Oh, I didn't know that. Hee hee, though I'll bet UP fans outnumber RDG fans 1000 to 1. Being an anthracite roads guy, I should buy a T-1, but I don't know if I'd get $500 of enjoyment out of it.
For that price it should be a Transformer. You should be able to slide this here, swap that there, and run it as either the original Consolidation or the converted Northern. That would be a trick. Reminds me of the Frisco, which converted Consolidations to Mikados, Pacifics to Hudsons and Santa Fes to Mountains. Who says nobody can make a silk purse from a sow's ear?
Yes, a Reading T-1...I couldn't want one any less! Not even the slightest temptation. Now if it was an Southern Pacific MT-4...I still wouldn't get one just for spite and to keep the MRF from thinking $400 is now an acceptable list price.
Ok, I’m going to toss the hand grenade into the room on this one. (Just a figure of speech. This may come across as pitting opposing sides against each other, but that is not the intent - I’m just presenting a different perspective.) Ok, pulling the pin now: I submit that the locomotive-buying community as a whole may well be paying less net money with BLI’s “DCC & sound in everything” approach. The production process is streamlined to ONE model. No need to separate out DC/DCC/sound models into different subsets and finish them out with different decoders, speakers, light control boards, etc. Eliminates the plug that is associated with “DCC-Ready” entirely. So parts inventory and part unit costs go DOWN. (But it’s DOWN at the TOP end of the price scale, not at the bottom.) Or maybe some other manufacturer would fit out the DCC & sound options after inventories are delivered to a warehouse stateside. That would probably be the highest-cost way to do it out of all possibilities. I would estimate that “DCC & Sound on everything” streamlines the process enough such that DCC & sound implemented that way, costs less than DCC-only installed by the more conventional production approach. Not to mention that reducing production to a single option minimizes production time and order turnaround time for all buyers. Some might argue that DC-only customers are subsidizing the efficiencies the higher-end buyers are enjoying, by having to buy “options” they don’t want. My rejoinder would be “the higher-end buyers of the customizable approach are subsidizing the IN-effiencies built into the approach, that allow the lower-end buyers to get theirs at the best price.” Ultimately a wise manufacturer knows who their customers are, and tailors production such that they are the most competitive they can be, in that market segment that benefits them the most. A different way of looking at that is: what makes the most sense to a manufacturer: reducing production cost of their products with the highest profit and sales potential, or reducing production cost of those with the lowest profit and sales potential? On the technology side, can the extra capacitance needed for the “stay alive” feature of BLI’s Paragon4 (which folks seem to like) be accommodated in the space within an N-scale steamer, if space has to be allocated for a DCC-Ready plug and a separate DCC decoder? (I’ve not seen the inside of any BLI units to answer this for myself.) One further on the technology side, if you don’t allocate space for separate plugs & boards, because everything could function on a single, unified board, then certain end users (you know who you are) have maximum room to cram in more weight for maximum pulling power, right? The ultimate questions are “Is this approach working for us as customers?”, and “Is this approach working for BLI?” I don’t have their financial statements, but what I do look at, is who is moving and shaking in the N scale steam world, because that is my model railroading world. So, who is? Athearn? Man, their N scale page isn’t dead, but it doesn’t have a link on their homepage any more. You gotta go to an HO page, change the “HO” to “N” and cross yer fingers. And their N-scale offerings are at a low ebb. Bachmann? They still produce some new stuff, but their new model output pace seems a bit tepid. (I say that, still regarding Bachmann as the best friend a C&O steam N-scaler ever had, with their road-specific 2-8-4, 2-6-6-2, 4-8-2, and a generic, but nice, 2-8-0). Atlas? “Gee, I dunno, Ralph.” (But break the Shay tooling out of mothballs, and all will be forgiven AND forgotten). Kato? Good to see them jumping into the Big Boy market, but most of their steam has been tweaking their GS-4 and FEF-3 offerings in recent years. They also largely stay in their niche area of Western roadnames. Then there is BLI. Their Big Boy is a breakaway from their focus on the bigger Northeastern lines. They’re offering Mikes for all over (but they lose points for no road-specific details), the already-mentioned Reading T-1 (they need to listen to that small voice that says a C&O 614 is just a hop, skip, and a jump away.) And now, before year’s end, the N&W Y6b will be on the streets. Another breakout from their Northeastern railroad mold. I’m not saying my view is the only view, but from my limited perspective, BLI’s approach seems to he working for them, and it seems to be allowing them to put variety on the table for us. In summary: yes, the high-end buyer benefits the most, but benefits do accrue to the lower-end buyer as well. I’m building for DCC. I have just two sound locomotives. Everything I look for new, gas sound. I do without only for legacy purchases. I do sometimes mute my sound. I’m open to the possibility that, a few more locos down the road, I might tire of sound, and my perspective could thus change. But then again, I might have grandkids by then, and the fascination with sound might ring afresh to young ears, and my perspective might stay where it is right now.
Why? Two companies producing models of a class of all of two dozen prototypes weren't enough? This herd mentality isn't healthy. It's common in business. Hey! There's a market! We have to serve it! And what if it's already sated? What if this product is already a dime a dozen? Suddenly this "safe bet" lands you in bankruptcy. I have news for these marketing degree holders trying to transform model railroading into a mass market: It isn't one, was never one, and never will be one. Yes, F-3As and GP-7s were pretty ubiquitous. But whether it's Big Boys or DCC, you can't shove them down everybody's throats. Try and you lose customers.
I don't mind BLI making sound-only models. Steam locomotives have always been a sensory experience, with steam chuffs, hissing pipes, ringing bell, and the all-important whistle. Sound is an integral part of the appeal of a steam locomotive, much more than the monotone growl of a diesel engine. A silent steam locomotive is just missing something. The people paying $400 for an N scale model are inherently going to be DCC guys, so I can't really blame BLI. If they are making a significant investment like that for one locomotive, you can bet they have made other investments like DCC. The hobby is always talking about higher detail and making models more realistic with road-specific and road-number specific details. So why is DCC controversial? Isn't sound part of the realism everyone is pushing for?
The number of prototypes has nothing to do with whether a market is saturated with producers or models. The number of people wanting the model does. Likewise the “number of prototypes” has nothing to do with whether the market is saturated with manufacturers or models. Went to Ebay. Didn’t really Big Boys on the cheap. $700 for Athearns, $500 for Rivarossis. Well, I doubt that any company is actually putting a crowbar in your wallet and prying out the cash and the credit cards, then whacking you over the head with the crowbar. You’ve got the other manufacturers, that produce the more conventional way, to turn to, right?
N scale sound is a severe auditory compromise. Enough is there to recognize the sound, but not much more. It reminds me of that pocket-sized AM transistor radio I had as a kid.
Most of the folks I know who complain about the BLI "all locos have sound and DCC" sales model, and want locos without decoders ARE modelers who are devoted to DCC and sound. However, they have a preference for some brand of decoder and sound other than BLI, either for quality or standardization reasons. And would therefore prefer a model without decoder and sound installed so they can install what they want without having to pay an extra $100-$150 for a decoder and speaker arrangement that will be removed. Plus the extra work, and possibility of damaging the loco in some way while removing the unwanted stuff.
Interesting and very valid point... Did I see where Atlas is offering DCC/sound-ready locomotives, that include the speaker, but no decoder? Or am I dreaming again (entirely possible)?
IIRC, I paid $99.95 plus tax and shipping for an Atlas/Rivarossi 2-8-8-2 Mallet circa 1978. With inflation, that translates to $435 in today's dollars. The detail and running characteristics of today's N-scale steamers is, for the most part, light years ahead of what was available in 1978. I'll take today's models at today's prices (of course, I'd rather have today's models at 1978 prices, but let's be realistic!).
Model railroading was my hobby for a long time. About 14 years ago I tried my luck at R/C planes and loved it. I bought a trainer, enjoyed it. Sold it and upgraded… sold that one and bought a ME-109. Loved, loved loved it. Flew it a dozen times or more… and then one day not sure what happened but something failed on the plane and it crashed. That hurt the wallet…. A lot. And I thought hmmph, maybe I should stick to trains. since then, R/C planes have gotten cheaper and more reliable…. And N Scale locomotives have gotten way more expensive. Crazy.
Just like buying a car.. you pay for power window ,auto tranny, AM/FM plus more radio and all the other bells and whistles without a choice. Same here.
That hasn't been my experience. Most of the complaints I've seen have been from people who legitimately want non-sound locos. A lot of modelers just don't care for sound and don't want to spend that extra money. Even among those of us who like sound, a lot of us don't want sound in every loco. I currently only have three BLI locos, but if they were available without sound I would very likely have several more. Also, many of us have no desire to install sound in a loco when we know we can buy one with sound already installed, even if it's not our preferred sound decoder. I obviously don't have any stats to back it up, but I strongly suspect the percentage of people who would prefer a non-DCC loco so that they could put their own sound decoders in are pretty low. It is true that many DCC users prefer DC locos so they can put there preferred non-sound decoder in it, but there a few standard form factors that makes the DCC installation a simple job in most locos. If that were true of sound decoders and speakers, then I'd be more inclined to believe many modelers would prefer to install their own sound decoders.
BLI is one of the few manufacturers where I wished they did sell DC only units so I could install my own decoder without having to pay for theirs. Most of the other manufacturers of North American power who sell sound options now come with ESU which is about as good as it gets and no reason to swap those out where I am concerned. If BLI has cleaned up the performance issues with Paragon 4 that I have experienced with P3 I might be swayed to buy their stuff again but for the moment I'll wait and see. Otherwise their detail is top notch making them very nice lookers on the rails.
