MTL Z March Items

If you blow up the photo to 150% the lettering looks fine on the baggage.

 

I think the vast majority of folks are less aware of the particulars between prototypes. I mean I'm a total SP guy and know the difference between an f50-3 and an f50-2 flat car (geeze I need a life) and when I see something other than that marked, then I wonder what they were thinking...but being in the biz I sorta get it. Others could care less and are more interested in adding another flat car to their SP fleet. Pullman Standard did three different types of dome cars for the UP and the windows are different...but until I did the research I wouldn't have known that. The feed back we get is more Road Orientated then proto orientated...so that would address your perplexatude )

Joe
MTl

 

Joe,

Are you hinting that SP flatcars might be in the works? :tb-biggrin:

Maybe it was the time I came into Z, but we don't seem to have much in the way of 50' flatcars. I have TTX, WP and MP. Were there other schemes done? I would love to see more Flatcars in the future.

Thanks.

 

Hey! Looks like Robert did an elevator for MT! Looks good. I might be tempted on that one...Maybe one of my scratch builds will have a fire and need replacing

 

you never know! ;o)

 

Shoot, I'm just tickled pink that they chose Great Northern EB colors!! Saves me a ton-o'-money having those custom painted!!:teeth: Thanks again, M-T!! Now I can try to save more money on those custom painted GP35's!

 

more perplexity

I can throw in 2.94 here (.02 times 147 issues of the UMTRR, counting the March issue I should be writing instead of typing here...)

Except in very obvious cases, it's generally easier to note differences in the decoration than the design and construction of the car. A painting or lettering delta in the prototype vs. the model is usually pretty apparent. On the other hand, there are times I've literally counted the number of ribs of a prototype gondola to see if it matches the Micro-Trains model. Some things are easier to spot than others. A good example of this might be end mounted vs. side mounted brake wheels. But no mass market manufacturer can be expected to tool every possible variation that comes out-- they'd never be able to amortize the tooling costs.

And my own bias is more toward lettering than other attributes, though I try to present a more balanced approach in the UMTRR. I must admit that I spit bullets when a manufacturer (obviously not MTL!) did very nice dimensional data on the HO version of a certain car including the correct font, and then did the same data in plain old Arial (Helvetica) on the N Scale version of the same car. Even then, I doubt that 9 people out of 10 would have noticed the difference. I think the ratio is even lower for design differences... and don't be misled by the presence of those on the 'net that revel in calling out and making fun of every MTL compromise and/or error whilst ignoring everyone else (yes, they do make mistakes, please see: human).

There are some very scholarly groups out there (the Steam Era Freight Cars list on YahooGroups immediately comes to mind) that geniunely concern themselves with what we might consider awfully subtle differences between model and prototype. I really enjoy reading a lot of their posts, although I don't expect to get near that level of scholarship, I am quite impressed by how much they know. (And that they don't try to shove it down anyone's throat.)

 

Disaster Prevention!

From the MTL Website:
Dome Car See picture with corrected printing.

This Z scale Great Northern Dome Passenger Car has a printing error on one side of the car. When looking at the side of the car where the dome is to the right, the location of the “Empire Builder” lettering is supposed to be located directly beneath the dome, and it is not. Given the nature of this error we are recalling this car. Dome cars with the correct scheme will be available the first week of May. We apologize for the inconvenience and for the delay.

Thanks to MTL for fixing this error. Joe may have plenty of domes for scrap use?
Do the cars with the incorrect printing have any value?

 

We wanna' see the pic's of that!!:teeth:

 

If I do, rest assured that I'll post a picture of that!

 

You can get some old school firetrucks, and hook up little hoses with real water for added effects!

 

Glen

Having extra plastic is not a problem around here! ) Given the nature of the collector's market out there, these are like gold I would assume. My guess they will be counted as they come in and dispatched with all haste before I ever see them. I'm glad we are taking the extra time and expense to correct this error. I think it speaks to the management here at MTL and their williness to do what they can to provide a good product. I know there are those who have little to do with their lives other than find fault with us...and as George noted, be oblivious to the errors of others. Sad for them really...because we all make mistakes but we try and that counts for a lot in my book. We have two choices as I see it, enjoy the hobby and encourage others to bring their collective expertise to the table, or we can narrow our focus and try and make a name for ourselves making assumptions in posts or editorials that have little bases in reality. I think the first allows us to enjoy the hobby and the latter is only satisfying to the blogger and does no one any good. We made a huge mistake, and some are happy to see that because it validates some paradoid perception of MTL the rest of us see it for what it was...human and move on. We hope to do better next time, we will continue to make mistakes, nature of the process I guess. But hey, some famous guy said once that bad publicity is better than no publicity! )

Joe
MTL

 

Joe,
I am thankful that MTL decided to do my favorite passenger train and I applaud their willingness to fix the mistake. If you ever find someone who has never made a mistake, then you have someone who has never done ANYTHING. It's great that MTL and other companies are coming out with all this really neat Z stuff!

Keep up the good work Joe,
John

 

I think this is trite.

For anyone who questions the 'bases in reality', the objective information in the bloggers' article has been presented in a useful table of measurements.

If that is not a base in reality, what is ?

And it is a resource for modelling, just as the products of any manufacturer are.

Ben

 

Ben

I wasn't questioning "an" article...if you are talking about the article on trucks, I don't see anything wrong with it...lots of good stuff to digest. It's the other blathering that goes on about MTL that has "little bases in reality". Generally pronouncements are made about our intent or our competence by folks who claim expert status, but almost never have I had them approach me and ask why something is the way it is. I take that back, I did have one guy who beat us up for making our cars too high...about a scale foot in N scale. When I explained that we had to deal with coupler height standards that prevented us from dropping bodies any more...and that doing so would negate most of the end details...I thought the question was answered. You'd think. Days later the same fellow launched another series of attacks (and continues to do so) on us for our cars being too high. Funny, he never talks about the excess height of some of the Atlas Cars...hummm... Given the information (at least he asked unlike most) he still felt the need to take out his frustrations on us. Well, you can't fight stupid as my Dad always said...sometimes you just need to walk away from a fight that's not worth winning. Folks have a right to their opinon, but I also have a right to mine...and I don't think that's "Trite". Being a manufacturer we have to be all things to everyone, and on any given day, one group or another is going to have an issue with us. Fair. Like I said, we make mistakes and will continue to make mistakes...just like everyone else. We made a mistake on the markings on one side of a car...one car out of 12 for that month....one car out of 144 plus produced in a year. I think that shows we do our best to watch what happens here. But, based on emails I got afterwards, you'd think we should pack up and go out of business for such a horrible transgression. Nature of the beast. I have learned over the years here to tune out most of the chatter...people are people. Sometimes it goes to far and I fee obligated to at least take a stand. It's not wrong to have pride in your work and want to defend 80 other people in the building that can't defend themselves, you seem like a reasonable guy, I'm sure you'd do the same. So to the article on trucks and couplers...no harm, no foul...I may question some of the assumptions, but it's not enough to get into a cat fight over. Overall, it's the kind of info that is important to everyone and I welcome it.

Cheers

Joe
MTL

 

Geeze, Joe D' sorry about all this. You'd think the end of the world was right around the corner. Trust me, 95% of us would give MTL and overall A grade. To me, it is not fair that some of the comments towards MTL are given. I've seen comparisons between MTL and AZL and Uncle Will etc. and they aren't fair either. MTL's production is many times more than the other companies. It is easy for Uncle Will to get it right because he focuses usually on one product with maybe two paint schemes, checks it all out then releases. Sometimes this production takes a good year or more. MTL is on a different mission: supply rolling stock and locos to 'feed the beast'. That some lettering is off and will be corrected doesn't really deserve 4 pages leading to this end on TB. Sorry about that. Where would any of us North American modelers be if MTL wasn't in business? While I've had my issues with MTL in the past I feel those days are gone. They were always about management (not you) and before your time. Today? Can't help believe MTL errored about the coupler issue, but will that keep me from buying MTL products? Never. Keep up the great work we know you do, and when are the Heavy Weights coming? Cheers, Jim CCRR

 

I tried to hold back and just mention the lettering on the dome car... but this is getting over the top. One error?

The wrong roof color on the WM troop car... 2/144.
The herald and dimi data on the wrong panel of the MILW gondola... 3/144.
Wrong color on the Family Lines cylindrical... 4/144.

And that's just the last 2 or 3 months? We could continue with the "Auto-veyer", the green ATSF stock cars, the missing express lettering on the Rock Island express boxcars, the wrong number series on the NP GP's, wrong color lettering on the IC GP-35's...

If it was one single problem in a years time, I think we'd be impressed. It's the constant monthly dissappointment that gets to people, just FYI.

I think it was last year's MTL catalog that had an intro from Eric Smith in the front... He said right in there that MTL builds trains for the prototype modeler, or some such thing. Well, if that's a portion of your market, expect to get criticism from them...

 

I have been in Z Scale for more than 25 years. In the early days there wasn't much new coming out and not much selection. We have come a long way. As I look at prototypical trains they are all colors and all shapes. The roads modify and change to suit their fancy. Why can't we do the same without whining. All manufacturers keep up the good work. If I don't like something I don't have to buy it. I like what I see. Jim Thomas (72 years a modeler)

 

I tough it's a hobby but I'm maybe wrong.

 

we cover the gamut, don't we boys and girls? some don't care what they look like, they just need to be pretty colors and roll down the tracks. others get bent over some misplaced lettering. and theres everything in between. the trouble is, mt kinda brings it on themselves. i have to agree that when they promote them selves as making prototypical stuff, then miss the mark more than just a couple times, then they are gonna catch some flak. some guys go a little overboard, but some are sincere, and it sounds like they both get the cold shoulder from mt because they all sound like whiners to them.

jim k