ExactRail Announces UP GSC 42' Flat - HO... but...

[C855B]

The "official" announcement came out today. Blaine Hadfield (ExactRail guy) was the keynote speaker at the UPHS convention two weeks ago and pre-announced this car. He gave a rather impressive presentation on what he did in the way of field research with the objective of capturing every nuance (and bolt, and rivet, and ...) in the model. Nice stuff, albeit pretty intense.

(In the presentation he also detailed his personal plans for modeling the LA&SL (also in HO), especially the area around Caliente, NV. He showed pictures of a very impressive model of the mission-style station there. Since I'm also modeling the area, we exchanged cards and promised to keep in touch.)

Anyway, in our chat, I asked that given the depth of the research, was he planning on also doing the flat in N? I got more of an answer than I bargained for - not only "no plans", but comment that "the N market is different, and difficult", and there was going to be nothing new from them in N in the foreseeable. He's a nice guy and very personable, so I resisted my impulse to tear his head off about the duplicates of BLMA's cars, and, "yah, sure, your impression about the N market was absolutely going to be bad when you do the same cars on the same announce-release schedule as an established high-quality manufacturer. And then you do an über-niche, short-lived car, the Vert-A-Pac? And not even the iconic SP version? What are you thinking?" Grrrr.

But wait, there's more... ER is running a sale on the N version of the Gunderson 4200 on sale for $9.95. I picked-up a handful last week, and an unordered/unbilled FEC Vert-A-Pac arrived in the box. They're such poor movers they're giving them away.

Bottom line? Nice guy, but I think it's a case of an HO'er with blinders on when it comes to the N market. Once they clear stock of N product I have a hunch we're not going to hear from them again in N.

[jmlaboda]

My question is this... is there a 42' (or even a 40") flat car available in N?  I have been searching some but coming up empty and I will need some for a pulpwood conversion based on some cars rebuilt by Southern Railway.  If there isn't one then maybe we need to politely email him and ask him to reconsider...

[Kisatchie]

My question is this... is there a 42' (or even a 40") flat car available in N?  I have been searching some but coming up empty and I will need some for a pulpwood conversion based on some cars rebuilt by Southern Railway.  If there isn't one then maybe we need to politely email him and ask him to reconsider...

Red Caboose made a 40' flat car, sold in 2-packs. Intermountain handles Red Caboose cars now, but I just checked their site and didn't see any 40' flats listed.


Hmm... none on eBay
either that I can find...

[Jim Costello]

I have just received some from Red Caboose  40' flats as well as the Intermountain 53'6" flats  and bulkheads directly from Intermountain.
Jim

[Kisatchie]

I have just received some from Red Caboose  40' flats as well as the Intermountain 53'6" flats  and bulkheads directly from Intermountain.
Jim

That's good to know. I wonder where the 40' flats are on the Intermountain site. I'm not renowned for my search skills.


Hmm... Kiz is renowned
for spending $ on trains...

[Jim Costello]

Click onto the N Scale page, then on  to Red caboose and scroll down and you will come to the 42'Flats….some your dealer may have and a new release that IMC still has in the warehouse.
Jim

[jmlaboda]

That RC flat will work for me... Thanks!!!

[ljudice]

Disappointing to hear this, but hardly surprising. 

Unfortunately almost every N releases was mired in some problem (wrong roof,  assembly problems)  or was a near duplication of some
other product.

[wcfn100]

If a company can't sell 4427 hoppers, I don't know what to say.  And they only did a single run of the 2420 gons.  Doesn't seem like much of an effort.

Guess I'm glad I didn't sell off my old Walthers' hopper cars.   

Jason

[ljudice]

[H Lee]

That's good to know. I wonder where the 40' flats are on the Intermountain site. I'm not renowned for my search skills.

Here's the link
http://intermountain-railway.com/distrib/redcaboose/redcaboosen.htm

The flatcars are about halfway down the page. C&NW, D&RGW, NP, NKP still in stock at IMRC.

[sirenwerks]

Yeah,  the 4427s are sold out and I've been waiting for more - to buy - but I guess they don't want to sell anything.  Its challenge couldn't have anything to do with its business model, could it?  (He said sarcastically)

[flight2000]

But wait, there's more... ER is running a sale on the N version of the Gunderson 4200 on sale for $9.95. I picked-up a handful last week, and an unordered/unbilled FEC Vert-A-Pac arrived in the box. They're such poor movers they're giving them away.

Ha, thought I was the only one... I got a SCL Verti-Pak with an order not to long ago.  I'm a modern guy, so what the heck do I do with this thing? 

Their Trenton Works Bulkhead is close to selling out, so that just shows if they pick the right model, it will do fine.  Agree with the others that duplicate work between MFG's never helps anybody.

Blaine got real defensive on Trainorders when someone questioned him on the perception that he was leaving the N Scalers out to dry. 

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"When you say, "THIS MAKES N SCALE SECOND RATE," I am not sure that I deserve this.

N-scale is hardly second rate--not for me, anyway. My first projects at ExactRail were to re-align our product portfolio with what I felt N-scale projects deserved. This included: offering our models in Jewel cases, using Micro-Trains couplers, using metal wheelsets, and re-tooling much our N-scale product line with new, body mounted draft boxes that approach prototype dimensions better than any other in the scale.

N-scale is not second rate.

But, the N-scale market is considerably smaller. And it is small enough that we are more conservative about how we approach N-scale products. We have to be. The HO Scale flat cars are among the most expensive we have ever produced. Not THE most expensive, but they are close. If we believed that the we could even break-even on this project, and do so with the measure of quality that I am trying to build in our business, than we would have done it.

Please don't hate me for that.

Many thanks,

Blaine Hadfield

ExactRail"

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Take it for what it's worth.  I'll believe it when more product get's released from them.

Cheers,
Brian

[GaryHinshaw]

Interesting comments from Blaine.  It's clear that they are trying to make their focus be on high-end (and sometimes esoteric) freight cars, and it appears they feel that the high-end market in N is too small to sustain that approach.

They would still be my top choice to produce a BNSF 82' reefer and a TBOX 60' boxcar, both being cousins to fine products they have already done in N.  But I won't hold my breath.

[Denver Road Doug]

I'm not sure we should be too up-in-arms about this.

Exactrail has flirted with being a successful model railroad company, but they've hardly done anything revolutionary.   Let them bail out of n-scale in peace if that's their take on things.

If anything, their absence might encourage some of the more willing participants to move forward with projects without fear of Exactrail announcing a copycat product and preventing all involved from a successful run.