RC tooling for sale?

[Ian MacMillan]

Man Im hoping to build a fleet of their auto racks...but I just cant afford to buy 150 of them off the bat! Lets hope they stick around in the market and shows for me to buy over the years!

[GaryHinshaw]

I think Atlas should buy the N scale tooling and run with it.  They could sex up the hoppers with etched walks and finer end detail like their 5701 grain hoppers, upgrade the coil car to complement their upcoming NSC car, and have the finest auto-rack in the business, in any scale.

I like the crappy 1980s boxcar red scheme.  In fact, I gave RC all the info to do the billboard scheme.  But previously I had made my own replacing the standard etched panels with new mesh ones, along with new etched ends.

Bryan, I saw those accordion doors on your web site - very cool!   That would be a neat detail item to market, if your ever so inclined.

Man Im hoping to build a fleet of their auto racks...but I just cant afford to buy 150 of them off the bat!

Kleins has more than 100 in stock for $25 a pop, and they'll probably be around for a while.  That's the lowest price I've ever seen for new racks.  Road name selection is still decent.

-Gary

[bbussey]

RC is grouping all the tooling as a one-shot sale and not piecing it out, so the odds of an Atlas picking off the most recent tooling and adding it to the Hillside stable is unlikely at the current time.  The old Precision Masters tooling such as the 40' reefers is included, which even RC hasn't released in years, so that might be causing pause among potential buyers as well.

I etched a bunch of different doors (Portec, RAVE, Tri-Folds, etc) to create a number of auto rack models for a 30-car consist article I'm supposed to be writing for NSR, but I still have about 25% of the train to finish construction on, plus I have to weather them all, plus I have to finish the West Shore module it will be staged on.  It's going to be a while yet, as other things have taken priority at the moment.  I don't know if the doors are in marketable form though, as I would push them through ESM which means the packaging and such would have to be "market ready."  As part of ESM's "parts push" we'll be testing the theory with the Creco doors, of which the etchings arrived yesterday and will be packaged and ready to go sometime next week.

bb

[lock4244]

Kleins has more than 100 in stock for $25 a pop, and they'll probably be around for a while.  That's the lowest price I've ever seen for new racks.  Road name selection is still decent.

-Gary

I've picked up 20+ from MBK since they were blowing them out. Entirely fallen flags and early schemes that now work with my plans. I have 63 in my era and 15 that are too late for my era... but they can become fodder for the knife. Long have I waited for good N scale racks and I support the mfg by purchasing them. Now that Bluford and Trainworx are doing the other side of the auto industry equation, AP boxes, I'm in buy mode for those and the racks, not so much right now, though a final total near 100 would be nice. What we need is a nice frame flat and I'll have all the equipment needed to model an assembly plant (well, the RR part of it at least). Oh, a pickup or SUV from the late 1980's would be nice to fill the storage lot by the loading ramps.

Maybe my out of era racks will get some of your doors, Brian...

[James Costello]

I'd be interested in some doors too - once I figure out which doors the racks should have - either through ESM or privately. No hurry though... many more projects ahead of the racks in the schedule....

[Ian MacMillan]

Kleins has more than 100 in stock for $25 a pop, and they'll probably be around for a while.  That's the lowest price I've ever seen for new racks.  Road name selection is still decent.

-Gary

Wife still wont give me $3750!

[lock4244]

Kleins has more than 100 in stock for $25 a pop, and they'll probably be around for a while.  That's the lowest price I've ever seen for new racks.  Road name selection is still decent.

-Gary

Wife still wont give me $3750!

What's wrong with her?  ;D

[Chulvis]

Wife still wont give me $3750!

Dude, what is wrong with you? Sell her car and buy the auto racks. Easy Peesy.

[asarge]

Kleins has more than 100 in stock for $25 a pop, and they'll probably be around for a while.  That's the lowest price I've ever seen for new racks.  Road name selection is still decent.

While there are several schemes still to do and hopefully somebody will do them; at $25 a pop, MB Klein is not really breaking even on them one you count the cost of the sale. Many dealers will be wary of ordereing a large amount as they won;t be able to amke a profit on them. They are excellent cars but it's going to be a tough sell to whoever buys the tooling, unless they get it at a good discount. The other cars however, most would still do pretty well. The Coilcars, especially if they will release them with the hoods not pemanently attached will do well as there a re a bunch of schemes that haven;t been done yet. The Beer cars and Mechanical reeferes still do pretty well. About the only ones that did proorly were the X29's and 40' reefers.

[bbussey]

While there are several schemes still to do and hopefully somebody will do them; at $25 a pop, MB Klein is not really breaking even on them one you count the cost of the sale. Many dealers will be wary of ordereing a large amount as they won;t be able to amke a profit on them. They are excellent cars but it's going to be a tough sell to whoever buys the tooling, unless they get it at a good discount...

Oooh, I have to disagree with you on that point.  I helped RC with a number of the auto rack schemes, and happen to know that the model was extremely popular for them.  But as someone pointed out up thread, the condensed release schedule eventually affected the demand.  Yet, 11 releases consisting of 45 cars hardly constitutes a slow mover.  And that's not including the BNSF special run for BLW, the Ferromex that got scrapped because the contractor did not make the car properly, and a few schemes that were on the board but did not get into production.

If the auto rack tooling ever became available to me, I would be looking to make tooling additions to add to the appeal.  The design of the current model is extremely well designed and fully modular.  It would not be difficult to model racks manufactured by someone other than Thrall, additional types of doors other than the full clamshells, roof variations, and of course additional stamped side panel variations.  The roofless, doorless, and roofless/doorless variants also could be done, which opens up dozens more possible schemes.

Food for thought, for anyone picking up the surplus auto racks from MBK to strip and repaint - RC made close to 20 different panel configurations to accommodate heralds, so try to secure a car that matches the model you're planning on making.

[asarge]

Oooh, I have to disagree with you on that point.  I helped RC with a number of the auto rack schemes, and happen to know that the model was extremely popular for them.  But as someone pointed out up thread, the condensed release schedule eventually affected the demand.  Yet, 11 releases consisting of 45 cars hardly constitutes a slow mover.  And that's not including the BNSF special run for BLW, the Ferromex that got scrapped because the contractor did not make the car properly, and a few schemes that were on the board but did not get into production.

Good point on the condensed release schedule affecting demand. The fact that alot of cars started showing up on Ebay at greatly reduced prices and you can find deep discounts thru many dealers is further evceidence of that. That also means dealers will probably be very wary of ordering large numbers w/o buyers. Of course with the pricing of the new Bay Windows the gap in pricing is closing a bit, but it's still a sizeable gap.

[bbussey]

A gap that would no doubt increase with any newly-produced auto racks.

In spite of it being the best N scale auto rack model ever, there is a glut of the current model.  The only viable option in introducing more auto racks into the market at this point would be to introduce the variations - but even that may not bear fruit until the surplus of the original shrinks more significantly.

The down side is the situation is bad for the auto rack market.  The small upside is that there is material available for kitbashers.

[Ian MacMillan]

Wife still wont give me $3750!

What's wrong with her?  ;D

Wife still wont give me $3750!

Dude, what is wrong with you? Sell her car and buy the auto racks. Easy Peesy.

Something about being an adult and responsibility and cant immediately burn away all my money on trains...blah blah blah... ;D

[oakcreekco]

Well folks, it looks like the reality of this sale so far, is all or nothing for the tooling.

What do you think they will bring????

[Midniteflyer]

Was at the GTE Show in Denver 2 weekends ago. The former owner of RC  was there selling RS. Don't everyone shed too many tears...... Cars were $4.00 EA. Mostly boxcars and centerbeams. The Grang Railroad Gang pretty much cleaned him out. ;D