Depends on which engine. Assuming you are talking about a modern diesel with sound I see them usually going for right around $250. I have no idea what the dealer pays Kato for the same but many of the retailers I frequent are making that ~$250 price work.
Seems like reasonable price variation between vendors to me. One vendor may have higher prices, but may also carry a larger variety of products, so bundling multiple products can save me shipping costs. Another may have lower prices, but does not offer free/low-cost shipping & handling. The price that matters is sales+tax+shipping. But I always check my LHS to see if they have it, or can get it, first. I'll pay them more just cuz I like being able to walk in and browse. "Oh, dang, I gotta go to the LHS to pick up my order!" Oh, and a good woodworking store is nearby, a double-header! My son knows my LHS, and has picked out some very nice gifts for me from them too (he's not a model railroader.)
Try PnP as well, their prices are usually better than the bigger stores as they have low overhead. www.pnptrains.com I'm not sure which engine you are looking for but they have a very good selection of Kato engines in stock usually all the time. I just picked up the new Kato Surfliner set from them, and I am thinking about getting the second set as well.
Indeed. Prices on all sorts of hobby-related items can vary considerably, although there seem to be certain brands with less price variability (BLI comes to mind). Variability, needless to say, is a good thing for consumers. To increase variability I typically do not use Google -- less than helpful since that particular engine doesn't seem to bring forth as many of the small, independent shops in response to search questions. Instead, I'll use Dogpile which, once you get used to it, seems to elicit more variability beyond the first page or two, and the result more often than not is to order an item with 1) lower cost, 2) low/no shipping cost, and 3) no sales tax. Win-Win-Win.
Just to put a finer point on what I wrote above regarding price variability, shown below are results from a quick scan of one item that tends to get frequently purchased by hobbyists, Plastruct Plastic Weld (2 ounce bottle). Note how extreme some of the prices are just for a relatively inexpensive item like that. Note also that the list price is $6.25, but some outlets appear to be significantly above that level. If you see source names that are unfamiliar in this list that is likely because I searched using Dogpile, not Google. Lastly, none of these prices include shipping cost, which means take this data with a large grain of salt because shipping can get truly outrageous. Anyway, FYI...
I ended up finding it at this Nicholas Smith train shop for under $300 which seems like a deal. We’ll see how quick fulfillment is. I typically don’t return my business to any retailer that slow walks shipping. It seems like a massive trend in online retail that Amazon has spread - take customer’s money sit on it for 3-5 days before shipping the items. I also will cancel an order if it isn’t shipped in a reasonable time. Retailers need to learn that customers money isn’t a defacto savings account.
@Croat This is CRAZY. It is no shock Amazon is so high. If people aren’t aware - It was discovered Bezos is using AI and alogorithms to screw customers. There is a project called Nessie that describes how they manipulate the consumer with higher prices. https://thehill.com/business/429217...algorithm-called-project-nessie-ftc-says/amp/ I am shocked at just how high the price is, and how much Amazon is screwing people. All so Bezos can go to space. I prefer smaller better service options anyways or brick and mortar. However that said, I went to a Chicagoland train shop on Tuesday which will remain nameless - Walked in - tons of stock. So much the floor looked like a warehouse. Got zero service and walked out. So it can cut both ways.
Keep in mind that item from Amazon is $13 PLUS $6.99 shipping for non Prime members. So that's $20 after it's all said and done. I'm shocked by the Michael's price somewhat, but then again, they are operating brick and mortars as well as online.
Nice rack! Where have I heard that before, oh yeah, at the rib joint... These weren't purchased but new to me for my birthday. ScaleTrains GP30 and GP30B
Japan as a whole - especially Tokyo - has a ridiculously low crime rate. Oh, well - my city is going to have a disturbance of some sort, because the Just Plug stuff available in the Japanese markets is just too spiffy Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak... somewhere in this town...
My best friend is from Japan, he lives in Chicago. We talk about Japanese culture a lot. It really has opened up my mind to visiting JP. They are such good people and have great values. Simple stuff like, no public garbage cans - You take your trash to your next destination and they have cleaner streets than America. Kudos to Nicholas Smith trains, they shipped my engine within the same day. Thats all it takes to get repeat business from me.
Make a mixture of 75% MEK and 25% acetone. You can just get the cheap stuff at your local hardware store. This will give you about 2 quarts, or 7.5 lifetimes of solvent, for about $25 bucks. Put it in a small glass jar with a really good seal (the MEK and acetone have a high vapor pressure).
LOL - Woodland Scenics makes a modern lighted vehicles for Japan but here in the states we have to be content with 1950s stuff. At least Kato has figured things out. I guess maybe one could scrape off the kanji then pretend it's crown vic?
Ok, I finally decided you all have waited long enough… and I also finished putting the blue bonnets back together. I’m listing these in the order of purchase. The Blue Bonnets all working as they should. I did run into a slight issue, but I will explain that in the workbench thread. I couldn’t find the Santa Fe F-Unit I normally use on the Kidd Junction, and forgot my Great Northern engine, so I had to get something that the kids could run so I found these 2 Kato Northern Pacific F3 engines for $40 each. They are DCC Friendly as well. They just needed their wheels cleaned and they run perfectly. @Paul Brian Pellegrino from PnP Trains brought a stack of these beautiful Surfliner sets, and after watching a friend run his I just had to have one. So I removed one full set from his stack and here ya go! Oh and he sold out of them at the show, and at least 2 were from show goers asking about mine. While looking through the engines from Kirk Reddie’s estate I found a set I have been searching for, for a while now. These are Intermountain F-units in Burlington white (shown are the ones I already had as the new ones are stashed away right now). These are going to be pulling my California Zephyr set. There were 3 of them, and if I just had a little bit more money I would have bought the other 2. And Last my Lowell Smith cars. I met Lowell for the first time at E24 in Evanston and he signed my sleeve for my Mount Rainier N Scale club anniversary car, and I had another anniversary car I wanted signed as well. Well while talking to him I noticed some really pretty Santa Fe cars and… well… they are mine now.
All the horizontal traffic lights I have are Just Plug, as well, and are far more modern than the ones sold in our domestic market. Had to pay through the nose for shipping, mind you, but yes - they have all sorts of WS stuff we apparently can't have here.
@Massey having lived in San Diego and ridden both the Coaster and the Surfliner lines many, many times in the early-to-mid 00's, that Siemens Charger set is beautiful! Newer than the ones I rode, but really good looking model. Nice!
