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Sanda Kan cuts manufacturing for some model railroad companies
We need to bring manufacturing back to the United States and help our citizens. Enough said.
I wouldnt mind paying a little more if it was made in the good old USA!
We will be price-competitive with Chinese manufacturers just as soon as we can convince our fellow citizens to accept below minimum wages and no benefits.
If you want to support American-manufacturing (for small items with relatively low shipping costs), you need to willing to pay a premium for that feature. Unless you’d like all of our American-based manufacturers to go bankrupt just like GM and Chrysler…
This is really a big news story and very bad news for us as model railroaders.
I’m sure that Sanda Kan will have to increase costs due to the many companies it will no longer produce models for in the future. I feel Walthers has hit a price too high for me with their latest releases of passenger cars and structure kits so I can’t forsee any future purchases if they go even higher.
Hopefully it may get some model railroad equipment manufactured in the USA of the same quality. It’s time we stopped spending so much money and effort on China anyway.
Maybe this is a good thing! Maybe now many of us can stop with the crazy purchases of things just because they’re neat and get down to building and operating. I know I have enough stuff to keep me modeling until the end.
Sad days!
Roger Huber
Walthers sells items for list price, and for most of the items, they’re the ones deciding what the list price of new items will be. My local hobby shop will usually give me some discount on ordered items, so even with local sales tax, it’s less than direct plus shipping. Plus I’m giving the local store some business. Walthers has a lot of “out of stock” in their on-line catalogue: you could see if Standard or Train World have what you want, for less.
It would be nice to see some of the manufacturing back in the USA. I totally agree that Walthers prices have gone way to high which causes me to buy less from them when I can.
But the big question is how much more per item will it cost. They could ship the molds back here but how much money will it need to start up a company to do this kind of work. Would you buy it if the cheapist they could do it in the us end up being $15-$20 more than it is now. Like Roger said walthers is to expensive now, would you pay more money if it said made in the US. I know i would but i also have a nice amount of money to spend on the hobby. I do not think it will shift back to the us until the prices are about even between china and the US.
I, personally, don’t buy any products made in China unless its the last choice available. Model railroading is a hobby, not a necessity. Hence, I don’t buy new products for my system. I only look for and buy very old products that I can repair using parts from other very old products.
NG Rob Roy
Well don’t look now, but Bachman is owned by a Chinese company…
I only buy from China if the model will fill a gap in the roads that I am really interested in. Otherwise it is older models which all can be upgrade. USA FIRST.
What models specifically are affected? For example, will the Bowser 6-axles Alcos still be made?
Go USA! But let’s keep the price down. All of us can profit if we work together!
I agree. We’ve done enough outsourcing.Nothing wrong with products made here at home.
I’ve heard it said that our model equipment, if made in America, will severely impact our wallets. We the people should be able to change that, but remember, nobody wants to pay more for anything, but everyone wants a raise. Seems there can be a balance somewhere?? Regards, all.
Seems the Chinese worker wants a better wage as well. That’s OK with me. That means the advantage of manufacturing overseas may no longer be worth it. So bring the work back to the states. Will it cost more?..perhaps, but its US money going to a US company employing US workers. Bring it on!
Part of the reason for the increased costs are:
- the ever-increasing costs of plastics, and cost to produce molds,
- the fact that many models are fully assembled now (remember the “shake-the-box” box cars, now most rolling stock is fully assembled, and,
- much more detail on the models than in the past (installed handrails, etc.).
Kadee is made in the USA, Accurail and Bowser kits were made in the USA and although Kadee cars tend to be more expensive they are great quality. Accurail and Bowser kits are very nice kits when you can find them. I would like to see production return to the US I really dislike having to buy Chinese products since I tend to spend quite a bit on rolling stock and locomotives each year. The most ridiculous thing I’ve heard of are cars molded here and then sent to China for decoration or assembly. Why not do everything here?
If you have the time and patience, very detailed freight car kits that are USA made, are available. Take a look at Intermountain, Branchline, Accurail for example, and the resin kits too. Many are affordable and the fun/pride of building them is well worth it. This applies to structure kits and other accessories as well. Kadee has become an affordable ready-to-run alternative that is a great value. Cudo’s to all the US manufacturers who remind us that WE CAN compete, with anyone.
I might take this opportunity to point out that not all of MRR’s avid readership lives in the mighty US of A 
Global manufacturing is a reality of modern economies that cannot be stopped because I’m sure more than one US model company would be out of business were it not for their ability to generate more profit from having their models made in China. No doubt when China gets too expensive, other countries with yet cheaper labour will step up.
I’m also sure that local manufacturing in the US has other costs over and above the labour - stricter health, safety and environmental compliance costs for example.
It would be interesting to see one of the hobby companies chime in with an example of the cost difference to the consumer were the models made entirely in the US… I’d hate to see a $US75 model turn into a $200 one, for instance!