Today I went to the World's Greatest Hobby Show in Atlanta. I talked to reps from Athearn, Bachmann, ConCor and Kato. The rep from Bachmann was surprised to know that that their N scale streetcars could be powered from overhead. I examined the Peter Witt cars and was surprised how light the cars were. An aspect that I had not noticed in any pictures or reviews is that the front and rear are very different. The front is flat and squarish and the rear has a more traditional curved shape. They run very quietly and smoothly. I showed him both an Eric's pole and one of my jewelery based design. They both impressed him. We discussed putting a pole on the Witt. We figured there is about a 1mm to 1/16inch between the roof and circuit board cover. Just enough space to put a wire soldered to a sleeve to collect current from a pole. The guys, Chris and Vinnie, from ConCor were great. Their booth was a tiny 10x10 Behind the enormous 20x30 booth that MTH had. If I didn't hunt them down I would have missed them in all the vendors. My search reaped great rewards. First I saw all there great new stuff. The Electroliner and Prewar PCCs look great in HO. Then came the question. And they said "If we pushed for it, we could have an Electroliner in 2012." That's right they will make it for us. Because they had to do a second run of the HO train, the idea of an N scale version was feasible. WE JUST NEED TO ASK FOR IT. So even if your not interested in it please send ConCor an email for those of us that do. The sane goes for all the other goodies that they make in HO, like the Prewar PCC, the MP54 and others. They also loved the overhead poles and my CSL cars, built from Brills. Chris took copious notes of all the things we discussed. Although it's not traction related they are also thinking about doing a "Illinois Central, Green Diamond." Its a sister of the UP M10000. ConCor wants to create the special trains. Let's help them by suggesting our unique electric locomotives and trains. They believe that traction equipment is the next wave in model railroading. They got a lot of interest in the possibility of N scale traction equipment at the show and not just with me. Send your emails to ConCor for all of our N scale traction wishes.
Traction and North American prototype electrics are an area where there has indeed been neglect... Boxcab E50
I would join this push but,I am currently engage in pushing Atlas,and Athearn for more N products..I am pushing Exactrail for waffle boxcars. Godd luck in your push.
While we are pushing, how about pushing Bachmann for a PRR H 8,9 or 10 consolidation based on their 2-8-0? All they need do is the shell the mechanism is, from what I gather, spot on. The H8,9 and 10's of the PRR were identical externally, they differed in cylinder bore. There were over 1000 lof these 2-8-0'son the PRR and they soldiered on for a long time right up to the end of steam operations and them many of them went on to various short lines hauling coal outof the Appalachians and Allegheny mountains. At the Columbus WGH I pressed the Bachmann people to do a PRR K4 pointing out to them that with the release of the Broadway Limited and the heavyweight PRR cars from Microtrains there is a need for a K4 to supplement the E7's, E8's and GG1's that pulled PRR passenger varnish.
Sounds good to me - I wish Bachmann would produce every steam engine they have in HO in N scale. I would love to see the 2-8-4 Berkshire (even if it meant I had to do some work to represent one of the Erie models) with a diecast boiler like the heavy mountain has. I really think that someone needs to take the lead on producing some real quality steam in N scale, and I believe Bachmann is the company that could do it.
I'd like to push Walthers for more structures. I have emailed them a few times and their response was tepid.
A thread could be started here just as was done for the Con Cor U 50 and the link sent to Jim Conway so he could see the interest. I did that on this website and a few others and let it run for a month then sent Jim one email with all of the links on it. It worked for the U 50.:tb-wink: We will see the new retooled edition in Fall of this year. And since I live near by the factory I wouldn't mind at all going by and seeing Chris and Vinnie to make sure they have seen the email sent:tb-smile:
We need to push for an N Scale MP15AC,SW1500 and an SW1,plus an early version SD40-2.We use a Tri level enclosed auto rack hat looks like the bi level enclosed auto rack that red caboose has done.
I have always been one of the guys here that has always said " We need to push hard" for the N scale items we want. Unfortunetly, I have not received the most welcome responses. I see there are no negative responses here. Why is it that I get hassled about us wanting to stick together and ChicagoNW gets a pass. I totally agree with him, but dare not I say "lets push hard" as I would get heckled as being militant ? I guess all things do not make sense. Well, you can see what the result of "Me pushing hard for GP-60's is....we are going to get them from FVM later this year" I am sure I am going to get whacked for just posting this.... fatalxsunrider43 P.S. If you need an advocate for any item you want made, just let me know and I'll tow the Battleship to get it done, I WANT TO HELP !
I want Athearn to put out containers in N. They make well cars in N, after all. I mean, I love the DI containers, but I hate the waits and limited supplies, and frankly, a little competition won't hurt
OK (and given fatalxsunrider's comment) I will chime in about this... I think, if there is something you REALLY REALLY want, REALLY want, want, could use, need, have a passing interest in, or would otherwise buy, THEN you should e-mail a manufacturer of your interest. If you are not interested at all, then I think it is wrong to send such an e-mail. For a couple of reasons... 1. The manufacturer may make decisions based on the amount of interest, when really there is a much smaller amount of interest in a particular product. This will lead to an unsuccessful project for that manufacturer. That leads to all kinds of problems, especially for the smaller guys. (lack of available capital, feeling of "being burned" by n-scalers and being resistant to future n-scale projects, etc.) 2. Eventually, manufacturers will start to see these types of threads and pretty much automatically rule out e-mail feedback. As it is, I would guess that most are suspect when a large flood of e-mails about a particular item come in all at once. So in essence it's the story of "the boy who cried wolf". The manufacturers will stop listening, or at least to certain "contributors". This of course means that any legit communications of interest about a product will be ignored as well. 3. In its most basic form....it's dishonest. When you express "interest", you are...in essence, committing to buy it if it is of reasonable quality and at a price consistent with other models that you have purchased. If you have "NO INTEREST", then that's clearly not gonna be the case. Now if you have a friend or club that you know would buy them, that's probably acceptable to "proxy vote" if they aren't communicationg their interest. But, that's the exception. Look, I can be overzealous about certain models just like the next guy, :we2-jiggy: but I really think you guys should think it through before coordinating a bogus e-mail blast like this. That's all. I hope you all get what you are asking for....I certainly send e-mails for the things I want, too! :eh-smiloe: Doug
I agree Doug. In fact, I heard from a manufacturer exactly what you say. He got a load of requests for a product, produced it, and sold very few, so he will no longer listen to requests. He just makes what he thinks will sell. I am willing to ask a manufacturer to make a product, but it has to be something that I would consider buying. If I ask for something that I have no intention of buying then it would be a lie.
Doug A. brings out some good points plus small manufacturers don't have time or staff to read through all of those email request and if you flood them with such they will definitely be ignored. ie: Con Cor has a very small staff that sure doesn't have that time. That is why I started the thread on the U50 that happened to work quite well. I started a thread on here and several other forums then sent one email with the links to the forums for there info only. I also went by to see if they had a chance to read the email and check out the links. The process took about six months but it indeed did work. This fall we should see the retooled U50 in Hobby shops. Matter of fact it worked so well Athearn decided to produce one in HO as well. I am/was very interested in seeing the the U 50 reproduced and Pre Ordered two with DCC/Sound. And I hope it sells well. As earlier stated a manufacturer has quite a bit of money invested in doing a project like this, and as we all know it's difficult enough to make a profit in this hobby. But mass emails from some who don't even plan to purchase the model is just wrong, and mean.
Yes, I did go too far with that line, but the rest of my post is valid. But you even put a bit of forgiveness in your reasons against my statement. Remember there are a lot of modelers who are not tied to computers, so someone should vote for them too. But considering that following posts had very little to do with my original ideas I don't think that I've created a false flood of emails. I did not ask people to place false orders but to express interest in the model. If your familiar with history of the model Electroliner, you know that ConCor did not produce them willy nilly. It took several different campaigns to get it produced in HO as well as at least two separate product announcements and request for orders, separated by a couple of decades. Now they're doing a second run for HO, so I guess there is some interest in the product. The bad reviews of the Aerotrain that spread like wildfires did more to hurt sales than "false demand." This is what spooks manufacturers today. It will take decades for the owners early Bachmann locomotives to die off and stop badmouthing them. Bachmann is introducing many fine products today and are improving the old failures, in spite of the screaming on the internet. Few products today are produced without a complete sellout of the first run. So expressing interest in a model is not placing an order to purchase the final product. The biggest resistance to selling any product in N scale is our numbers. We are only a third of the number of HO, so we don't buy as may products as they do. If we truly want to get every product we want we need to outnumber ALL the other scales. We must put HO in the same category as O and S, over-sized scales of the past. So, if you're interested in an N scale versions of the Electroliner / Liberty Liner or the Prewar PCC, please, contact ConCor. They are interested in your opinion. Guys as a rule only the manufactures that sell an HO version will even think of doing one in N. So the best plan is to ask for our own versions from them. They've already done the research and gotten the correct paint colors mixed. I did not express my want for correct CSL/CTA equipment from either the reps from Bachmann or ConCor. I'll just settle for generics with close paint jobs. I did mention to the Athearn rep that a Metra F59PHI would be nice. Although I'd rather have a MP36 instead. fatalxsunrider43 It's the way you phrase your posts. They often read like rants.
Way back in '86 or '87 I was at the National Train Show in Eugene, OR. There was a vendor there that had some really neat HO structures. I asked the man at the display about doing them in N. He sais if there was enough interest he would. I went back to the NTRAK layout and spread the word for the guys to go look at the HO models and if they liked them, tell the guy they would like to see them in N. A few years later there they were. Fast forward to the NTS in Denver in 1991. I saw the same guy in a booth and told him how much the N structures were appreciated. He said that in Eugene he had told a guy if there was enough interest he would make them in N and the next thing he knew there were all these guys asking for them in N. I smiled. That was Woodland Scenics.
This is the key point. It is how you words things, and this apples to emails addressed to vendors too. It is dishonest to send a email along the lines of "If you make X. I will pre-order 10." However there is nothing wrong with sending a email explaining that you probably won't buy this model, but you still think it would be a good idea to produce it for whatever reason.
Is that an acceptable excuse? I believe companies like Fox Valley, BLMA and DeLuxe Innovations also have tiny staffs, yet they make products on a far, far superior level than Con-Cor does.
No one has commented on this. I saw this in the first post and shook my head. Why was I not surprised? Customers teaching the REP about the rep's products?! (Why doesn't Trainboard have a bag-over-the-head icon?)
I assume what he meant, was Bachman thought it was technical impossible, and did not include it as a feature on their model. A note on my earlier post, I meant it was dishonest only if you did not actually plan to place such a order.
