For myself, a short line boxcar is of interest, YES. A short line tank car or caboose, NO. What I think might work best and appease the largest crowd would be a short line or fallen flag Thrall Hopper, maybe a PS2. Set it up like the old Klemme Co-op Cars. TBRX reporting marks and TRAINBOARD down the side. Just my .02, I'll be quiet now.
do anyone remember this car? just a thought on using a prototypical car. the logo is too small for my liking, just my thoughts...
With relatively simple single color lettering like what Karl (jpwisc) proposed, my guess is that you MIGHT get that car as a Micro-Trains Evans Covered Hopper at a price point of between $25 and $30. (Probably closer to $30.) That's only my unofficial guess and might not leave much room for actual fundraising. It's interesting to me that the MTL passenger cars are coming in at lower price points than many of the freight cars. The more complex B&O paint scheme is an exception, but the ones with simpler decoration are quite reasonable. Trainboard RPO anyone?
Charlie, check out the "Need more tank cars" thread currently running. Can the run of 300 be made with (say) 2-3 different car numbers? Black with white printing is a simple cheap scheme, and makes a somewhat cheaper car for us. There's a market here for little black tank cars in multiple numbers.
Ok LURKERS....time to sign in and click the little box in the 'poll' . YES or NO. Rather simple...then you can sign back out and lurk some more. No one will take offense to that or think less of you. You dont even have to post a reply if ya aint up to it. Just click YES or NO I'm thinking we can get some real numbers (well above 100) up there to let Charlie know what people want. Its all good ! BTW... I'm a 'Lurker' on a few other forums...some even train related...LOL :tb-biggrin:
So the bottom line cost is going to be about $40.00 shipped (within contiguous 48 states). That is not unreasonable for any special run car, specially to support this site. I'm in! BTW: I agree with Sharkman's point of view as well. Doing a car that would be purchased in multiple quantities with a blank road number would make selling hundreds more likely... so if there were some decals included to make 5 different road numbers you could potentially sell 5 to one modeler alone. 60 such modelers would fulfill the 300 needed to be sold. I believe this had been done once before with an acronym of PODS (can't remember what the acronym was) but it was an Overlay Decal so one could change numbers on rolling stock Micro-Trains was producing with only one number.
I hated the candy but loved the commercial. Thanks for posting the memorable video of that advertisment! Unfortunately... I don't think it would sell 300 units... but I'd probably buy one... as long as there was no candy included .
I've seen that thread. I think that we will probably just do one run of a single car this time. I like the runner packs though. I would like to do something like that in the future. Again, we just have to get this started with one successful run. I like tank cars too! Note this post on my Frisco Blog from 2010. Charloe
Personally, for forty bucks I think it would be more appealing if the first run was a TB car. With the second run already drawn up. Call it a teaser. The big name roads are easy to find. Boxcars gondolas and flats pretty much fit all eras. I don't believe that spray paint existed back in the twenties so graffiti don't work. I think this is an awesome idea and hope that people take part so you can keep this project going.
Lurker? What you talking about George? I'm the guy that likes talking to himself....what?tongue: Ok I clicked the box. Not meaning to be negative but the introduction was a rather lengthy epistle when in fact the question was simple. I checked the NO box! You would need to tell me what kind of car ( Ie., stock, gon, box, tank and etc), what era, eastern or western road? To get my vote you need to be specific. I won't buy a "TrainBoard" car. Those are fun but don't fit into what I'm running. There again, never mind the freelanced stuff I've done and the fantasy cars I run. Ahh...ok...me thinks I might change my mind. A $40.00 car is out of my league, to expensive as way out of budget. I'd rather donate directly. Anyway, my two cents (heehee and that may be all you get). I Voted!laugh:
I can fully understand those that feel $40.00 is too much. I've often balked at prices far lower than that... remember the $35.00 WP caboose! The rolling stock prices have gone up over the years and have left a lot of folks out in the cold... and fund raising using a special run car would certainly make it even more difficult for those who cannot justify even a regular run car. For those that can afford to support the cause, and feel that the cost per car is unreasonable... don't focus on the car... focus on the cause. I buy Girl Scout cookies... at $4.00 per box... I know those cookies are good; and, even though I could get similar ones for $2.00 a box... I know I'm supporting a good cause. So Charlie... perhaps you guys should be baking-up some Trainboard Cookies and selling them for $4.00 per box! I think I got a little off-track here...
We'll keep the price as low as possible but part of this will be a little bit of knowing that you are helping the site.
The idea of being able to sell more cars to people including those outside of Trainboard is valid. But helping out Trainboard with $$$ is not on the agenda of those who are not members. It is then seriously important to pick something that will appeal to many people overall. They will balance the special run aspect against price plus shipping. $40 plus shipping is too much IMO. I agree with the above comment that the price point should be around $30 plus shipping, a little less for cheaper body styles and the simplest paint scheme. Would you not make your $10/car target at that? As much as I'd like something proto and not from the major RRs, I think that major RRs (or generic stuff like SHPX) give the best chance of selling 300 cars. George Hollwedel is not selling Tulsa, Toledo and Fruitcake cars, after all. You guys still pushing for a Trainboard scheme car just don't get it. What was sold of the last Trainboard car is the limit, and that apparently was not 300 cars. Somebody is also required to front the money for any run and Charlie is putting his neck on the line here. You're not going to care if he gets 150 unsold Trainboard scheme cars, but I think he will. He still gets stuck with wrapping and shipping and doing the postal paperwork for a lot of cars in any case. E-8, here's an idea to explore: Kickstarter. You submit an idea for funding a project by donation. My thought is that the idea would be to create a fund for special run projects, instead of you putting your neck on the block. If Kickstarter approves your project (people think it has to be charitable but that is not true), you set a deadline and amount to fund the project. People pledge based on credit cards. That means those outside of Trainboard can kick in. When the deadline hits, if you do not hit your target, it's all over, the credit cards are not charged. If you go over the target, you get it all (less fees). Within this is a reward scheme. Usually different levels are set and bigger rewards are given for bigger donations. So, we can offer custom avatars (usable for any site) for (say) $25 donated, the first run car for (say) $35 donated (incl.shipping), both for (say) $60 donated, 3 cars for $98, etc. People can donate lesser amounts, so something might be cooked up for (say) a $15 donation. However, the first run car would be the incentive for non-members and members to kick in. So this has to be well-publicized outside of Trainboard. Fees are like 10% including banking charges. EDIT: Each reward level is usually limited to a certain number. In our case, that would prevent any problem of not enough cars being available.
That's interesting. I've seen that site before but had not thought of that. I will have to do some pondering on that suggestion. Thanks, Charlie
Steaminghost, That is an interesting idea. It focuses on the need to raise cash for the site. However, as one that would love a TB car, please don't say, I "don't get it". The questions aren't should we do a car? They are What would you buy/like? I mentioned in one of my posts, pushing for a TB theme, that I didn't think a TB car worked for a fundraiser. I don't think ANY car works as a fundraiser. Two reasons 1) If it had that broad an appeal, it would be done. 2) Unless regulars buy multiples, no where near 300 people have expressed interest. As much as i might like a car, the only way I see selling 300, is partnering with a seller. But then, it will be offered next to less expensive alternatives and will go on sale. Charlie, As much as I'd like a car, I'd suggest a regular fundraiser. Then if you can get a smaller run of cars commissioned ONLY, if the fundraiser is met. If enough people offer a large enough donation to get a car, great. if not, offer the car portion of the premium donations back. Of course, you'll still need to pick a model.
Marty, I don't fully agree when you say that, "if it had that broad an appeal, it would be done." There is truth in that for sure. But, all of the new releases from manufacturers proves that there are things being released all of the time that have broad appeal. I think it's entirely possible to come up with a novel car that causes people to say, "Cool, I'll take one!" Of course, I could be misunderstanding what you are saying. As far as the TrainBoard versus prototype car, we undoubtedly have two schools of thought going here; people that want a TrainBoard car and people that do not think that is good at all. I would like to do a commercially produced TrainBoard boxcar, maybe a hopper later, then a flat car, a tank car, a caboose, who knows maybe even a locomotive. That would take time, maybe three or four years and go a piece at a time. I don't think we are financially able to do that yet. Even if we just broke even on something like that, it would be fun to do, and a full set would be a collectors item without a doubt. Right now, I think we need to find out where the mass appeal is (if it is there) to do a car that a maximum number of people will buy. Personally, I like things that are somewhat rare and interesting. That doesn't mean everyone does, and again, is why we are asking so many questions rather than just saying, "Here is what we are doing, take it or leave it." That was for the person that e-mailed and said, "You guys are not organized." Charlie
I assume you are hoping for more then TB members to purchase these as a simple view of the polls so far to me is showing maybe 50 TB buyers and I think you will need 210+ commitment before you would want to pull the trigger on this project just to break even. I would likely not be a buyer since we are not talking D&H or a TB car currently. Are you considering a Pre-Order concept and if so how much of a turn-around time from order to shipment; roughly? :question:
Well I have thought about the TrainBoard car, and the more I think about it, the less I am inclined to purchase one after all. I am more in favor of real roadnames. Perhaps, like the HobbySmith did with the custom run N scale 6464 Lionel BoxCars, just have a small Trainboard logo on the side .
