Where are all the passengers?

[Mark W]

Seriously, where are they?  Why is it that virtually every passenger car that has a molded interior is molded empty? 

I can only think of two reasons.
1.  "So that the consumer can place passengers where they want". 
But is that really a valid argument?  Show of hands, who here actually takes the time and spends the money to add passengers to their trains in the first place?  I'm willing to bet it's less than 1%, hell, less than .1%.  Is the seating chart really that critical?

2. "Extra tooling/production cost"
Sure it will take a little more.  But you're already spending the time and money to tool seats/tables, and what value is that without passengers?.  Would it really be that much more difficult to mold in some very crude seated passengers?  You don't even need much detail really, just a clear head, torso and lap, with a touch of variety.  You don't even need to paint them. Leave that part up to the consumer.  An unpainted silhouette (yes, no matter the molded color) will still add to the overall feel.   So that adds what, 5%, hell let's be generous and say 10% to the tooling cost.  A $30 dollar car now cost $33 AND has passengers. 

How much would adding passengers cost otherwise?

[DKS]

Honestly, I could see it costing more than you estimate. Regardless, if I wanted people in my cars, I don't think I'd want them pre-populated with crude suggestions of figures; better an empty car than one carrying blobs. And if the figures were molded into the seats, I'd be quite frustrated at having to remove the blobs and replace them with better figures.

[peteski]

I think cost is the main reason. Have you priced Preiser figures lately?  They are around $1-$2 a piece!  So, even placing about 30 figures in a car (which makes it far from full) would add $60 to the price of the empty car.

The other thing is that in many instances the interiors of the cars aren't really all that visible. Tinted windows or even scale foot thick window "glass" doesn't allow for easily seeing the interior.  This is especially true in smaller scales (like N  or Z).

EDIT: to clarify my reply - I agree with DKS that I rather not have crude representations of the figures.  That is why I mentioned Preiser - the top quality N scale figures.

[Dave V]

Well, when I'm running my Penn Central consist, it's more prototypical to be completely empty...   

[Philip H]

Well, when I'm running my Penn Central consist, it's more prototypical to be completely empty...   

FTW

[CBQ Fan]

Wouldn't you want them painted in a variety of colors and to look individual?

[Mark W]

Yes, a Preiser figure is $1-2 per piece because of the level of detail in the mold and paint.  And as you say, most passenger car interiors are not all that visible, so why would anyone spend $60+ adding highly detailed passengers to an interior?  That's exactly my point!  So either you spend a fortune on figures (even if you you buy those cheap ones from China), or you run ghost trains? 

Why can't there be a middle ground?  If you freely admit any fine detail won't be visible, why do we need it?   Mold some crude representations of figures right into the interior.  The level of detail will be crude enough that tooling will be basic, but fine enough to give a perfect representation of 'life' within the car.  I think it would make a noticeable improvement than running ghost trains. 

Wouldn't you want them painted in a variety of colors and to look individual?

I say leave that part up to the consumer, rather than omitting the whole thing.

[DKS]

Mold some crude representations of figures right into the interior.

Nope. IMO, better empty than populated with blobs. And paying more for a car, only to have to remove the blobs, would make me think twice about buying it. Sorry.

Anyway, if you want blobs in your cars, then just spend a few bucks for some cheap Chinese figures, and drop them in yourself. What's the big deal?

They don't cost a fortune: http://www.ebay.com/itm/P150S-100pcs-all-Seated-1-150-Scale-Painted-Figures-Passenger-N-/221358563834?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item3389ffa1fa

[Kisatchie]

I'm with the anti-blob crowd. I don't want crude figures populating my one lone passenger car.


Hmm... what am I gonna
do with all these blobs I
had made...?

[jimmo]

Passengerized interior inserts. hmm... sounds like an interesting aftermarket product.

[PAL_Houston]

Well, it could be that by the time I model most of the seats were empty...
OR:  everybody was at the bar in the parlor car.

[Mark W]

Nope. IMO, better empty than populated with blobs. And paying more for a car, only to have to remove the blobs, would make me think twice about buying it. Sorry.

Who said anything about "blobs"?  "Crude representations of figures" does not limit the possibilities to "blobs". 

In any case, you're missing the woods for the trees.  Manufacturers are well within the capability to produce cheap passenger cars with acceptable representation of figures included by default, whether molded in or otherwise.  Why is it still left to the consumer to make up this gap?  With all the demands for improved detail I read on this forum, why are passengers overlooked so easily?

Anyway, if you want blobs in your cars, then just spend a few bucks for some cheap Chinese figures, and drop them in yourself. What's the big deal?

10 years ago:  "If you want knuckle couplers, then just spend a few bucks for some micro trains couplers and convert them yourself.  What's the big deal?"

[Ian MacMillan]

I personally want mine empty so I can populate them the way I want and with very detailed figures.

[Ike the BN Freak]

I say leave that part up to the consumer, rather than omitting the whole thing.

If you are leaving the part of painting the "figures" to the consumer, I'd say leave the whole adding figures to them.  The way these new passenger cars are, they are highly detailed, and the average person buying wants to take their highly detailed ready to run car out of the box and place it into service.  But now I got a ready to run car, but I need to decorate the figures, before I can add it to service.

The era I model, everything has tinted windows, so hard to see inside the cars anyways.

[jmlaboda]

Since we only need the top part of a figure to help populate passenger trains I wonder if we can get them for...

half off...

And hey... when we have to park one of our populated passenger cars in a yard track we can say that we are trying to model the Amtrak floridian...

Thank you very much!!!  I'm here at all sorts of times...