I'm still living off the news from Hartford. I'm trading a brass AC-12 for an AC-6 this weekend since I'll be able to get another AC-12 in plastic next year. Of course, I could be wrong and have to buy another AC-12 off ebay at twice the price of plastic because of my optimism.
They had a laptop at TrainFest in milwaukee earlier this month that was displaing their 3d CAD Drawings of the AC-12. See my post http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=93427&highlight=Trainfest The rep was very positive and optimistic that these are coming, they are puttign a lot of $$ Backing into it. Of course at the time I did not know these were already announced when I saw it....
I wonder why my search didn't pick up on that thread? I used "cab forward" but nothing came up? Hmmm, wonder what I did wrong. Anyway, thanks Charger for the update!
Though I model Santa Fe I wouldn't mind one, they are an interesting engine, but with something as complex and presumably expensive as a cab forward I think I'll hold off till the second or third run. I'll let the guys who really want one work out the bugs for IM.
That is what I should have done with my HO version. Mine has a LOT of bugs to be worked out. I can only hope for you guys that the N version is better.
LOL, I haven't had one yet that didn't waddle or was out of gauge or didn't have to disassemble to get it running right! That includes CC, Bmann, and MP. Oh, wait! I had a Kato 2-8-2 GN that ran correctly right out of the box. Too bad I sold it....
Kato primary business is making models for the Japanese market where the faults we've come to expect as standard issue on production models wouldn't be tolerated.
I think you're right. There's a different idea about making things there that I kind of wish certain companies in other parts of the world would adopt. I saw this program about Japanese carpentry once and the carpenter, just before using a piece of wood to make a box, said that it was incumbent upon him to respect the piece of wood and the tree from which it originated (and, by extension, his own profession) by building a quality piece without mistakes and not be needlessly wasteful. I like that. So simple, yet so many companies don't understand it or choose to ignore it. Adam
They've been showing the pre production shells at shows for some time now, they have had to do the HO version first after all.:tb-biggrin: Maybe they've got their Chinese builders working on what flaws they can build into them. Though I'm not pointing the finger of blame at the Chinese, Micro Ace and Tomix Japanese models are made in China and are excellant, especially the Micro Ace steamers.
You may have something there. It may not be the workforce so much as the choices made by the managers and factory owners. I am not saying all managers are corrupt, because that is a broad sweeping generalization and it is garbage, but there was a fairly well publicized case of someone substituting ingredients in cough syrup and basically creating poison. I can just imagine the thought process: "Hmmm... we can save 1/2 a cent off each unit produced if we use the contents of Barrel Y instead of Barrel X. Oh well, it can't be that toxic. It's only cough syrup we're making after all. Who cares if it contains antifreeze, eh?" Adam
I think when the Japanese companies like Micro Ace and Tomix get a less than acceptable preproduction sample from the Chinese factory the Japanese tradition of perfection and attention to detail kicks in, and they send it back with a note to do it right. They know they'll go out of business otherwise. U.S. based companies say "what the heck, it's good enough, make us 10,000".
There's even variable quality between U.S. companies that outsource production to China. Apple Computer, for example, built my Macmini to order in Shanghai or somewhere and the thing has performed flawlessly for nearly four years. I could write a whole book on the cheap junk I have gotten from U.S. headquartered companies producing in China. I think it depends on the company. Unfortunately, a lot of these U.S. headquartered model railroad companies that outsource production to China are of the "don't care" variety. People will buy the 65 dollar item instead of the 72 dollar one and then have well over 20 dollars of hassle in trying to get the 65 dollar one to perform like the 72 dollar one does. It's not worth it. Even in the store, to the embarrasment of my wife, I will often open up boxes and check things out to make sure that all the parts are there, that they look like they were made and packed with at least some care, and that the thing looks like it might actually work. She says it looks like I am shoplifting, so I sometimes take the object to the counter and tell the clerk that before I buy X object I am going to open it up and take a look. Since so many U.S. headquartered companies outsource production to China it is getting very difficult to find anything NOT made in China anymore. I don't know what our economy is built on. Is it all medical procedures, hamburgers, and military supplies now? It sure feels like it sometimes. I don't think the problem is the U.S. or China or U.S or Chinese workers or management necessarily, but just a generous number of people who just don't care at all levels spread throughout several companies making all sorts of bad decisions large and small. Does anything get produced in Australia anymore? We have very little here anymore, except for a few cars, military vehicles and armaments, logs that get shipped off somewhere else while our mill towns continue to diminish, some agricultural goods, some dustpans and yard tools, and the Fluidmaster toilet flushing device (which I highly recommend, though I have no affiliation or vested interest in that company). Back to the AC-12. I sincerely hope this steamer works without too much hassle. Adam
SteamDonkey74, the short answer to your question is pretty much the same as the US, it's hard to find anything with a made in Australia label on it. We sell our iron ore and coal to China and buy most of our consumer goods back from them. I think with model trains we expect too much for the price these days, even with their faults could you imagine what engines of the quality we get today would have cost in the 70's. Intermountain might surprise us with the cab forward, they haven't done any N scale steam yet, we're just speculating on how bad it'll be.
