I guess the economy is doing better than I thought. Just got an email stating a regular price of $ 64.95 and a pre-order price of $ 46.95 for these. In WP there are 10 road numbers and I would like to get them all. But this price is just too much. I have a lot of Exactrail but I doubt I will get any more.
Even with the previous order/distribution process they were expensive but now with no discounts on price from distributors this will likely price them out of the market? IMHO
Being a WP modeler I would love to have one or more of these for my lumber mill, which has a loading area for center beams and other flat cars already. One of the cars is roughly the same cost as a laser cut WP depot I’d like, and given that the depot site is currently empty, it gets priority. No new center beams for me I guess.
Figures these get announced as I’m building some of the Front Range/McKean kits.
I’d be in for a bunch of BN ones, but they are really expensive, even with the pre-order “discount.” Guess I’ll be building more kits until I find these on sale somewhere.
For me this will be a no sell like the Atlas centerbeam…My six ten year old Walthers CBs will suffice for my needs.
Its a beautiful car no doubt.
Nope, none for me. This is a hobby, not a vocation. I have purchased a lot of ExactRail in the past, don’t now. Since there are no dealers anymore and the prices will jump, and availability will become more of an issue buying from one source, it “ain’t worth the hassle”.
Bob
I have no interest any more in ExactRail with their new policies. Before the no dealer edict, I could shop around, find what I was looking for at one place or another, get good pricing, good delivery and people who would usually “bust their hump” to find what you were looking for.
Now we have a “manufacturer” who wants to sell off the dock at a higher price, will not have the inventory on hand, will require pre ordering (how do I know I will even be alive 10 months from now),
Then you discover this “car is a must have more of” but there are none left to buy". Not for me. Too many other good sources for what I want.
Bob
Once Exact Rail goes out of business due to their new policies, how soon till someone else acquires the molds and returns them to market with a sensible retail policy (BLMA maybe - however, they already have their own TrinCool molds).
I think somebody needs to explain to Exact Rail exactly what MSRP means - starting point for negoiations.
Considering much/most of the D&RGW traffic came from the WP until the MoPUP merger, I too would love to have a bunch, but they will have to trickle as costs get higher like that! Ideally I’d like to have a couple BN, one MILW and one or two WP.
Actually I still have an original Front Range WP opera centerbeam I bought and built back around 1988 and somehow managed to get it put together - the lower side sills didn’t fit great so they are a bit wavy and no place for a weight. I recall I did have problems getting the parts to fit - lets face it, the kit was not engineered well.
I later heard, and perhaps you can confirm or deny, that WP’s were black and not dark blue. Regardless I airbrushed the built model to black but the decals are on it. Probably that old FR center beam will end up a static display model at a lumber yard! I’ll try to manage to get a one or two of the new ER models but yeah, ouch at $46!!! As much as I want/need them, I don’t think I have paid that much EVER for a freight car yet. This will be a first.
I should mention like many, I’ve had a McKean BN green opera center beam squirreled away in case nobody ever offered a better model, but I imagine we’ll see more of those surface at train shows as folks finally dump their unbuilt McKeans. If I’m feeling like a particular glutton for punishment, I might get it out and start filing the parts to see if I can get them to fit! er, well, maybe not!
ER folks don’t seem da
Well, most modelers seem to buy on-line from discounters/distributors/hobby shops w/ web presence, and try to avoid buying “Factory Direct” (at full MSRP) whenever they can. ExactRail is trying to short circuit this, apparently at full MSRP prices. Something like say $33.00 or so probably would be fair for models of this type (we’re not talking Athearn Blue Box), but 64.95 ?
Man, I remember when the words “Factory Direct” meant cheaper prices…
I have a few of the Mckean kits that I just have to put the decals on. I have 1 each of MILW, BN, UP, and CP. I also picked up 2 undecs for spare parts.
I agree, they weren’t engineered very well at all. But if one has enough paitence they can assemble them prety well. I’ve not made any progress on mine for some time because I’ve never done decals and am still apprehensive about using them.
I’m gonna be on the look out for the Mckeans now that a better model is out. Better is a relative term, they might be better designed; but I don’t think they are worth the 70 something asking price and I don’t really believe in pre-orders on frieght cars.
Personally I kind of figured Walthers would have done it, since they just had to take 10 scale feet out of their existing centerbeam. I asked accurail becuase I knew if they did I could still have a nice-looking car without the sticker shock.
I’m a huge Exactrail apologist, but the price does seem a little puzzling. I’d have thought $45-50 and I do want to see a production one before I totally pass judgement. But they are the most expensive offering they have right now. Heck, if they have all the tiedown lines and everything installed…ok maybe $65 then.
The Walthers centerbeam works well enough for me though. Just as long as they continue to produce mountains of TTX hy-cubes for $30 a pop. I’m fine with whatever they do as a company.
Correct. The prototypes were black.
There’s been quite a bit of discussion of this model on Exactrail’s Facebook page, as well as at least one Yahoo group where Blaine Hadfield of Exactrail participates.
Apparently the center beam car is of hybrid brass and styrene construction, and various components that need to be very thin to look right are photoetched brass - like the center partition with the “windows.” It sounds like a LOT of complex engineering went into this car. Unlike others, I’m not going to slam Exactrail’s pricing, as this model is probably quite costly to manufacture. Just not sure it’s in my hobby budget. Even at that, I may reconsider my decision to take a pass on these.
Well, mention the word brass and you double the MSRP! Although, yeah, I can’t really slam them, but since Opera’s seem rare on the rails today, I can live without them.
Course, these guys (Robert Ray) manufacturered and sold a pretty decently thin & fine looking 60ft Opera Window Centerbream at a reasonable cost…out of laser cut wood in Z scale! Don’t think brass was involved except maybe a few detail parts…