Predictions for 2008

[ljudice]

It's not THAT bad on the Kato East side!

Kato has done the AC4400, SD70MAC, SD70M and SD80MAC in CSX - as well as the SD40-2, SD40 and C30-7 and the coal porters...  (not counting the inaccurate C44-9W).

Where they have had a problem is with NS, since the C44-9W is inaccurate, the SD70M had some problems though they did do the SD40-2 and C30-7's and coal porters.

Amtrak stuff works for CSX and NS - and of course the stack car - BNSF stack cars are seen on NS and CSX as are TTX cars.  EMP containers are probably not seen on CSX but are seen on NS commonly.


Lou

[central.vermont]

No Kato New England? What's this?



Last I recall, the New Haven was a New England railroad! 

OK Gregg, I'll give ya that one. But when they were asked if they would
do B&M..........they said it would not sell  !!!!!!! I ended up painting
a bunch of  them in B&M and they sold quite nicely.  ;D ;D Lets see now
what they will do with the NW2. So far..............no New England roads hmmmm?
So thats why I love Atlas!!!!! They do both East and West. (insert thumbs up here)
Until there are some eastern roads from them my wallet is safe!!
Jon

[nscalesteve]

No one will make an N Scale GP40-2L(W) or GP40-2W  >

...but we both could use a SD40-2W or -2F, right ?   

[Mark5]

So Lou, there's only two eastern roads, right? 

Mark

[Chulvis]

Lets see now what they will do with the NW2. So far...no New England roads hmmmm?
Jon

Jon,

I think the best we can hope for is an undecorated NW2. A B&M model would be awesome but how many will they sell? When they said it would not sell, I suspect what they really meant was that it would not meet their minimum run requirements. The Chessie NW2 is a perfect example of a model that should never have been made..They have sold very few of them. Granted that was a piss poor choice of a road to try and satisfy the Eastern modeler with, but the same would hold true for WP. They probably would not sell enough of them either...so I wait and hope for an Undec so I can have my WP NW2's.

[Walkercolt]

Chuck, you hit the heart of the matter in passing; not enough sales to justify the expense of making a run of the Soggy Bottom and Bitter Creek RR. Remember, Kato views the US as a "secondary market"...I know that hurts, but Toyo-San has never sold a car in the US, but they're Japan's biggest car maker. All the model train companies have the same problem. Which road names will sell fastest. Answer: Santa Fe and UP, and SP a distant third. Pennsy and NYC have been GONE for what, 40 years now? It's hard to sell most "fallen flags", as much as we may love them. I've still got some Red Caboose Pennsy X-29 boxcars I'd love to find a home for...only had 'em about 8 years now. What will sell is what gives the marketing guys their jobs. And everybody from manufactorer, to distributor, to LHS wants to sell-out of inventory. The stuff on the shelf looks nice, but it doesn't buy groceries, or new products...and the LHS/dealer has to pay taxes on it every year. Every dealer/LHS hopes they'll be a "run" on trains on Dec31st, don't we, Chuck? It's not fun looking at a new release sheet and trying to decide WHAT to order. That's one reason Athearn decided to build Challengers and Big Boys. They knew they'd sell. The Con-Cor ones are close to 15 years old(latest run). There's a demand for them, they put in sound and DCC, for a price that Con-Cor probably couldn't match on their old mechanism, and the rest is history, as they say. My predictions for 2008? Fewer LHS, more internet sales, depending on what the economy does, more or less new products, more kids sitting on their fat *sses playing video games, more train sales to the established modelers, fewer people starting in trains, for many reasons, but mostly, Americans work more hours per week than any modern(or not) country in the world. No time, tired people just plop down in front of the TV. Even movie rentals are WAY down. Too tired to go to the video store. Too many of us on the internet, instead of messing with our trains.... :'(

[ljudice]

So Lou, there's only two eastern roads, right? 

Mark

Oh - that's right - I forgot - BNSF is technically an eastern road too!!!! 

You're right, of course - I was stuck in the present when replying! The problem is that I think Kato for 6 axle and Atlas for four axle and I always think in terms of the New England roads as four axle territory.

Lou

[3rdrail]

Hmmm, I guess present day roads like Guilford (pardon me, Pan Am Railways), Canadian Pacific (former D&H), Canadian National (former GTW and IC), and FEC are Western railroads. 

There are a good many short lines and regionals in the East operating six-axle power today, too. GWI, R.J.Corman, and Reading & Northern for example.

[Kisatchie]

"Hmm... I accept the fact
that I'll never see a wood-
sheathed termite car or a
banana car..."

[ljudice]

FEC is actually pretty well covered on the six axle side with those UP SD40-2's.....   CP and CN are Western roads too, so they cancel out of the argument! I haven't seen Kato do much for MRL, Utah Railway or KCS either! 

Another way of looking at it is that it's the RAILROAD's fault, not Kato - ie. if NS hadn't ordered high mounted headlights, etc. the C44-9W's would have been a closer match. 

Maybe we should start lobbying the railroads to stop ordering options and leave Kato alone!   ;D

Lou

[ljudice]

O P E N     L E T T E R


Mr. Buford T. Husford
Chief Mechanical Officer
Norfolk Southern
Roanoke, VA

Dear Mr. Husford,

As a railfan and modeller of NS locomotives it is my duty to let you know that your past
locomotive ordering policy has made it VERY difficult to purchase N scale models of NS
locomotives.  The situation is not improving with time, and unfortunately, our favorite
manufacturers like Kato and Atlas have said they don't intend to cater to NS modellers.

Therefore, I respectfully request that you:

  - Relocate the headlights on your fleet of C40-9W's to the nose where they belong.
  - Begin a program to eliminate high hoods from all remaining SD40-2 locomotives.
  - Replace the fan section of your SD70M's with a TWO piece grill


I also suggest that NS consult with Kato before ordering any new locomotives to be sure
they will be available in N scale in a reasonable time period.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

/signed/

[central.vermont]

LOL!!!!
Thats funny Lou!!!
Jon

[MEC_FAN]

Central Vermont will kitbash five MEC U-18's for me!!!

Lou that is a classic!!

[central.vermont]

Central Vermont will kitbash five MEC U-18's for me!!!

Lou that is a classic!!

That's real funny John.  >

[biker_ray_pa]

No Kato New England? What's this?



Last I recall, the New Haven was a New England railroad! 

I watched White Christmas last week. I noticed that when Danny and Bing and the ladies traveled from New York to Vermont, they left on the SP Daylight and arrived on the Super Chief. So maybe Kato thinks SP and SF were New England Roads too.  ;D ;D

Ray