A few times lately I’ve been accused of “hating” steam locomotives because (most of the time) there are few or none in my shop.
Of course, I do not hate steam locomotives.
While trying to defend my business practices, I offer the following explanations for why there is a lack of steam in my store. Let’s look at what is offered:
The Cheap Toyish Stuff - guess we can all agree a 40.00 steam locomotive is not worth stocking? If I can’t have any faith in the product, I’m not going to stock it.
Next up the food chain is IHC: decent runners, look OK also. Not cheap, not real expensive. Had some a few years ago that tended to wobble. Short discount from my more convenient distributor. Never know when IHC will have one of those 2 page blow-out sales. Just not worth the risk for me to stock.
Bachmann Spectrum: this brand seems to be a good balance of quality and price. Now that DCC has been added, I’m not willing to stock them as not everyone here wants DCC and those that do don’t want Bachmann DCC. One recent run of locomotives appeared on eBay a month before real shops took delivery…not sure how that can happen and certainly no one has given me an answer. Used to sell OK here, not so much anymore.
Now we get into the heights of detail, performance and quality with the price to prove it. I’d rather this thread not be turned into a “everything’s over-priced” debate…but 300, 400, up to 700 dollars for a steam engine is a little steep for most of my market. I’m not saying they are not worth 400.00, I’m saying most folks just don’t have that kind of money. Add in the limited run nature of the more expensive items, and it is the rare time when you see a Genesis, P2K Heritage, Broadway or PCM model in here.
So I get accused of “hating steam” due to the lack of steam inventory.
What would you stock if you owned a store? What does your local model train shop stock? Anyone have any practical ideas for addressing folks when they ask where ar
I see the dilema. I don’t really have a local hobby shop and so if I need something I go to caboose hobbies so I can’t really help you out on this one.
Steam is boring! I didnt grow up in that era so it does not please or excite me. now if I was born in the 40’s I would have saw alot of steam and would have a different feeling towards it but since I was born in the late 70’s I do not KNOW srteam. I do not like cars from the 40’s-80’s either. Steam for me is just old guy stuff. OOOPs I mean well experienced guy stuff.
Logic would indicate that the question must come from your clientele so it would seem other LHS’s are of little matter. More importantly, it would seem, is are your customers seeking to buy steam loco’s, if so, what manufacturer do they favor? DC or DCC? price range? or are they just window shopping and looking for an exit strategy for not buying anything at this time? IMHO. I believe you presented a substantial argument for your position and wouldn’t advise a change.
Thats a tough question. On one side I can’t understand how people with hobbie shops can compete with the internet, Ebay, ect. It really makes it hard on you. I see it like this. If I went to my hobbie shop and he usually had about 30% steam and 70% diesel and I saw something I wanted that he didn’t have I would just get him to get it. I understood that he couldn’t stock all DCC & DC steam. The way he treated his customers greatly outweighed that fact that he didn’t carry everything you wanted. HE is the one who made us come back, not his inventory. Now the hobbie shop is gone and I just by online. I miss the old shop. IMO I think steam is HUGE. I am young and would rather see a huge steam giant busting it’s butt climbing a hill then (4) SD90/43 MACS pulling the same train.
I have to be honest, I wouldn’t buy a steam locomotive from a LHS. The kind I need (highly specialized, i.e., N scale PRR like the PCM M1b 4-8-2) would be so expensive and low-demand that no LHS would carry it. Even if they did, they’re so darned expensive that I would have to search for an online bargain.
I love my LHS and support it whenever I can. I buy rolling stock, kits, magazines, and supplies there. But I draw the line at locomotives. When we talk in terms of hundreds, I just don’t have enough cash to ignore the 30% or more savings I can often find online.
Sorry, One Track Mind! But I’m sure you’ve heard that before…
You may not like steam but how can you call it “boring”. It’s anything but. Take a SD70 and a 4-8-4 or 2-8-8-2, run them side-by-side, and tell me which one is visually the more interesting one to watch. Side rods, pistons, steam, smoke, wheels, sound - all in synchronized motion. Old? Maybe. Boring? No way!
Goldmine, have you ever ridden on or been next to a real steam engine when it is fired up? If not, take an opportunity for an eye-opening experience. You just might see it in a different light.
Steam is boring??? Goldmine, take a trip to a steam museum like Steamtown National Historic Site and take a ride behind one of those beasts and there is a good chance you will change your mind. The sound, smell and visual effects of steam locos are something to behold.
One Track Mind, my LHS carries the IHC line in stock and a few others on occasion, but stocks mostly diesels as that is what most customers are going to buy. He also makes it clear that he will order in almost anything for a customer. There is no way any LHS can afford to stock everything out there so choices have to be made bsaed on the market.
Ok I am sorry but I have to rephase my first comment on steam. Surely it is not boring but I guess the words of OLD is a better choice of words. I am sure that you are absolutely correct about the SD70M and a 2-8-8-4 side by side which would be more interesting but when it comes to looks I would enjoy seeing the SD70M but thats just what I like. I apologize for the first statement of being boring
There is an old, old saying: “You can’t do business from an empty wagon”.
If your wagon is empty Sir, then I can’t do business with you. I realize, that you can’t afford to stock bad items, or items that your customer base is not interested in. Unfortunately, that is the case with most Hobby shops nowadays, because of the aging of the transition era generation, of which I am a member. That is why, I have no choice but to buy from internet sources. Over $15,000 in the past three years and counting. Your store is no longer relevent to my needs, and can’t ever be.
I sympathize with your situation, but believe me, it can only get worse. My best friend, an ardent Model Railroader who ran an excellant shop in a Chicago suburb, finally had to give up the ghost for the very reasons you cite. And that was in 1980.
I would stock want SELLS and special order those items I don’t stock…Reason? simple…You must maintain a good turn over in stock and that leaves out any item that collects dust after all a quick cash turn around means cash for new stock and paying the bills…
I would stock the Bachmann Spectrum series. Some of them, such as the On30 models are still not DCC equipped. I think Broadway limited is a good quality for the money as well. Atlas makes the new N scale Shay, but it’s pricey. I don’t understand your thinking on the Broadway being in the high end mix. It is as far as quality, but I’ve seen them go for right around a hundred bucks on Ebay with sound and all. I know retail will be higher, but the difference should be about the same.
I agree; at least stock Bachmann Spectrum. As for their items with DCC, do realize that the decoders are dual-mode: they’ll run just fine on DC layouts.
There’s Bowser’s line of kits at about $100 to $200. Otherwise you’ve pretty well eliminated everyone else. You’re running a business so you have to carry what makes sense for your business. My LHS stocks the expensive stuff, but you have to realize that I live in Fairfax County, Virginia which has the second highest average household income in the nation. (The highest is Loudoun County - the county west of Fairfax).
I find steam era boring not because of the engines but because of the cars, the buildings and most of all the rolling stock. The only steam era stuff i would even consider running is passenger and even then i think the F7/E8 would be my final choice. While there is more to look at with steam as far as moving parts, engines like the Dash 8’s and such look much more powerful on the rails to me, the only steam engines that look like they have b$lls to me would be the challenger or big boy. Im sure there would be plenty of sales of the bachmann spectrum line, they run well for the most part and are affordable. I do love the Shay though
First, steam is very specific to a certain railroad, meaning it’s marketability is very limited.
The problem with Bachmann , even spectrum is uneven quality - some run good , some don’t. A guy was bragging on the Bachmann board about great customer service as he had to send back 7 of his 10 for repairs and Bachmann fixed every one- great advertising, and yes, they were Spectrums.
For One Track - Bachmann become available in Hong Kong long before they are here which is why they end up on ebay before you get yours.
The problem with IHC is design. Some are OK some are not. How do you know which? As pointed out, when sales drop, they blow them out. Also it is hard to get parts for repair as they are pretty much not available.
Broadway’s problem is perception - the PRR T1s and GG1 had problems that left people afraid. They are good about repair/replacement, but it can take time and people have no patience.
It’s a dilemma for all the niche markets within the broader hobby of model railroading. There are usually only a few mr’s (often less than 10 or 20) in any given niche (2 rail O, On3, On2, S, Sn3, pre-1920 HO, HOn3, HOn30, etc) within a given geographic area of an LHS. So the LHS doens’t find it worth his while to stock for those niche markets. Because the LHS doesn’t stock it, there is no exposure outside of being published in the magazines, and there is precious little new demand for niche market products. The manufacturers (nearly all small time) have a hard time growing their business for lack of exposure in the LHS.
The Internet is a great place for selling known products because it is mainly a one way communications medium. Here’s a standard product, here’s our low price. Because our price is low, we offer no support other than, at best, posting a picture of the product. We take your order and ship, and provide minimal follow-up. We know what to order by what gets sold. We don’t bother with stocking or selling low demand items, or items that take more describing, or that might have a high return rate, or that might take instruction in its use.
For these reasons, the Internet is a crummy place to sell new products or products that are not well understood. I’ll bet if the Walters catalog went away, there would be a lot less buying over the Internet. Without at least that level of detail in description and comparisons available to us, most of us would be a lot more hesitant to spend major $$ without seeing the item in advance.
But because in general the LHS won’t stock their products, the niche market producers are forced into direct sales over the Internet, where they remain invisible to the mainstream hobbyist. How does the cycle get broken?
It really takes teamwork by the local niche hobbyists, the LHS, and the niche manufacturers to drive up demand to a r
Maybe you could reply that you don’t hate steam. You just hate that it doesn’t move well, and takes up valuable space in your inventory far too long. Over time, steam will fizzle out for most modelers…that is a given for me. Once two generations beyond steam have come and gone, so will the interest in modeling for the most part…I repeat, for the most part.
If you look at the offerings of the online retailers and discounters, the diesels outnumber steamers by a wide margin, and that surely can’t be because the retailers “hate” steam. The “like” moving stock that pleases their customers, because it keeps the liquidity for the business.
I suppose that some of the proven Spectrum stock (Mountain and Consolidation) could move, but how quickly is anyone’s guess. IHC locos, as you say, are quite reasonable, and fairly reliable, so maybe they could have a place or two. The problem is that they are heavily discounted online, so how do you compete?
My LHS in Nanaimo sells maybe four steamers a year, if I can judge accurately by his display. In fact, I think he may move as many, or more, on consignment!
I understand the issue of having the items that do not sell on your shelves limits your ability to get the items that make your living from. our lhs went out of business, even though I ordered 200 bucks worth of items. I found out later that he did not order a single item that I asked for. I would support a lhs, pay more ofr items and wait pateintly for the item, if and I do mean if, I trust that the owner was looking out for my best interest. I would rather deal with a person than on line, I would rather wait for what I want then trust a online merchane to send it to me. The lhs kept hoping that I would buy somethingthat he already had instead of ordering what I needed. If you do not have what I need, then order it. He wanted me to buy a new building but I needed track. I wanted to handlay code 83, he wanted me to buy code100 flex. my advice would be to listen what your customers want, and then work hard to provide it for them. Kind of like any other business. I realize that $200 bucks was not much, but then if what I wanted was not there, then why buy more of what I do not want. now I have to drive an two hours for a shop, but I can get what I need when I call ahead to get it. it is less convienent than the lhs, but I was not sad to see it go. I just hope another business starts to carry some the basics.
