Is your head spinning from all the different series they are running? I am glad to see the Navy ships done in modern boxcars (as well as the Canadian series). As with the State series there is only one I'm interested in. The USS Arizona would be a welcome addition to my layout. Unfortunately it is only available in the battleship row set.:sad: This is one of those love-to-hate, hate-to-love {re:Grandpa Joe~Calzephyr's} things with MT. I'm not interested in the whole series, not even the whole set. Just one car. To get it I have to buy the whole set. Guess what it comes down to is they have us where they want us. If you want a particular car, sometime you gotta buy half the fleet.
Be creative have your LHS or etailer break the pack open and buy the single car you want,(I have done this) buy the set & sell unwanteds, or just look on Ebay for that single car There are ways of aquiring what you want don't let marketing practices put a dampner on your enjoyment. there is always a remedy!!!
Got to love / hate marketing. Cut a deal with some friends on trainboard. I'm buying the series. Didn't know about the special pack. Hmm.
[FONT=""Trebuchet MS""]This is the set I'm talking about. I don't know if it's a exclusive to N Scale Supply or not. Maybe one of our retailers can shed some light on this. [/FONT]
Nope... not "exclusive" to N-Scale Supply. This is a Micro-trains product and is also available through BLW and 4Nscale. Though I am not a particular 'fan' of Specialty Cars, I have to say 'Bravo, Micro-trains!' for this one, and the entire U.S. Navy car series. :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: While I understand the significance for you of USS ARIZONA, keep in mind her sisters were also "sunk", i.e., USS OKLAHOMA, USS CALIFORNIA, etc. The difference is all these were refloated and repaired and took revenge on the Imperial Japanese Navy for Pearl Harbor and especially for USS ARIZONA. I just can not visualize having only 'one' car from this set... they all belong together. And these cars will not be run on my layout... they will be in their own display rack on the wall in my train room. Roger Dedrick ET1 U.S. Navy (Retired) 1960-69; 1980-93
Oklahoma was refloated but never repaired-she was decommisioned in 1944 (odd the 1941 date next to her on the car), and sank while being towed to the West Coast for disposal in 1947. Tennesee and Maryland were not sunk, and recieved relatively minor damage. They were back in action early in 42, along with Pennsylvania, the fleet flagship, which was in the drydock at Pearl at the time. Nevada was beached, back in action in 1943. 2 destroyers in drydock were also nearly destroyed, Cassin and Downes. Despite being near obsolete Mahan class ships they were essentially rebuilt (new hulls, superstructures, etc)and entered service in early 44 and late 43, respectively, then decommissioned in December of 45 and stricken in 1947.
I wasn't trying for a detailed history ... but am glad to see it posted. I only wished to emphasize the importance of ALL seven battleships. And these were not the only casualties... others included minelayer USS OGALALA… USS UTAH (ex-BB converted to target ship)... USS DRAYTON (also Mahan class destroyer)... and the list continues.
Roger, I was glad to see a serviceman comment on these cars. Their announcement has bothered me a bit because all I see is Microtrains profiting from a significant event in history where thousands lost their lives. I am glad you will be displaying them, but I won't be buying them. I would if I thought any portion of the profits went to the Pearl Harbor Museums or veterans groups. Atlas had their 9/11 releases, but the profits went were they should have. For some reason this release really bothers me. Clint
I understand your problem. The Navy series seems to have a WW2 bias. It would be nice to add the Missouri & the WW2 carriers to the set. By that time, something will be sold out. I don't know if it would be better to pick different eras to pick ships from, begining with Old Ironsides & ending with the new super carriers. It almost seems to be a Lionel trademark to have one of those ships in a bottle mounted on a flatcar. I also hope they don't take the clear plastic Happy Birthday car & do some sort of aquarium car.
I agree Clint ... the Pearl Harbor Museum should be recipient to a portion of the profits. Maybe some of us veterans should drop a line to Micro-Trains ... starting with me of course. Still, whether or not MT decides to contribute, I want these cars for an entirely personal reason. Though I was too young to serve then (born 1942 .. :shade: ) I did have quite a few Navy relatives serving, not least my father USCG. :thumbs_up: Give it some time ... MT has only started this series ... but "WW2 bias"?? .... Hmmm .... not sure I'd state it that way.:hmm4er: BTW ... USS MISSOURI was the first ship in the MT U.S.Navy series: http://www.nscalesupply.com/MTL/MTL-03800401.html Of WW2 carriers, USS HORNET was also produced: http://www.nscalesupply.com/MTL/MTL-03800402.html
Navy Series and other stuff I appreciate your love/hate thing with the themed sets. Frankly, I'm a runner and don't collect fantasy cars, but, regardless of what I think, they are popular or we wouldn't do them. I've had folks accuse me "inflicting" this stuff on our customers, which was an odd statement...like I'm going to force someone to buy our product. I am always surprised at the end of the month when I look at the inventory sheets and see how many Christmas, Birthday or other sets are sold. The Navy and Canadian Series represent a substantial part of our busniess above our monthly releases, and as the guy who pushed doing these, am happy with the response. As for the Pearl Harbor set, some of the ships will be issued in the regular bi-monthly program sometime in the future. The design of Battle Ship Row is a bit different and that way they will stand on their own from the regular issue. As to any bias for WW2 Subjects mentioned elsewhere, not really, just wanted a starting point. The first go around are all based on museum ships currently on display around the country. I was hoping that the gift shops at those sites would pick up on these and offer them, but so far no takers. We contacted the folks at Pearl and while there was an initial interest, nothing has come of it yet. Regardless, our customers have made this series successful and I'm looking forward to doing some of the ships I served on during the 1970's !! Cheers Joe MTL . W
Joe, thanks for the response. I don't mean to come across like I'm bashing the theme stuff, I suppose it's my over opinionated side coming out. I guess we all have our idiosyncrasies. I realize a company can't be all things to all customers, nor would I ask that. I'm a runner myself, but as a free lancer I can justify running anything. As an Arizona native (living in NY) I'm easily swayed by anything related. I'm sure the collectors would cringe sat my weathered Arizona box car (actually I think the collectors should appreciate us runners, we make their cars worth more money). It will take some effort, but I'm sure I'll get the individual car I want. I may pay a bit more than I probably should, but we all have our level of "worth it". I would just prefer my money go directly to the company and not some profiteer.
All M-TL dealers were given the option to pre-order the set. Reportedly, only the amount pre-ordered will be produced by M-TL. Turning over some of the proceeds to a memorial is an interestng concept. I'm pretty sure the Pearl Harbor Memorial is a National Monument or a National Park. As such it is funded by all taxpayer's funds. I'm curious why is M-TL being singled out for criticism here when other companies who have done runs of a similar nature have not been questioned?
