed model we enjoy today possible in the first place. Without this step we would still be in the blue box age.

I wish everyony to earn as much money as possible. But succeeding in that goal having ever rising wages has consequences. In the globally connected economy we have today you easily price yourself out of the competion.

An example where the POTUS wants to make America great again: Ship building.
In 2018 the shipowner Matson received a 3400 TEU container vessel from Philadelphi Shipyard costing $205 million. The 18,000 TEU vessel EMMA MAERSK was built in Odense, Denmark for $175 million adjusted for inflation to 2018 and a 21,000 TEU vessel built at South Korea also for $175 million adjusted for inflation to 2018.

Use the advantages of globalisation and you can have rising wages and keep the consumer prices in check. The price to be paid is that some business sectors are no longer competitive. But with an unemployment rate of only around 4%, the USA seems to have overcome this hurdle quite well.

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but if you move to the states made the trains out of all weatherproof metal bodies(cars engines and display vehicles(non-rail) quit relying on electronics and computers and do like traxxis(gas combustion engines) then your not paying tarriffs.(sorry morning thinking havent had my daily energy drinks yet. probably a million things wrong with what i said i just cant think well without my energy drinks in me)

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Recall when a US made, 20" black and white TV cost the same than a modern 75" Big Screen. Sure, we can make a detailed loco domestically, but are you willing to pay $1700 for something you’re buying now for $300?

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huh?

I’ve been told something manufactured at a cost of $40 in china sells for ~$200. a 100% tariff would raise the cost by $40.

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Assuming US margins are maintained, doubling the cost means doubling the selling price. At a tariff of 145%, the selling price would increase 145%. The only way around that would be to show the tariff as a separate cost on websites, something the current administration stated was “a hostile and political act”.

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My $1700 figure alluded to the alternative of producing these products domestically, to avoid the tariffs. Either way, prices will climb dramatically.

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The question here is does the tariff get marked up or passed thru? If the importer has good cash flow, maybe the can just pass it thru, so the price goes up $40 to $240. or maybe the retailer cannot afford to pass the tariff thru even if the manufacturer does and the selling price goes to $300

But if the importer needs to borrow the $40 for the tariff, then he will likely be forced to treat the tariff as an increase in the manufacturing cost and mark that money up the same as his other costs.

This will prompt the retailer to also treat the tariff as a simple cost increase.

The selling price will double just like the cost to produce doubled. - $400

With this you are seeing one of the issues related to running a business like this on too much borrowed money and not being in control of your source of product.

Sheldon

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Somehow I don’t see how listing a tariff can be considered “a hostile and political act.” Shipping and taxes are listed separately. As a consumer, I think I have a right to know why an item has just jumped in cost. Or I can just sit back and blame the vendor for gouging.

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i’m also told that margines are NOT a fixed multiplier, they are more complicated.

don’t understand how you get $1700 for a something previously costing #100 if the tariiff is in the range of 100-200%. $1700 is a 560% price increase

i did some reaearch and found that US labor is ~300% of that in china and that labor is ~25% of the cost. if the labor cost is $10 in china and might be $30 in the US, the cost in the US increases by $20 to $60.

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If you lived here any shortages or price increase is blamed on the war in the Ukraine.

David

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I looked at a discussion on the MRH forum about this video and was surprised by the negativity posters had toward the model railroad industry because of prices and a general feeling that they deserve this. Yes, models are more expensive when I started out in the 70’s, but then so is everything else. But despite that, the greater expense of today’s models has resulted in models that are not just more detailed but run much smoother. So I’m not going to blame the industry. The industry is fine, the tariffs are the problem.

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Back when I used to buy gasoline at the pump (still do, sometimes) there were signs posted clearly stating that the cost included 38½¢ Ohio highway tax and 18.4¢ federal tax. I prefer to be an informed consumer and I don’t see anything “hostile” about telling me where my gasoline dollar is being disbursed.

Cheers, Ed

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There was a report that Amazon would show tariffs as such on their invoices. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,”
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/29/white-house-blasts-amazon-over-tariff-cost-report-hostile-and-political-act.html
Regards, Volker

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It is all over social media as well sadly. You would think a lot of model railroaders need a new hobby with how they want these companies to go out of business by their comments

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They’ll be okay. Price increases from MR companies will just increase at a faster rate than in recent past. Would be nice if they provided more mid range products rather than deemphasizing in favor of higher end products. I admire the high end products but don’t feel they are worth the higher price (bang for the buck).

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