I just read through some old postings on the Atlas site and I am came across the announcement for the Atlas Alco S2 in Nscale way back in March 2013. Is that project dead? Anybody know?
Here is that topic, which was started by Paul Graf: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine...-Scale-S2-with-Sound&highlight=Atlas+Alco+S-2
The S2s are in production now. We are hoping for a late December or early January delivery, but won't know for sure until they are close to complete and we see what else is ready to ship.
However It must get past the Dread Pirate Roberts, and then hope there isn't another of the seemingly monthly strikes or work slow downs that tie up the west coast ports.If I get lucky maybe I will snag one in basic black to run with my S-4.
I can't now put my hands on the thread, but somewhere (Railwire?) someone asked about the effect of the port strikes on model RR shipments, and Paul indicated that most of their stuff is now coming through eastern ports, not western. As a result, he did not expect any significant supply disruptions for Atlas. What I didn't quite understand was how this is working as a practical matter - I guess the ships that Atlas is using are going through the Panama Canal and then to eastern ports, rather than going to Seattle, Oakland or LA. It would seem to me that such a trip would add to shipping cost, but maybe not by the time you figure freight shipping from LA to Atlas' offices in New Jersey. That is, if this stuff has to end up on the east coast anyway, I guess it makes sense to put in on a ship destined for New Jersey or New York, rather than offloading it in LA and shipping it overland to New Jersey. But the bottom line according to Paul was that the western port labor issues weren't likely to affect Atlas much. John C.
There are actually two ways to get something from Asia to the US East Coast without using the west coast ports - the Panama Canal, and the Suez Canal. We have made shipments using each option. On the Panama Canal vs. West Coast ports - the cost through the canal is actually cheaper, but at the expense of shipping time. While we have been doing this for some time, other shippers are also now doing this, and as a result space on the ships is getting harder to book, so there will likely be some lag in shipments. The good news is that China is mostly now shut down for the Lunar New Year, so hopefully they can resolve the port issues during the down time.
Paul, You got the Chinese New Year shutdown right.....I do some business there and it just shuts down almost completely, like our Xmas, or Wisconsin hunting season....... Do you find dealing with the Chinese to be as difficult as I (sometimes) do, with contracts not always being honored, payments delayed (although you are on the other side of that equation), etc.? A relative of mine has stopped doing biz with them, after he had their company motto translated, and it turned out to be "We always win." LOL.
