I don’t have and Scale Trains, I don’t work for them, I am just relaying an informational video on how model trains are made. Rapido has similar videos.
Part 2 is out before Part 1
Amazing how focused and professional the factory workers are.
-Kevin
Wow. So why are todays locomotives so expensive? Watch this video and realize what a bargain they are. Art, even if it’s mass produced, and done so by a large number of people, is still art.
I went to their site and took a close up look at the SP SD40-2. Unbelievable. Dan
Henry,
Thanks for the excellent video! It almost makes the new generation of models look like bargains!
Dave
Yes, they have been bargains since the first Proto2000 and Spectrum items showed up, and they continue to be bargains.
This why for years I have railed against the price complainers on here, I understood way back what goes into this stuff.
Sheldon
I don’t know that I would go so far as to call them bargains, but production is a result of American ingenuity and cheap Chinese labor.
Rich
Honestly?
No, they are not bargains! The businesses making them are in that game formaking profits. Which they do! Otherwise they woudn´t be in business any longer.
I guess we define “bargain” differently. I’m a self employed capitalist, I expect the people I buy stuff from to make a profit…just as I expect to make a profit in my business.
I know what the profit margins are in the hobby business, nobody is getting rich…
Sheldon
Yeah, but bargain is a relative term and it is not synonymous with inexpensive.
Rich
Ulrich, please note that I said that the current offerings are “like bargains”. I had my tongue in my cheek when I said that. I guess I should have added a couple of [swg][swg] to my comment. The current offerings from Scale Trains and Rapido are not bargains by any means, but I would venture to say that they are good value for the money given the incredible amount of detail that is being put into them IMHO.
I have to caution anyone who takes anything that I say too seriously. I try to inject some fun into most of the comments that I make. If you take me too seriously then beware because I am likely to beat you with a wet noodle until you are in a state of totally rolling on the floor laughing your butt off!
Cheers!!!
Dave
Dave, good news, you can relax. It was Southgate who said it first in the second reply to this thread. [(-D]
Rich
Dave - pardon my French, but you know that English is not my native tongue and I think my command of this language is subsiding.
And there you have it. Sherwin Williams Emerald paint at $70.00 a gallon is a bargain, not because of price, but because of performance at the offered price.
The world is full of examples of the higher priced product being the better value.
My GRAVELY tractor was a bargain at $10,000 considering its performance, low maintenance costs, and life span of likely 40 years against the cost of the five or more $3,000 tractors that would not perform as well and be required to provide 40 years of service.
Having been at this for 50 years, and having sold model trains back when gas was 30 cents a gallon, I can tell you first hand that adjusted for inflation, and considering quality and accuracy, model trains are still a better value (at current street prices, not retail) than they have ever been.
Sheldon
Better value is also not synonymous with bargain.
Sherwin Williams Emerald paint at $35.00 a gallon is a bargain.
Your GRAVELY tractor would have been a bargain at, say, $7,500.
Rich
Well, that my be so. The list price on the tractor and attachments was $13,000…
And back in the day most everybody bought model trains at retail, or modest discounts, not more than 20%, unlike what we see today.
Sheldon
Well, now, that was a good deal…but not a bargain. [(-D]
Rich
Because I have been the witness of the making of of a future HO model in Belgium.
I really assure you nobody can imagine the time and work involded to produce a model; the money necessary is also far away from what we can imagine.
Even if a few produce models in our countries, I’m sure this not sustainable in the near uncertain future.
We all know the problems, if these models, for the most are not produced in China, they become to be extremely expensive.
I plan to make in a near future some N scale laser kit
The way to go is long, this need a lot of study, research , the stuff to be used, a study of the market, a sale organisation; in all the ways many cost.
You need to prospect if this model production is first viable.
About trains or locomotives even if CAD has aid a lot, to reduce study and time, and the fact someone is able to drawn it with a cup of coffee in hands and drawn it on a computer, in the end this is asking really enginered skills because of many constraints in the making up.
You need also to produce a good mechanism which is actualy working and produce good results; we don’t like a model which don’t run quiet; this need some real engenering knowledges.
When the long drawing process is finished you need to study the feasability , meaning all the injections constraints which often need corrections in the drawing process, again time and time which is not paid by sales, just investment.
You need to approach manufacturer of molds but also the manufacturer of all the billion stuff you need to build a car or a locomotive, from a simple wheel to a piece of wire.
Price of all the stuff could vary quickly following the market, plastic prices go up and down all the times.
You need to produce a prototype, which is ofte full of mistakes which need to be corrected; again time and investment a no money returns.
China has help a lot by offering compan
OK. You can still get Athearn BB locomotived on Ebay for sometimes under 15 bucks. There’s a bargain. Take one, upgrade the motor and flywheels, find a scale shell, do your extensive research, super detail it, inside and out, (I want to see fans under those grilles, seats in the cab, road specific detail), put in a sound decoder, paint it or get it custom painted and lettered, U.S. labor please, complete with all the tiny little plackards and small warning labels, and do whatever else is required to make it look as good as the locos in the video. What would that cost? Just don’t let anyone make a profit on it.
If I wanted a loco like that, then those new China made locomotives would be a bargain to ME. Dan
Using the example above, On more than one occasion in 50 years, I have done projects like he describes.
I have an ABA set of Athearn Blue Box F7’s that have replacement can motors, GSB cab interiors, constant lighting ( remember no DCC here), diesel dress up kits and additional details, including hand rails, window glass, mu hoses, wipers, cut levers, working American Limited diaphragms with their close coupling kit, and more.
Custom painted and decaled by me.
Forget about the 60 hours of my time, just add up the price of all those parts.
A $150 or $200 for a Genesis, Proto or Intermountain RTR F unit is a bargain.
And dollar cost averaged, I have only paid about $120 each for the 20 F units I have from these three companies.
And again, remember my prices reflect no sound or DCC, your mileage may vary.
Sheldon
I am not a fan of any discussions of pricing in here, expecially what is a bargain or a good deal.
We all decide what we want, what we can afford, and whether or not we will purchase based on personal circumstance.
This thread was just about the way the modern models are made, and to me, that alone is simply amazing.
However, no one makes anything I will buy, so I will sit and patiently wait for a modern manufactured set of undecorated PA/PB locomotives without sound and run on DC.
If someone would make those, I would love to add them to the roster.
-Kevin