Fox Valley Models and ExactRail wagontops

Does anyone know right off-hand whether the Fox Valley Models B&O M-53 wagontops use the same molds as the ExactRail B&O M-53 wagontops? Or, whether one made it for the other?

I was comparing them both at my LHS this past weekend and the shells (i.e. color, details) look virtually the same. The only difference I can see is that the ExactRail wagontops have some super-detailing that the Fox Valley Models versions don’t. There’s also some dating differences, too - e.g. ExactRail has two versions of the '37 boxcar.

I just find it ironic that they should both come out with wagontops about the same time; with pretty much the same versions made available.

Tom

Tom,

I’ve just got bits and pieces – and one FVM Wagontop, with another on order.

I was rather surprised to hear about the ER release announcement, just as the FVM models were arriving. I posted a modest gripe about this duplication of effort not being good for modellers – or sales either – when two such models compete head to head on the Atlas HO board. To me it smacked of the big kid on the block picking on the new kid.

The reply was that ER has a backlog of molds sitting on the shelf and dusts them off for release as it saw fit. This is a legacy of at least on of the principals, who apparently is a noted mold cutter who has done work for many companies. That didn’t “exactly” remove my suspicions about ER’s timing.

My guess is that FVM doesn’t own its molds, like is the case with many of the items made in China. I kind of doubt that ER would make molds I’m pretty sure it does own available to FVM. But model railroad manufacturing is a strange and rather more incestuous business than it may at first seem, so it could be they are the same molds, even though I suspect they are not.

I’m quite sure both of these models were developed separately. The release of one may have been timed to roughly coincide with the other once one manufacturer learned of the other’s upcoming product, so as to prevent the competition from soaking up all the demand. Take a really close look at both models and it becomes obvious they’re based on different tooling.

Mike and Rob,

Thanks for the replies. I have three of the FVM '37 wagontops so I only have experience with them. When I saw the ExactRail versions at my LHS, I was comparing them through the plastic viewing window of the box. The super-detailing (added detailing) on the ends of the ExactRail cars was the one difference I could see. The rest looked pretty much the same.

I’ve heard of companies making items/components/etc. for other companies. I was just wondering if this was the case with ExactRail and FVM.

Tom