Has anyone seen this advertised!! It’s the companion track set from Kato for the Model Railroader Magazine’s Jan. '07 article on the “Black River Junction” project layout.
Now, I loved the article, and the layout, but who is Kato selling this set to??!
Yep! Got that e-mail an hour or so ago. And I chuckled at the price. If I bought the parts myself (non-Kato brand, that is), I could easily reduce that price to a 1/4 of what they are asking for it.
What is there, 9 turnouts and a crossover? The Unitrak crossovers aren’t cheap, but that’s only a 4x8 with some extensions. Unitrak is nice, but…yikes!
Just posted the same topic on the General boards. You can get a WS complete layout for about the same price. What kills me is they want extra shipping for a 13lb. package.
There is a exact track list for the Black River Junction in the MR and also on PDF.
It should not be too difficult to compare the cost of individual track against the set to see which is a better deal. Just time consuming and a bit of math on paper.
Sadly, yes, you bet it is. As long as the manufacturers see that there are some customers willing to spend the bucks because they can’t do much of anything at all themselves, you’ll see the prices keep going up. I’m sure Kato didn’t box up 10,000 sets of track this way…probably not more than a few hundred. But I’ll bet they will sell them all.
In my opinion, this is an unfair look at the situation.
Here is why I think it is unfair to Kato. Atlas has a track bundle price for most, if not ALL of their layouts in their layout planning books. The prices are even in the price book and can be purchased through the LHS or any vendor who sells Atlas product. Some of those bundles of track are priced in excess of $1,000
The thing about those Atlas packs is the one linked above is twice the size and 3 times more complicated. Atlas layout packs similar to the Kato one where only about $300 or so.
Remember, the Kato pack was a hobby shops sale price. The ones on the Atlas site are manufacturers list price. I’m sure if you shopped around you could knock about 25% off those list prices from Atlas.
It’s a reasonable deal if you want to exactly reproduce the published plan with the exact same parts the MR crew used. It’s an expensive deal - for the same reason that a Cadillac is more expensive than a Chevrolet that will carry just as many passengers just as fast. Kato is pricey, but the quality is reputed to be worth it.
Would I buy it? No. It doesn’t fit my list of ‘givens and druthers,’ and I prefer to build my own specialwork from raw rail. Different strokes for different folks.
Yea well, a 2000 dollar ash tray on 4 wheels can do the same job of transport. But if you are in a position in life to acquire and use a Caddy, go for it. After all arent Americans supposed to treat themselves to cushy barges?
Yesterday I had my work at the auction house and put a Hummer H2 on the block for buying by the local dealers. The price bidding started at 18,000 went to roughly 39,000 and was still going up by hundred among two or three of the richest and biggest dealers in the barn. There will be profit in that particular vehicle, just only those who have the funds to get it will see it.
This is a universal constant in every hobby. In every hobby I’ve played around with whether it be astronomy, photography, computers, and even model railroads you are going to have people with money and either little/no sense or little/no patience who are going to wave their money around in an effort to purchase the hobby instead of learn and enjoy it.
Astronomy guys complain about the fully computerized just push a button and it’ll find anything telescopes
Photography guys complain about the guy with a ton of money who buys the most expensive & best quality lenses on the market who then takes a picture of his dog and posts wondering why the $15,000 in camera equipment doesn’t make him a better photographer.
Computer guys trick out their machines with neon and tweak this and tweak that and companies come along that ‘do it for you’ and cookie cutter it out and you get people shaking their fists at the price + that people buy it.
Just another example. Layout planning may be part art and part science but when you first try and look at it, it can be daunting. A lot of people built LEGO kits as a kid and if you just follow the instructions you get the manual. Other people take the bits and pieces and make a factory that makes LEGO cars, they design a 3D plotting machine, they make a crossbow.
You be happy they exist, because it lets your favorite vendors make money on high profit items. Meanwhile you buy your flex track and save hundreds of dollars comfortable in knowing that someone else is funding the hobby.
F.Y.I. I needed an under the Christmas tree loop of track a few years ago when the grandkids were young. I bought Kato HO Unitrack for the built in roadbed and the realalistic color. This is the best quality track I have ever owned in my 53 years experience with HO. It snaps together tight and the joints are very smooth with no gaps. Never had a derailment or any other problems. Yes it costs more, but this product is worth it. I personally wouldn’t use it for my main layout only because I think any “snap type” track limits your design. But if I were to build the plan in MR mag. I would definately buy the Kato track. MHO.
Wow. That must be some good quality track.[D)][D)]
What in the world. Only track. I can buy a piece of flex track for $1.50 let alone almost 700 dollars!!! I think it would take less that 20 pieces of flex track to do that design. Thats less than $40 dollars in track. I think you would spend maybe $150 in track, cork, and switches. Maybe!!