There is a downside to off shore sourcing...hopefully not as bad as the last time they found themselves on the outside looking in. They were just beginning to recover. Boris
Manufacturing in North America has been too expensive for quite sometime. That is reason for the trade surplus with China. Jim
Rumor has it that the factory isn't closing permanently. It's just shut down due to the trade war. Sent from my SM-T377V using Tapatalk
I would love to see Atlas just move their factory to the US, or somewhere else without these concerns. I'd happily pay more for a loco or freight car or what have you to support this.
Right you are. Tough hobby be in with a half empty wallet. Prices will rise if manufacturing is brought back here. However, is not this the way of evolution? Weed out the weak so only, in this case, the rich will survive? Another way to view this is if prices double so what? Jim
Yes, and hopefully employ some Americans. If Micro-Trains can do what they do in the US and make a profit why not the other manufacturers ?
And micro trains priced me out of n scale also. If you have the money to pay for it great. But us normal people on limited or tight budgets can't afford $200 engines. Not bitching just saying. Going back to my hole now.
Prices? Since I model the transition era I am forced to buy almost all of my rolling stock and locos second hand at train shows or on the "bay". Almost all of my locos are Atlas Diesels (post 2000 produced with Scale Speed motors) and most of my rolling stock is either MTL, Atlas, or IM (in that order of quantity that I own). I don't think I have ever paid over $80 for a loco and most of my rolling stock, even the MTL items, I can find under $20 per car, averaging about $14 per car. I run DC just because my layout is small and it is a one man operation, so I don't have the added expense of decoders.
Me too. I don't even remember the last new car I bought, except from eBay. I have at least 500 already, most of them old. I have bought newer locos but I still have old ones I keep running, too. In other words, I have more than enough equipment to have to worry about getting more. Doug
We used to manufacture almost everything in the U.S. until suppliers got used to the 1000% profit they could often make by dealing with the Chinese. In many cases, product quality also suffered. Time to back off on the greed and bring it home.
Hmm, I don't think so, Not any more. In case you haven't noticed the MSRP on most items from chinese made Atlas and Bachmann are higher than the all american made Microtrains. Not to mention turnaround time on models (If produced in the US) would be Weeks instead of months or years in some cases.
This is my observation as well. Prices didn't drop after the model industry moved manufacturing to China. I haven't saved any monies on products produced in China. If anything it's more costly today then it's ever been.
Absolutely. I have a Bachmann USRA Pacific Laid away at my LHS. I'll own it in another month or so. They weren't about to run a model of GTW 5629 without me getting my grubby mitts on one, but I had to dig deep for the funds. Lots of $$$$$$.
I just saw, elsewhere, an announcement that Fox Valley Models is being hard hit by this same event. Most of their production is now postponed or cancelled until they can locate a new resource.
Oh well, I guess I should forget about those bay window cabooses I pre-ordered. Wait a minute ! Those were from Bluford Shops, hopefully this does not affect them too.