The recession and N scale...

[Flatrat]

I'm just starting to experiment with n scale model trains again after many years. The recession has been hard on everything and everybody. I've been modelling in large scale for the last five years and have heard doom and gloom with some suppliers in those scales. Some big manufacturers and some retailers have cut back and St. Aubin's closed their doors in April and manufacturers seem to be selling directly.

What changes have you all seen in N scale suppliers?

What do you folks see as the future in N scale modeling?

[C855B]

My quick take for your perspective? N did not suffer like G/etc. Sure, the biggest in N (Atlas) certainly put the clamps on new loco releases, but the pipes remained mostly full and some new makers stormed the market with good quality stuff, even advancing the art. Any losses in the US supply chain - and I can't immediately think of anyone significant - were nearly all attributable to other factors.

I noticed the slide in G, too. Maybe the high price of admission was a factor? Nothing in G is done cheaply, and it seems to not be much of a modeler's scale - people buy RTR, when and if they can afford it. Anyway, I've been doing some recent G work, and it is infuriating locating basic supplies even from long-time makers like Aristo-Craft.

 

[Flatrat]

Large scale is expensive for sure. Knew that before I jumped in. I can probably buy all the track I need to build my entire new N scale layout for the price of a few pieces of track I need on my outdoor layout. I can buy a slew of good running engines in N scale for the price of one decent engine from Bachmann or Aristo or USA etc. in Large scale. Fortunately I have purchased most all of the engines and rolling stock I might ever want over the last few years and I'm not in the market for new trains. Track, on the other hand, has me on 'hold'. 'Therefore, that and better running locos has me revisiting N scale.

That said, I wonder if other folks in this economic climate, looking for 'bang for the buck' may be turning back to HO and N and narrow gauges therof as an alternative in these lean times. If others are putting large scale on hold for now as I am, I wonder if that might create more demand for the smaller scale trains. If others are looking at HO and N scale again I wonder if that might create more demand and maybe more offerings in the smaller scales. If so, that may bring new models from the manufacturers in smaller scales.

[OaklandScottie]

Speaking as someone who had a ton of discretionary spending in my early twenties while in N-scale i snatched up new Kato engines like it was going out of style. Never stuck to my "era" or a focus. I also wasnt paying rent or paying for food...

Now i am 27, getting back into the hobby, have a tight budget, and focusing on quality over quality. Unfortunately my old Kato devotion has ended since they do not offer much in the way of D&RGW, but  I still love Atlas ( a GP40-2 would be nice). Had  the amazing products from BLMA and Exactrail been around 7 years ago I would have lined their pockets. As it stands now i am focusing on specific cars and engines.

Perhaps there will not be the wide scope of products in the coming years, but I think there is plenty to keep people happy, myself included.

[TiVoPrince]

All  
scales have a certain amount of 'churn' at any given moment.  Changing roads, eras or scales are all common reasons.  Selling out to pursue a new interest, thinning the herd, or the passing of a modeler are also well known to all of us.

While much of the used equiptment will draw a fair price,, used track will not.  We commonly want new and completely unmolested track.  Used track is difficult to apply 100% right and operations need perfect track so it comes down to 'do what you must'...

[rogergperkins]

As far as I can determine simply as a modeller of n-scale railroading for 35 years, the number of manufacturers and choices has never been as good as it is presently. 

[PAL_Houston]

I have observed that my LHS has reduced inventories of N-scale rolling stock over the last couple of years.  I think this may also be true of online retailers/discounters.  On the other hand, the inventories of Z-scale rolling stock have definitely increased; but I don't pay any attention to HO or O-scale so don't offer observations about them.

[VonRyan]

Being still quite deep in the young boat, but certainly no stranger in the low-cash boat. I find that N Scale is thriving while HO seems to be at a standstill regardless of the number of offerings, people, etc., however, N Scale appears to swing others into its current every day (or at least every train show) and manufactures seems to be more focused on providing some of what the consensus among us want'ers is (or sometimes, but rarely, what they hear it to be). I tend to buy 95% of my N scale second hand, if you don't count my UK modelling, but i did buy 6 of the FVM B&O wagon-tops brand-new when they hit the shelves and i'm in for another three more once the second run enters the hands of my faithful supplier. Loco purchasing, second-hand or otherwise, is rare for me since money runs as thin as paper rivers (no pun intended), (of course i find that having 7 locos and 100+ cars to be a better ratio than 80+ locos and the same 100+ cars) but rolling stock rosters can always be added to and i don't shy away from buying older Kadee and MT stock and older locos as long as they run and in the case of my 1990s PRR F3 trio, as long as the frames can be milled for zilch and DCC installed at the same low rate.

This is obviously my own take on my observations as limited by my wallet's short buying-range, but i can tell that N Scale is most certainly here to stay and shall surely stand the test(s) of time and economy as long as i live. Perhaps a birthday celebration for N Scale is in-order... like the date when the first "Lone Star OOO-lectric" or "Aurora Postage-stamp" sets hit shelves....

Live long N-Scale! and long Live N-Scale'rs!

-Cody F.

[Flatrat]

thanks everybody for your take on trends you've seen in N scale recently. I guess I was wondering if long term N scale modelers felt that suppliers were cutting back or still releasing new models and keeping inventories of existing stock and accesories and track, etc., up or letting them drop back like I have perceived in large scale suppliers.

I guess what I was asking was what manufacturers seem to be bringing new stuff on-line and what manufacturers are cutting back inventory.

What on-line suppliers are supporting N scale well these days?

Are long term N scale modelers optimistic about the hobby or do they think things are tapering off?

[pnolan48]

After 40 years in N scale, I've seen many ebbs and flows, and really can't correlate them to the general economy. Product development cycles are long enough (getting shorter on design, but longer on manufacturing) that I've never seen a correlation.

[Ken G Price]

thanks everybody for your take on trends you've seen in N scale recently. I guess I was wondering if long term N scale modelers felt that suppliers were cutting back or still releasing new models and keeping inventories of existing stock and accesories and track, etc., up or letting them drop back like I have perceived in large scale suppliers.

I guess what I was asking was what manufacturers seem to be bringing new stuff on-line and what manufacturers are cutting back inventory.

What on-line suppliers are supporting N scale well these days?

Are long term N scale modelers optimistic about the hobby or do they think things are tapering off?

My take on you questions is there is way more quality N scale then ever before. Even many of the lowers cost cars, such as the Atlas Trainman line. The cost for the many items available is dependent on the level of detail you want or can afford. Cost for most N scale engines, rolling stock, autos, buildings, building supplies, etc, are less then the other scales. Though of course there are exceptions.

There are many N scale only or predominantly N scale online retailers and many that carry large inventory of N scale as well as HO. I also do a time frame and roads that a lot of companies make stuff for. Way more then I could afford
I have no LHS so I buy online mostly from the first two.
Model Train Stuff
Freetime Trains

Once in a while from others if they are the only ones that have what I need.
Also for used quality engines and cars,
Yard Sale Trains

[packers#1]

model train stuff is really about the only place I'll buy from, because I can't really find a cheaper price and the only complaint I have had in all my ordering is they didn't send a "your order has shipped" email for one of my packages; still got here in the usual time though. They have a large HO selection, but also a large N scale selection, and good scenery, paint, styrene, etc stocks as well.
As for the hobby shrinking, I think it is a bit, but don't see it falling off the map. If anything, it's splitting into the big guns doing highly-detailed RTR stuff, and a bunch of small businesses doing what the owner wants to see and what will find a home. And i've noticed there are several guys who either do their own cars or post for others or do shapeways, so that is also growing. Really, I think we're going back to the beginning, but with higher tech and nicer toys.

[kalbert]

What changes have you all seen in N scale suppliers?

What do you folks see as the future in N scale modeling?

The only thing that has changed in the past oh... 5 to 50 years is that there is more, better stuff. There is more, better stuff available now than there has ever been. A good majority of it is RTR, and there are some suppliers making outstanding detail parts too. Yea it takes a little longer sometimes to get things than it used to,  but they are also much better quality. Some also have much better detail as well.

The future of N? More smaller niche suppliers, and more RTR. Growth in both the "I run 100 car unit trains between major terminals, exact accuracy isn't real necessary they all look the same at 50mph." and the "No model was available for this particular unit so I got an RTR that was close and heavily modified it using parts from a supplier and ones I made myself." camps. (Neither camp "better" than the other, so please don't read too far into this. As long as you are enjoying yourself with your trains, that's all that matters. There's room for everybody.)

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Looking at my LHS, and N scale in general, all I see is a catastrophic decline in the last 3 years. While we do have Exactrail, BLMA and Fox Valley, we lost nearly all new product from Atlas, Athearn, LBF/Huberts, Model Power, and most Euro companies. A lot of this is due to China, but they wouldn't be so cagey if the economy was humming along.

Think for a minute if we lost all that tooling. The loss of Atlas engines alone would single-handedly doom N scale. It would put us on the same level as S with few suppliers making motive power, and only a notch above TT.

So I could be wrong, but I think we came, very VERY close to loosing it all in the 2009-2010 timeframe.

[bbussey]

Looking at my LHS, and N scale in general, all I see is a catastrophic decline in the last 3 years. While we do have Exactrail, BLMA and Fox Valley, we lost nearly all new product from Atlas, Athearn, LBF/Huberts, Model Power, and most Euro companies. A lot of this is due to China, but they wouldn't be so cagey if the economy was humming along.

Think for a minute if we lost all that tooling. The loss of Atlas engines alone would single-handedly doom N scale. It would put us on the same level as S with few suppliers making motive power, and only a notch above TT.

So I could be wrong, but I think we came, very VERY close to loosing it all in the 2009-2010 timeframe.

No, what you had was one overseas supplier that provided a major portion of N scale production services overall yank the plug on most of it, causing nearly all manufacturers to scramble and increase the load on the remaining overseas suppliers, thus slowing down delivery even for those manufacturers not directly affected by the yank.  It had nothing to do with the recession.  You won't see that level of disruption happen again - with Atlas in particular, because they now have spread out their production across numerous suppliers.  So if one supplier pulls back, it only affects a minority percentage of their product line.  There never was any danger of any of the major manufacturers permanently shelving their N scale products, and most if not all of the smaller manufacturers did not utilize the services of the overseas supplier in question.