Hi All, Am I way off base? How come no chatter on this engine? Is it not due in by the end of September ( 2013 :uhoh? Anybody have any info? thanks, SuperSteam
Other than the initial post about it a few weeks back and some discussion nothing new. I wouldn't count on that date. The new F-7s aren't here yet either.
Perhaps some apathy from N scalers in general because the EM-1 was very road specific to the B&O/C&O... and... maybe there are not as many looking forward to that particular model? If I were an eastern road aficionado... particularly in the Appalachian region... I'd be asking more about it too. Maybe a variation of this model's wheel arrangement that would suit a more wide audience would have more 'chatter'??? I personally would like to see this be a very successful release for Bachmann... it would encourage them to do more road specific variations of this wheel arrangement.
At the NTS, where the EM-1 was announced, the Bachmann rep. told me that delivery was expected Q4, but most likely Q1 2014. However, several N specific retailers have the EM-1 arriving in September which I would assume was based on the original information they were given by Bachmann. As to when they will actually arrive, your guess is as good as any. The announcement for the NTS was on the Bachmann website at http://www.bachmanntrains.net/Catalogs/2013/NMRA_2013.pdf There has been no news since then that I have read. Most retailers are accepting reservations. Cheers, bill
It is in their NMRA 2013 announcement as DCC equipped F-7s As and Bs due to ship in September. My thought is that this is the newer split frame with the black gears and the frame milled to accept a circuit board most likely. Unless they have a complete new frame the old frame weighed a ton and milling it out for a board should not take that much weight off of it. Can't tell much from the picture but it may be the same shell last used or I am looking at a HO model.
I beg to differ. Our shop has received more preorders for the EM-1 than any previous loco offering to date, steam or diesel. The leader before that was the Daylight GS-4. It has generated plenty of interest in our area. Damn Bachmann and their eastern bias, :cute:. There is no chatter because there is nothing to chatter about until we have the loco in hand. All the chattering was done the week of the announcement, now everybody is waiting patiently for the release. The variation descriptions are a little vauge from Bachmann, just like the HO release was. Hopefully they listened to the HO comments and changed the sand filler hatches to represent the later loco properly. On a few other forums, there are those making plans to convert it to a NP Z class which after seeing photo's and drawings of a Z1 the other day, should not be very difficult.
I think a lot of peeople are crossing their fingers on this one hoping for a hit but still recalling the 2-6-6-2's that Bachmann did. Hopefully Bachmann will get this right from the start because this baby, even discounted, ain't gonna be cheap.
Yep this is going to be a very big deal when it is out. I have been getting questions about the N Scale EM1 ever since Bachmann put out the HO version with the Tsunami option.
The C&O never had the EM-1. But if Bachmann wants to make the C&O Allegheny (2-6-6-6) and Chesapeake (2-8-8-2) I wont get upset.
Sorry. Must have gotten lost in the ether. I just resent it. If that still doesn't work, it's that Heaven(ly) place in PA that sells Toy Trains.
Thanks, found 'em. Googling the catalog number I see that the big "W" and one other vendor also has them listed. Odd that nobody else does though, especially since they're supposedly due at the end of September... -Mark
Funny, the 'road specific' argument that many have used to predict poor sales may hold water, but it don't make no steam . It may work for individual modellers here and there, but it does not play out empirically. The argument applies to my modeling. I did not buy the Athearn UP offerings because I do not model Tio Pedrito and, as a rule, do not operate big steam. I did not buy the Kato GS-4 or the IM cab forwards, because I modelled SP in HO, but not N. When WKW improved the Van Swearingen Berkshire, I did not buy one, because I do not model the Van Swearingen roads. I did not buy the improved B-mann USRA light mountain or improved USRA 2-6-6-s because I do not model any of the roads that ran them. I did not even buy the Hiawatha. Even though I prefer small to average sized steam, I do not model CMStP&P. There was a time when I did buy almost any new steam offered. I did this to do my part to encourage the manufacturers and because I could letter them for a non-historic. Since I refocused my non-historic, I have sold off many of those older purchases. I plan to sell off most of the others. For a long time, I would believe the arguments advanced regarding road specific steam. As I watched PRR, Southern and even modern era modellers buy these things, I began to believe it less and less. I watched modellers who swore that steam would never operate on their pikes (now there is observance of prototype practice for ya') beam with pride as they showed me their Challenger. For me, it still works. If someone offers a Yellowstone or a Wyoming (Isn't that what D&H, LV or one of those anthracite roads called their 4-8-4s?) or a CMStP&P passenger 2-6-6-2, I will not buy it. I will probably buy this thing, but not right away. I do model B&O. If someone offers a P&LE A-2-a, I would buy it. Maybe the road specific thing is not bad. If good sales continue, it will encourage the manufacturers to do more in all sizes and shapes.
The road specific argument swings both ways. There are people that won't buy it because it is not the right road or not generic enough to pass on their layout. There are B&O fans that have no interest in steam that will buy it because it is B&O. There are B&O steam fans that will buy multiple units because it is the first 99.7% accurate RTR B&O steam loco ever made. Then there are the nutcases like me that will buy anything steam just because it is steam (it doesn't hurt that I model B&O though). You can insert UP, SP, Milwaukee, etc. in the statement above and it will hold true for the most part. The sizes of each group above is probably similar for whatever road you create as long as you keep to the mainstream: Group A - Not for me Group B - It's my road, I must buy it even if it doesn't fit my layout. Group C - It's my road, I model it, I want multiples. Group D - It's X type of loco, I want it no matter what road it is. I bet that B+C+D is a signifcant number of sales or the manufactures wouldn't keep making road specific.
These days I'll go with a steamer if the wheel arrangement matches the prototype I want to model and the detailing is at least in the right ballpark. I seem to be getting fussier about such things as I get older, though. I'll be buying an EM1 for testing purposes, but I won't be keeping it. Cheers, -Mark
That is perhaps an oversimplified but believable and instructive breakdown of the market (that is an observation, mind you, NOT a brickbat). It is certainly a good point of departure for a discussion. Since you are in the model choo-choo business, it has the required gravitas/auctoritas . It is worth remarking that this does not seem to apply as much to the diseasels. You do not find as many steam era modellers who fit into B and C. If they model B&O in the 1940s, they will not buy torpedo boat GP-9s, because they did not appear until 1955. If they model B&O 1958-1960, no GP-35s, even in Sunburst appear. The only reason that I have a few out of era B&O or P&LE/NYCS paint schemes or equipment at all is that they were thrown in with a trade. I would not spend money for them, as I really have no use for them. The out of era stuff will be useful if I ever want to go back to N-TRAK or for trades. Funny how your point works for the teakettles but not the bricks.
When it comes right down to it, it does work. I know plenty of diesel modelers that are the ... half noah types. (I think that was the phrase). They have one of everything, even if it isn't their road. Borring GP types may not excite as many people but there are plenty of alcoholics and baldwinites that would break ranks if certain locos were released. The steam guys do seem to follow a harder cutoff than diesel guys. It comes with the fact that diesels are boxes on wheels while steam locos are a true living breathing machine mentality. It easier to justify something from the past than create an alternate future.
