I was looking around for G scale loco’s and sets and noticed that there is almost nothing in stock at any of the online retailers I use. I then checked Walthers, and they dont have much in stock either. Whats up? I checked USA Trains website and they have stock, but the retailers dont. Is this because of the recession?
I am going to take a guess and say that maybe G scale is a little more specialized, so not everyone keeps stock? I know most hobby stores I have gone to either don’t have it or just have a showing. Too bad,its interesting to see.
Haven’t a number of G gauge suppliers recently had serious financial difficulties? Hard to put out much product if you’re running on empty.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in 1:80 scale)
Not really, only one is in trouble, LGB from Germany. Aristo Craft, Bachmann, USA Trains and dozens of “basement” manufacturers of G gauge supplies are doing just fine. But it is specialized and most shops that carry a lot of it buy direct and often are focused on O and G scales, like Nicholas Smith Trains near Phily or Star Hobby in Annapolis, MD where larger scales are king and HO is a sideline. Both these stores, and my LHS, Forest Hill Station, have lots of G in stock.
But LGB has been in trouble for a decade or more, so the current conditions might just be the last straw for them.
Sheldon
Some shipper got a hiccup on the 'puter and everything is now in Gabb’s NV…[:-^]
In all seriousness I’d think it is just a seasonal thing—this is a kind of ‘dead’ time for this stuff generally. At least, it seems that way------
For my money, I purchased two #1 1/32 scale locomotives but found out many of the cars available for G scale were made in 1/29 or even larger if it was narrow gauge. USA trains are 1/29 and the fact there are so many scales that run on the same track has hurt sales. When you go to most of the display at major shows, the 1/29 is used for standard running on G scale track. The cars and the locomotives are not useable with the 1/32 scale size.
If you like old time locomotives, they seem to fall under the narrow gauge scale (1/20) and are very large but still run on the same G scale track. I also have a 4-4-0 and a 2-6-0 in the larger scale and each size must have its own sized cars. To me, they have messed up the market to a point that I am not interested since I would would have to purchase cars for my 1/32 that cost about four to five hundred dollars for each car and a large train would require me to sell my real car to finance the model trains.
My thought is many hobby shops have been stuck with stock that does not sell well because the selection is confusing. I visited one of the largest shops left in the USA last year and they said they were no longer keeping any of the larger stock around on the shelves for some of the reasons I listed.
So I went out and purchased some of the MMI On2 1/2 K36’s. There are cars for those.
CZ
There is a lot of “G”(ummi) scale out there. LGB went down and was acquired by Marklin, now Marklin is subsiding. (Go on over to the GR forums for more info.) B’mann, Aristo, HLW, and others are easy enough to get, both from LHS (willing to special ordger) and on the web. Beleive it or not, but here in San Diego our largest G scale supply store is one of the larger nursery shops. They also have a rather large layout open to the public, (about 1500 ft of mainline, 118 ft of bridging, 7,000 gal of water) and you can run your trains oin their layout during business hours, by appointment.
Large scale is alive and well.
If you just go over to the Garden Railways magazine forum or go purchase a copy of the magazine you’ll find that there is a lot of G scale available.
Perhaps your local hobby shop doesn’t have much because they are in financial trouble, but the industry itself seems to be thriving.
Santa Fe:
If you’re ever in the Sacramento area, visit three hobby shops out here, Bruce’s Trains, RC Hobbies, and Railroad Hobbies in Roseville. TONS of G-scale equipment! Good selection and reasonable prices. Part of the reason may be our relatively mild weather here in the Central Valley–outdoor railroads can be run at most any time of the year, and there are quite a few backyard railroads here, a great many of them operated by modelers who also have other scales indoors.
Tom [:)]
Thanks for the input guys. When I went to a large wholesaler like Walthers and got only a few locos and a couple of sets in stock, I was like," whats going on here" If the items arent even listed on a retailers website, how do people know there there so they can special order them? I dont think the skyrocketing prices of precise metals, like, brass is helping either. A piece of track that cost six times what it used to a couple of years ago cant be good for the hobby.
I’ve noticed that the hobby shops seem to mark up the price of G scale cars and engines quit abit more than HO scale items. I think they are looking at making a bigger profit from the G scale to account for the space it takes to display them…just a thought
The best places for G scale that usually have what you’re looking for in stock and most of the time the best price as well are either:
or
Walthers has never been great for keeping much G scale in stock. You need to purchase via large warehouse stores like Trainwold, or G scale specialists that can be found listed in Garden Railways.