“Any chance of some AEM-7’s now that Walthers is retooling the Amfleet line?”
“Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc. Thanks for the suggestion. We have been considering another run of these locos.”
With the news of retooled Amfleets this would be a great time for a re-run of AEM-7’s/ALP-44’s, and it sounds like Atlas is not close minded.
I for one would love to see a rerun of these locos. They are really great-looking models and run awesome! It was great of Atlas to bring these to the market for us in the first place. An update with ditch lights and DCC would be really nice. And if Atlas got a little more ambitious it would be awesome to have an AC version on the market as well.
The last run of these locos was in August 2000, and as well as these locomotives have held up, they are becoming more and more hard to find. If you would also like to see another run of the AEM-7 I would encourage you to tell Atlas via email. Here is the page with the link at the bottom http://www.atlasrr.com/communicate.htm . You are seeing what happens when people speak up about the Amfleets; maybe we can persuade Atlas to do the same thing with the AEM-7/ALP-44! [:)]
I doubt they will. I’ve heard the same reports for years. Just about every year, I hear how they are “considering” re-running the model. I won’t get excited until thye mention it on their own.
AEM7s and ALP44s have the illusion of being highly desireable becasuse they are difficult to find and there is a high local demand for them. Overall though, how many people really want AEM7s and ALP44s? It sure seems like a lot since many people profess the desire to own one, and Ebay bidding wars on these models often get out of hand.
However, I suspect that overall, there probably isn’t enough people to justify another run of AEM7s.
Towards the end, AEM7s were going for $35, (instead of their $135 MSRP). Clearly, hobby stores couldn’t unload them fast enough.
It took years for the market to soak in the AEM7s that were out there, so the question is, how many people REALLY want an AEM7/ALP44?
At the last two Allentown train meets - which would probably qualify as local - AEM7s were listed in the $85-$100 range.
When I saw one for $85, I thought of buying it, but it was outside my budget at the time, and a bit outside my modelling era, although I do have a half dozen Bachmann Amfleet cars that need something to pull them.
As prices increase, it’s not inconceivable Atlas would be inclined to reintroduce the models.
Prices don’t mean that atlas can make money on it.
For example, if demand is the same (low), but the supply falls to very low levels, it will appear to be in high demand, but this is an illusion.
If only 100 people in the world really want something that there is only 2-3 of available, there is good chance that the prices will go up, but 100 people aren’t enough people to justify making more.
I think it would be fairly difficult to prove the desireability of more AEM7s and ALP44s. I’m not sure how model railroad companies identify which models to make, other than perhaps people sending them emails.
That is a good point about how prices don’t always indicate demand.
One thing that we also have to think about is the difference between the HO NEC market between 2000 and 2012. In that time period Bachmann has released their popular Acela and HHP-8 models and Walthers has announced new Amfleets. I don’t have any figures to prove it, but my guess is that these would increase the market for other NEC models, such as the AEM-7.
To be honest, I hope they do come out with more AEM7s. It is definitely easier now than it ever was to model Amtrak’s Electrified lines.
Walthers has covered most of the the passenger cars, Bachmann makes the HHP8 and Acela sets as you have mentioned.
Its also important to mention that a LOT of the commuter stuff that runs along side of it is available as well. There are now enough MARC, SEPTA, NJ Transit models available that with sufficient time, money and patience, one could make a modern day Corridor relatively easily.
The only tough models to find at this point are some of the IHP commuter kits, the SEPTA horizon cars, and the ALP44s.
The only thing that would be more fantastic would be some NEC catenary mass produced (I’m not sure I count Model Memmories, though they are definitely a viable option for those who choose them).
Keep in mind folks that the AEM7s selling for under 50 dolallars were the commuter and undec locos. Lest we forget that none of the commuter AEM7s with the exception of the NJT ALP44 had no rolling stock to accompany them. There was the SEPTA AEM7 but SEPTA got involved and made the acquisition of those cars a chore.
I personally have no quarrels with orphan equipment as I believe my purchase should influence the same or another manufacturer to produce the complimentary rolling stock for them.
Yes, there were some good deals here and there but the AEM7s that were offloaded heavily either had no road number (and there are few-to-no decal sets out there for people to number them themselves), undecs or had no complimentary rolling stock.
I think we’re more likely to see the AEM7s when Walthers diversifies its re-tooled Amfleet liveries. It’s just a matter of when.