Will we ever get a quality ACF 5250?

[SkipGear]

I don't think there is enough visual difference in the cars for the average public to care. I'll admit to searching out a car that I have seen railfanning because it was unique and stood out in a train. So many of these ACF cars look the same in a train that most people could care less about the differences that make them unique. One big covered hopper looks just as good as another to them. The IM cylindricals are unique and stand out, so they sell, the new 2600's are unique and not a normal sight in a train (at least around here) so they sell.

I watch the 40's and 50's railfan video's looking for cars to set the era and the thing I notice is lot's of box cars with varying roof heights, so that is what I look for to build a train. In a modern train, the covered hopper, tend to look the same in a train. You may notice the number of bays but most people don't even get to see what type of roof hatches it has from their vantage point. In a train, it's hard to pick one type out from another.

[asarge]

That's one reason the more colorful cars can sell faster than the non-descript gray cars. Not everybody is specific to reporting marks. We get alot of families working on a pike togethre and kids or wives may pick out a car visually appealing to them. This especially happens when it's a gift.

Still, one would think that at the price-point the 5250 would sell better than it has. The 5700's/5801's maybe the price point, the fact that there may not be a specific industry to put them on a layout....if the modeller even cares about that, or the color schems on the car.

[bbussey]

... For fun I checked a Bachmann ACF in EL (rd #20122) ... Almost not a foob!

You'd have to change the bays and possible the roof hatch configuration.  Could have sworn there has been a magazine article on doing that in N scale sometime over the last 20 years ... ironically on a Bachmann model because the bays/floor are separate from the body.  Might have been in an issue of N-Trak back in the day now that I think about it.  What is the ACF model designation of the 3-bay EL car?