I wanted to order some PECO code 100 insulfrog turnouts during the Klein BF sale but waited too long. By the time I pulled the trigger half of what I wanted was sold out. I then went to another site and ordered the remainder of what I needed only to have some of them listed as backordered. Walthers is also showing these as out of stock with no info regarding availability.
It was my understanding that they would still be producing these for a while before the tooling wore out and they switched to the unifrog. Does anyone know what is going on? Do I just need to be patient?
Not to be alarmist… but if they are on order from the UK itself, things might be getting bad there soon, objectively to say nothing of overreaction in the postal and shipping areas.
I dearly hope I’m wrong. But I’d take that advice to look at eBay or other sources that have them ‘cost-effectively’ while you can…
Keep in mind, if you need the turnouts soon, MB Klein is presently taking about 10 days from order to out-the-door, and then the USPS is taking 2 or 3 times longer to ship items.
The last Peco code 100 I needed I ordered off of Ebay; it was shipped on the 15th and arrived on the 19th so transit time not too bad at all.
I imagine with COVID, Peco may be shutting back down but you can probably find what you need if you hunt around.
All good advice. While I can probably wait a month if things get ugly who knows how long it could take. I should probably buy now from someplace that has them in stock to be safe.
Yankee Dabbler appears to have some. All the track I have on hand right now, two cases of Peco 83 flex, some #8’s and some #6’s, all came from there, no issues. And all actually slightly less expensive than Modeltrainstuff. That was back at the beginning of the year, it may have taken them an extra day or two to get it out the door as they were only allowed to have so many employees in the shop at a time, but it was still pretty prompt.
They come to regional train shows (back when we had train shows)(first time I ever heard of them was a few years ago at Timonium), and they aren’t all that far from me, one of these days I need to get to the store. Problem is, with traffic, though they are closer in miles than MB Klein, I can get down there in less time that it would take me to drive to the Dabbler store in Bellmawr NJ.
Actually, Kevin, Spike might have you on this one. Under a 1986 treaty, a land frontier has been established between the two countries in the middle of the Channel tunnel. This treaty is unique in terms of establishing a land border between two countries separate by sea. The EuroTunnel has currently suspended passage between the UK and France.
Getting back to the OP’s original question, I would strongly advise buying any rail supplies now if you can get them. When my old club was starting construction of its newest layout in 2017 they made the decision to buy on an as needed basis. Then along came the Atlas track shortage. That set the club back nearly nine months IIRC. Very frustrating!!
It is highly unlikely that the supply is going to get better during the pandemic.
Well, borders are complex ideas. The English Channel, La Manche en Francais, is a border. The 12 mile limit overlaps in the straits of Dover. Then there’s the Chunnel.
We have a US border in my town, at the Airport. Don’t believe everything you read.