I can’t find what I’m looking for. Ever. For instance…I’d like to purchase 100 or so of the DRGW Bethlehem 4-bay, 100-ton quad hoppers. They are nowhere to be found. Walthers made them and apparently made them in such miniscule quantities, they sold out lightening fast. That or the demand was very high for them. (I’m thinking some of both)
So why no manufacture them again, in more road number and in higher quantities? They will undoubtedly sell out eventually. Why not let some eager model railroaders get their hands on them? I watched 2 go on ebay tonight for 22 bucks each. How about some 6 packs Walthers? DRGW was not a dinky shortline operation. They have a massive railfan base and plently of modelers to constitute the steady supply of DRGW hoppers.
The same goes for Athearn - I can’t believe how damn hard it is to hunt down the CSDU/CSDPU 5 bay rapid discaharge Ortner hoppers. Again, plenty of people out there want them, no one wants to make them.
I completely flabbergasted as to how these manufacturers determine what gets made.
Also, they need to start making stuff into semi-assembled kits. Leave the couplers and trucks off. A novice modelrailroader can put those on with no problem.Heck, don’t even include couplers, because we know most modelers chunk the stock couplers in the garbage and opt for Kadees. Also, it would cut down on the price a little bit, making it a bit easier to build a unit train.
The joys of batch production and limited production runs…
Unless you get your order out at the time of product announcement, you´ll have a slim chance to get what you´re looking for. No importer places larger stock orders with their manufacturer in Asia, it is just back to back business. But even if you have ordered in time, you are most likely to catch the SONY message - that´s for “Sorry, out next year!”
Takes the fun out of the hobby and has made me change my modeling habits ( and therefor buying habits ).
And don’t even go into the mechanics of model railroading business practices with anyone. Demand is pretty much left out in the field, somewhere. No one says just what the batch runs are anymore because that just might reveal just how “low down the hobby industry really is” either.
Myself, I’d really like to know just how much demand there really is for hoppers/gondolas/boxcars and the like. There are a few smaller firms out there making them as well—just not that many.
I’m still getting my covered hoppers–the big 5 bay ones—
Sign a contract with the manufacturer of your choice to build a production run of the product for which you are so sure there is a huge demand and buy adds in a few model railroad magazines to sell them on the Internet. If you are correct you will make lots of money. If you are wrong…
I wonder if the new vaporware announcements / pre-order / limited stock / high prices / limited items trend may curiously end up pushing people back toward scratchbuilding / kit-bashing as a means of acquiring the models and variations they want / need ??? Wouldn’t that be an interesting development!
Rant all you want. This will not change the way manufactures will limit production. There may be a second or third run of a popular product that you will have to wait for. Fidelity of realism has taken manufactures to task in the past decade or two. Injection molding dies are very expensive to make and one roads hopper would be different than another roads hopper and all it would take is for some rivet counter to point out that this car has 576 rivets in the side sheets when it should have 586. Nothing travels faster than bad news. Manufactures do not want stock on hand. It is better for them to make a little, charge a lot and have no warehouse space. If they made a million hoppers of one road they may have to reduce the selling price to move them all. If they make a hundred thousand then they could charge more for each knowing they would sell as limited productions. Who else but us stupid modelers would pay $60 for ten cents worth of painted plastic anyway just because we want it? American business practices of the 21st century at its finest. Just like the candy bars of today 30% less for 30% more $.
Instead of unloading here, why not contact Walthers and Athearn (or whomever) directly yourself to share your feelings and druthers. If they hear from enough of their “buyers” then they may actually consider future runs.
When I was at a WGH show last year here in the Cleveland area (Apr '09), I approached one of the reps at the Atlas booth and inquired about whether they would be producing any 2nd runs of their HH600/660s switchers - in particular, NYC HH600s. The rep said he wasn’t sure but would pass along the request. Well - lo and behold - in Sep '09, Atlas announced that they would be producing a 2nd run of the switchers; this time to include two NYC HH600s [8D][tup] - both in non-sound and sound versions.
Now, I’m not saying that my request was instrumental in Atlas’ decision to produce another run of their HH600/660s. However, maybe it was a small link in a chain that helped make it possible. (As of this moment, the 2nd run of the non-sound versions are already out. I’m still waiting for my sound NYC 600 to arrive on my doorstep.)
So, to re-emphasize what I was stating above, try bending the ear of Walthers and Athearn - via e-mail or telephone call to their respective Customer Service departments. You never know what might happen. And, if you do decide to take that route, Keith, be sure to thank them for what they have done before putting in your request(s).
Yes, I swapped some e-mails with Walthers about the Type 21 tank cars they produced a year or two back. Lo and behold, they are in production and are supposed to be available later this year. Again, it might be coincidental, but they’re looking for a share of your discretionary income in a bad economy. Walthers has been around a long time, which tells me they run their business well, and listen to their customers.
If you tell them you want a hundred of these, that’s a big order. It’s probably larger than they get from all but a couple of their mega-dealers.
Like other long term MRs, I feel your pain. But, I do understand - for the most part - what the seller’s are up against when making contracts for batch production items.
They obviously - and for good reason - don’t want to buy more than they can sell in a reasonable time. So how do they pick the quantity number for a particular car or loco? If it’s the Santa Fe, it would be a fairly sizeable amount. If its the Illinois Central, it would be relatively few (darn!).
Sometimes their quantity decisions are way too conservative, but other times they made way too many. As someone said, its a crap shoot, with the only sound basis being pre-orders from the larger hobby shops and/or distributors.
Remember, while MR is a fun hobby for us, it is a business for the suppliers and sellers. They are in it for a profit - and that’s a fact.
In your case, if you want 100 of a particular car, you might be able to make your own contract with the supplier. Give it a try!
We are being conditioned to jump like a bunny at the initial announcement of a new product that interests us – and not to hold off waiting for a sale price or bulk discount. It can be a huge irritant but on the other hand, back in the day when a product would be introduced and kept in the catalog for years and years, no limited runs, that also tended to be the day when the detail, if any, was generic and the road names were Santa Fe, Pennsylvania Railroad, and maybe Union Pacific, regardless of the prototype. The manufacturers and we consumers could both afford to play a waiting game under those circumstances… It would sell, eventually, because nothng better was coming down the pike. And we’d buy it once we’d saved the money. I am not prepared to call those the good old days however. Particularly if you modeled a different railroad and wanted some basic level of accuracy.
Heh heh - I remember the days even into the 1970s when if you were buying a Walthers passenger car kit from a dealer’s shelf (the kits with the wood roof and embossed steel sides) you have to be very very careful – because the same shelf might hold the old old version of the same kit where the embossed steel sides had no rivet detail, basically pre 1950. Clearly neither the dealers nor the manufacturers/ distributors are interested in waiting 30 years to sell off the inventory!
Back in the 1970’s when you wanted 100 cars like that you just bought 100 cars of any type, stripped off the paint and then painted and lettered them yourself. You probably still have that option.
Back in the 1970’s when you wanted 100 cars like that you just bought 100 cars of any type, stripped off the paint and then painted and lettered them yourself. You probably still have that option.
Actually you could find those 100 cars you needed and just changed numbers-it was that easy by shopping around at various hobby shops* train shows and mail order shops…
There are still cars and locomotives available from earlier runs one just needs to look around at train shows(that means to slow down and look under the front of the table),use google,e-Bay and places like HO yardsale…
I remember when modelers would drive several miles to get what they need unlike today modelers.
Ah! the good old days, the older we are the better we were, we lament the cost of things today vs. yesteryear but forget the wages earned in the good old days. As for me we have a much wider selection today and a person can still get a decent loco for under a hundred bucks, way under is most cases. Adjusted for inflation that isn’t a bad deal.I understand the supplier’s position and and while is can be a problem is some cases, for the most part I am happy with the selection and cost. however i don’t as a rule pay $45-50 bucks for a car. DCC and sound do increase the costs but that is a personal decision made by each hobbyest. With the competition and cost structure today suppliers will not fufill every modelers needs, but as far as the good old days, I believe now are the good old days. .
When ExactRail brought out the first run of the PS grain cars, and offered them in Santa Fe, I had to have some. After all I am modeling Santa Fe as it was in the heart of the Oklahoma/Kansas grain belt in 1989-1990. So I ordered my first group. Got them, ordered another batch and then another. Of course they had to be renumbered. These are the cars in the old paint job with the Santa Fe herald on the left end side of the car as you face it.
Then they brought out another run with the large Santa Fe and no herald. Again, I bought knowing that it was pretty certain that once that production was sold there would be no more in my lifetime. I have continued to accumulate mostly from the first run cars until finally I have accumulated a total of 89. My wife of course does not understand what that means in dollars, which is a good thing for me.
Anyway, with all the IM cars, P2K cars, a very few Walthers, Tangent and some of the other ExactRail grain cars, my fleet has reached critical mass and I won’t be buying much of anybodies grain cars in the future. But, what I want to say it became a real treasure hunt to find the first covered hoppers anywhere. It took about 4 train show visits, contacting train shops that ship, etc. to get my fleet built. Now, there is no need for any more of them, even if ExactRail had a new run and offered them for ten dollars each. It was fun while it lasted but the chase is now over, I sit back at an op session and enjoy the many grain trains running on my Santa Fe and think about the effort to accumulate them. The chase was fun, but it is now over. I suspect this is the way I will have to aquire equipment in the future, it does provide brain exercise, and digital exercise on the keyboard, disaster to the credit card, and a host of other things, like sneaking them off the front porch after delivery and getting them down to the
Donlt know if Accurail makes what you want but they used to do hundred car runs and apply the appropriate graphics as well as supply partial numbers on cars and give you the numbers on decals to finish the numbers. So if the car numbers were 106400 - 106600 they would apply 106 and then you add the last three numbers.
A buddy of mine needed over 100 PFE reefers in S scale, not being insane like me and developing his own kits, he approached a noted manfacture who produced this particular good enough for him model. This company was able to produce a special run in factory paint and lettering sans car numbers! They even provided a source for matching decals! That’s service!