Sadly, the politicians have not yet figured out the role high taxes play sending US jobs outside our borders. So, I’m glad to have a hobby to keep my mind off of the politicians.
I hope BLI produces one of my favorite locomotives some day.
You have a very good point about how many modelers would buy just any N&W steam. I have severa copies of the J, and purchased both the A and Y6b with sound. I don’t model the N&W, but stood at trackside on vacation for several days in Roanoke back in the summer of 1956.
I had to have the models since they are very impressive to me, but they did not sell as well as BLI/PCM had hoped.
The USRA Y3 version that P2K imported was sold to several other railroads during WWII and the modle of the Y3 probably sold better than the great Y6B. The Y6b was never sold to any other railroads and is N&W only.
There are those that don’t like BLI’s locomotives because they are not 100% accurate.There are those that complained about the various issues with their BLI locomotives QC problems…
However,BLI seems to be a strong company that is still in the business of producing locomotives including their new “Blue Line” of DC sound equipped locomotives.
I would pay no heed to such “club house” rumors after all after the death of Irv Athearn Athearn was going to “closed its doors” so the rumor went…Atlas was going to stop making any HO and specialize in N Scale…That one dates back to the 60s when Atlas started importing N Scale.Then the newest rumor “Athearn no longer produces BB car kits”…And so the rumor mill goes on and on and on and----.
Bob, did you hear the bell of the Galloping Goose? I think that is the best in the market, and the whole sound is excellent. [:)] Bye
I sure did hear the bell sound, and the wirring of the starter as the truck motor starts, the two horns too. Love it! I placed a video on YouTube of my first Goose when I first got it, the bell is only on near the end. Wish I would have known at the time if you turn the power off quickly, the unit glides to a stop with brakes squealing! Neat.
Here’s my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRK5h7AdDrs
Does it change gears or just sputter along? [:D]
It goes trough four gears as the speed increases. Also when you stop then start again, you can here the motor revving and the transmission being put in gear!
Cool! Thanks!
Perhaps instead of taxes, we should move to a “pay as you go” system. House being robbed and you need to call 911? “Please enter your credit card number followed by a pound sign in order to be connected to the police department.” Could save money at the grocercy store too. Perhaps a discount for food items produced in plants not inspected by fed and state agencies. But i digress.
I don’t think BLI is in trouble. Maybe not doing as good as they thought they would - sure. Fire saling the last of an inventory run does not necessariloy mean there’s no profit. There may not be profit in the last T1 sold, but the T1 line as a whole may have done very very well. Cash gathered now through offering some items at below cost may be “cheaper” than obtaining a loan to make more product. There are literrally endless scenariosin which it may make fiscal sense to sell some inventory at less than cost. My ex father in law used to call Wal-mart stupid for seeling motor oil below cost as he stood in line with about $200 of other things that he didn’t even need but saw when walking to and from the motor oil aisle. Just a thought.
I have been into a situation where property was burning and people hurt on the interstate and actually recieved a recording asking me to hold for the next availible operator when dailing 911. It’s a horrible feeling.
I think your Ex Father In Law was a victim of silent marketing, stores placing common items way in the back like Milk and eggs and make you walk past lots of appealing items to get there.
We had a bad walmart problem ourselves for a time too. I think the monthly outflow to walmart was in the hundreds of dollars at times. We did stop the bleeding and only go for specific items written on a peice of paper when we need it.
Even today it’s very difficult to enter a super center and get out
Try going to the LHS after moving from a place where the nearest train store was a 6 hour drive (lived there 12 years) for a bottle of grimy black paint. I won’t tell you how much that bottle of Floquil cost me 
Just a thought:
Y’know, modeling steam locomotives is a pretty tricky business. When they were built by a certain manufacturer for the real railroads, the locos were designed for that particular railroads specifications and needs. It’s not like EMD or GE these days, where the put out a particular model and tell the railroads: “Here it is, buy it or don’t.”
Back when, you could tell, say, an Alco 4-6-4 for the New York Central right off the bat. It certainly didn’t look like a 4-6-4 built for the Milwaukee, or the Santa Fe or the New Haven, because each of these Hudsons had their own distinctive styling and their own distinctive uses on the particular railroad.
It’s tough for a model maker to decide to make specific steamers for specific railroads, because they’re always going to come up short, no matter how authentic they try. Okay, Heritage and Spectrum (for example) can come up with a USRA steamer and be fairly safe, because they probably expect that the expert modeler is going to adapt their basic model to his railroad with super-detailing and castings. But if you’re going to make a SPECIFIC locomotive for a SPECIFIC railroad, you’re almost always going to get into a heap of trouble. Take the Santa Fe 3751 4-8-4 as built by BLI. It’s a darned good loco, sounds well, pulls well, runs smoothly (though it’s a real track-tester) and it’s handsome to boot. Well, BLI decided to release the ‘rebuilt’ version instead of the original, which means larger drivers, single–instead of the standard ATSF double-- sand-dome and Worthington (instead of the old ATSF standby Elesco) feedwater heater. A lot of modelers were very happy (me for one) and a lot of modelers weren’t so happy. They wanted the original 1927 version, which I have to admit, was also a very handsome loco and I wouldn’t have minded at all, either.
Same thing with th
Tom,
Some excellent points. It must takes nerves of steel to enter into the model steam locomotive market these days. No longer, in many cases, will a generic loco do (aka the old mantua mikado). I would almost guess that the same is true of diesels (dynamic or nondynamic, type of pilot, phase I or phase IIa?). I would also venture that it is pretty tricky to balance level of detail versus price (is that one extra thing worth another dollar of selling price?).
Of course in my perfect world the result would be something offered at every price point. Would be interseting to visit this thread (and others like it) in about 5 years. Hopefully we’ll all be pleasantly surprised.
[quote user=“Safety Valve”]
I have been into a situation where property was burning and people hurt on the interstate and actually recieved a recording asking me to hold for the next availible operator when dailing 911. It’s a horrible feeling.
I think your Ex Father In Law was a victim of silent marketing, stores placing common items way in the back like Milk and eggs and make you walk past lots of appealing items to get there.
We had a bad walmart problem ourselves for a time too. I think the monthly outflow to walmart was in the hundreds of dollars at times. We did stop the bleeding and only go for specific items written on a peice of paper when we need it.
Even today it’s very difficult to enter
[quote user=“rrebell”]
[quote user=“Safety Valve”]
I have been into a situation where property was burning and people hurt on the interstate and actually recieved a recording asking me to hold for the next availible operator when dailing 911. It’s a horrible feeling.
I think your Ex Father In Law was a victim of silent marketing, stores placing common items way in the back like Milk and eggs and make you walk past lots of appealing items to get there.
We had a bad walmart problem ourselves for a time too. I think the monthly outflow to walmart was in the hundreds of dollars at times. We did stop the bleeding and only go for specific items written on a peice of paper when we need it.
Even today it’s v