Why were thjey discontinued? And, after all, intermodal IS the future of railroading and the possibilities are many!
Help me out, which cars are you referring too?
Basically Atlas runs limited run productions and when they are gone they are gone. If something sells well, they may get around to another run at some point but thats basically how their production works.
Nothing is “discontinued”. Like everything else, it’s a limited run. When supplies are gone, Atlas may or may not re-run it. Meanwhile, go to trainshows and haunt e-Bay.
As for intermodal being “the future” of railroading, it’s also it’s past. Modern intermodal started in 1937 on the Chicago Great Western and on the New Haven (yes, TOFC trains behind steam…and electrics for that matter). The NH started their “Trailiner” service then, connecting New York City with Boston, Providence and Springfield (MA), and was the No. 1 TOFC RR until SP got going with it in 1953.
Paul A. Cutler III
Don’t be worried whenAtlas sometimes stops any Production of any wanted Item from time to time, they will produce them in a few years again.
Since Atlas stands by its own Management since their old Mother Company of Roco/Austria became bankrupty they will not do the same mistake like Roco, to produce endless Lines of Items which never sold out from time to time to build larger and larger Storage Warehouses to store all not sold Items by the overproduction of their running Items.
Roco /Austria made that mistake to gurantee their Workerstheir Job and income, so they produced more Items that never could be sold onto amny markets, at least they needed to declare to be bankrupty and went into concourse.
Roco /Austria stopped any Production of their Items for a few years to re-organize their Company and neasrly all daughter Companies, like Atlas begun to work by their own Management.
Märklin/Trix at Germany in concourse, too, they stopped inefficient Product Lines like their Tracksystem and hoping to save their Company by re-organizing it into a more efficiency working Company.
I never knew that Atlas was owned by Roco of Austria. I just figured Roco was Atlas’s overseas manufacturer who they contracted with to make some of their items. Atlas also contracted with KATO, thus the GP7s. It seems like Atlas, Walthers and others have worked with various companies over the years to produce our models. China seems to be getting the lions share of production contracts these days (economics of coures).
Could be because it never was.
I know Atlas sold Roco manufactured items (HO locomotives and some track and N scale items) for many years but i believe it was just a product manufacturing deal and not an outright ownership of one company owning the other. Roco items were sold under several different manufactures names and the only one’s i can think of right now is AHM (certain of this and i have some cars to prove it ) and maybe Model Power (if my memory seves me right???)
Atlas was making MR products in the 50’s when I started in HO. Never heard anything about them being owned by Roco. Don’t believe it without hard proof.
Bob
Well, MrRheingold commented something to that effect of Roco and Atlas so I was thinking, well, that didn’t make sense to me but I don’t know everything.