Rocky Mountain Train Show Manufacturer report - of sorts.

[pjm20]

The fact that you had to do the decal job yourself was probably a deterent.

[victor miranda]

Hi Peteski,

your post got me started and this is intended for everyone.

yes the company whose name I will not state (tcwniwns)
will follow the money and as such more n-scalers will get tcwniwns
to create nore items for n-scale.

I am not entirely sure that is what I want.
I'd very much like more n-scalers and I can live without tcwniwns.

I do not mind a company making a profit. I dislike a company doubling the price
of a product for no other reason.

I don't mind a product specification being changed.
I want the change to be declared ahead and the price being adjusted
with the feature.

tcwniwns does HO parts last time I checked.  as far as I know n-sacel part
are on a call and beg basis.

.... the HO world has a built in profit margin?
cause the reason I understand they don't do n-scale (poke nose in the air)
is that there is no profit in it...

N-scale is very likely to be more profitable.
all you have to do is sell more than one to the average n-scaler.
that idea comes with a big catch.
it means your item has to be worth the price.

I have more than a few ll sw1200s
I have no tcwniwns versions.

my god! n-scalers are not impossible to satisfy.
Kato and Atlas seem to find time to toss us a bone or two
along with a decided lack of condescension or making it clear
they are doing us a favor with the jacked up prices.

I think it is funny that I did not know they had made a passenger car.

right now I can live without tcwniwns.

it seems I have done a better job of ignoring them than I had realized.

[Chris333]

The modulars would have probably sold better if they would simply show a photo of what is in the box. It was like pulling teeth just to figure out what kits I needed to build something.

[sirenwerks]

But I would like to mention that, please don't just scale them down 50% from HO. Look for opportunities to make various parts less compressed. It kills me how small some of the Walthers "large" industrial buildings actually are.

Word!

Besides Chris's list, I'd like to see the:

Prairie Co-op
Champion Packing Plant
Front Street Warehouse & Fireproof Storage
Engineering Office
Brook Hill Farm Dairy
Commissary (but a larger 3D version)
Municipal Pier Terminal & associated kits (car float, pier addition...)
US Post Office
Ashmore Hotel
Parking Garage
Rivoli Theater

and all of the grain industry add-on kits.

[peteski]

The modulars would have probably sold better if they would simply show a photo of what is in the box. It was like pulling teeth just to figure out what kits I needed to build something.

While I'm sure that this was part of the problem, IMO the regular selling price was too high. A decent-size structure would come out way too expensive. Plus I didn't find the style of walls and windows they chose very appealing.

Victor,  Walthers N scale passenger cars were released around 2006.  Corrugated and smoothside.  BLW has a good listing of all of them: http://blwnscale.com/walthers-sleeper-10-6.htm

They must not have been good seller (probably too pricey) as there were some blowout sales on them in 2014.  That is 8 years after the release.  No wonder Walthers is not too keen to produce N scale models.  I also wonder whether they just produce runs that are too large for the N scale market so they simply can't sell them all.

Lowell Smith uses these cars (coaches and baggage) for his American Freedom Train set.

[mplsjct]

Re: Walthers

Structures are their forte, and I would like to see more from them, such as the Grain Series, a natural for N scale, even just some of the individual items.

The Brewery is the kit I would be most interested in, but just about any kit that isn't a novelty, like the donut stand, would be welcomed.

I have several of the passenger cars, I think they are done well, but I think the majority of N scalers prefer to be able to purchase the entire train. I prefer singles, but I'm afraid I'm the minority.

Freight cars, how about a re-run of the ballast cars?

[Santa Fe Guy]

I would love to see Walther's do their HO grain stuff in N. Judging by the images I have seen they would help us grain guys heaps and might just encourage more modelers into building a layout if offered. I have scratched built most of my stuff however would buy the dryers and ancillary equipment in a heart beat.
Rod.

[OldEastRR]

Plus Walthers only ran some of the cars usually seen on a passenger train. A coach, a full baggage, a sleeper, and what else? And then to do cars styles others have already made? Hard to build up a train of one brand of cars when there's only a few types. I'd think that the more car types Walthers would have offered would have helped build all sales eventually.

[Roger Holmes]

Walthers Municipal Pier N-scalized.