Reruns of Ford C Fire Trucks?

[cfritschle]

Model Railroader's National Train Show report is showing more Ford C fire trucks from Athearn.

Whether they will be repaints or new paint schemes is not clear, but the original 2004 announcement is back up on the Athearn website.

http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=FordC+Fire&CatID=TNV

I know there have been many people looking for the trucks from the "original" release, so Athearn my be responding the those requests!   

Carter

[cfritschle]

I found the original announcement poster from March 2004.  These are new part numbers, so the August 2004 announcement date looks like a typo.

Carter

[peteski]

Excellent news - thanks Carter!  Now modelers will be able to get these  without paying crazy prices on eBay!  But I also suspect that Daniel's retirement plan is going down in value. 

[asarge]

New price at $27.98 is about 40% higher than 2004 but still a whole lot better than what they have been selling for on the the 'bay. Now if somebody can just do the JD's again in N.

[peteski]

Now if somebody can just do the JD's again in N.

If you mean John Deere tractors from Athearn - that won't happen.  I asked asked them couple of years ago and the problem is with licensing.  They didn't give me any specifics but pretty much stated that they will never re-run those models.

[wcfn100]

If you mean John Deere tractors from Athearn - that won't happen.  I asked asked them couple of years ago and the problem is with licensing.  They didn't give me any specifics but pretty much stated that they will never re-run those models.

Which really sucks because they never did the 4020 in N scale which I need 30-40 of. 


Jason

[asarge]

If you mean John Deere tractors from Athearn - that won't happen.  I asked asked them couple of years ago and the problem is with licensing.  They didn't give me any specifics but pretty much stated that they will never re-run those models.

Yes I know, someone has done some of the HO but Athearn was not terribly happy with sales in either scale, especially N. Hopefully at some point they will re-appear, but I never said Athearn would be the one to do them. Oh well, maybe we could get some others done. I wanted the 40-20 as well as the disc's but life goes on.

[cfritschle]

Yes I know, someone has done some of the HO but Athearn was not terribly happy with sales in either scale, especially N. Hopefully at some point they will re-appear, but I never said Athearn would be the one to do them. Oh well, maybe we could get some others done. I wanted the 40-20 as well as the disc's but life goes on.

It would probably be best to bug GHQ about releasing a 4020 in N scale.  They made them in HO, and they are still available:  http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/60004.html

I asked Gregg about 10 years ago if he would do them in N scale, and he indicated he might if there was enough interest.  I also asked for the wide front as an option since the tricycle configuration with the Roll-O-Matic front end is nearly non-existent here in the Pacific Northwest.  His reply was; "Would the wide front make them sell any better?"  I really didn't have an answer since it seems like farm tractors have not been all that popular in N scale.

Carter

[central.vermont]

If you mean John Deere tractors from Athearn - that won't happen.  I asked asked them couple of years ago and the problem is with licensing.  They didn't give me any specifics but pretty much stated that they will never re-run those models.

Maybe we should go at this another way and approach JD and have them produced by Athearn and sold through the JD dealers. They do have a line of toys you know. 
http://www.johndeeregifts.com/category/toys/replicas.do?nType=2

Jon

[ljudice]

These were neat models, glad to see them return!!!

Perhaps with all the truck models we should just build highways and put trains in the background.

[cfritschle]

These were neat models, glad to see them return!!!

Perhaps with all the truck models we should just build highways and put trains in the background.

Lou,

I see it as the quality of the vehicle models is finally catching up with the quality of our trains.   

And, the Ford C fire truck is a "historic" model.  It won the first New N Scale Vehicle of the Year Award at the 2005 convention in San Diego.  http://nscalevehicles.org/vehicle_of_year/2005.php

Carter

[daniel_leavitt2000]

If I remember correctly, the JD license was yanked rather abruptly and they had several models fully tooled and ready to go that never see the light of day. One wonders if there is a storage unit in china somewhere with hidden treasure.

[nkalanaga]

LJudice:  How about a truck stop next to the crossing?  Small building, diesel and gas pumps, and a big parking lot, with spaces for trucks, cars, RVs, etc.  Display all the trucks you want, and excuse for wreckers, and best of all, they're SUPPOSED to be parked, unlike on a highway.

Put in a siding and the crews of your locals could stop there for lunch as well.

[peteski]

It would probably be best to bug GHQ about releasing a 4020 in N scale.  They made them in HO, and they are still available:  http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/60004.html

I asked Gregg about 10 years ago if he would do them in N scale, and he indicated he might if there was enough interest.  I also asked for the wide front as an option since the tricycle configuration with the Roll-O-Matic front end is nearly non-existent here in the Pacific Northwest.  His reply was; "Would the wide front make them sell any better?"  I really didn't have an answer since it seems like farm tractors have not been all that popular in N scale.

Carter

Couldn't Gregg make the N scale kit of these and include both the tricycle and wide front configuration? 

[cfritschle]

Couldn't Gregg make the N scale kit of these and include both the tricycle and wide front configuration?

That was what I thought would have been a reasonable option, and good marketing strategy.  The front ends are interchangeable on the prototype, so why not the model?

However, since we have not seen the model in N scale, apparently very few others asked for it.

Carter