Three New Rapido N Scale Locomotives Coming?

[draskouasshat]

Id also like to add that I'm no fanboy or nut swinger of anyone here. Im a santa fe modeler that has to build one of a kind models (or a few for me) out of anything that has parts that will work.
I can NOT stand multiple manufacturers making the same damned model either at the same time or from the past. Why do we need 4 different GG1s? 3 F3s or F7s not counting the old train set junk.
Build something new. Build some steam. Build something obscure for all i care.

Drasko

[Chris333]

I think Bryan has access to Xacto knives as well.

[Dave V]

My LL FAs were rock stars...  I had our own @wm3798 Sir Lee do the decoder install.  Smooth, quiet, and powerful runners with decent detail.  Of course I had to add Trainphone antennas to make mine correct, but a pin vice, some brass wire, and a Gold Medal Models Trainphone stanchion set was all I needed for that.

[CBQ Fan]

I just find it in poor form to rip on others who don’t agree with how you like to model railroad. I may not like having to pay more to subsidize DCC but I don’t begrudge or make fun of those who like DCC. Without RTR sales would there even be any products to buy in today’s hobby world. I am not even sure what scale has to do with what is and what isn’t modeled.

[lock4244]

[draskouasshat]

I just find it in poor form to rip on others who don’t agree with how you like to model railroad. I may not like having to pay more to subsidize DCC but I don’t begrudge or make fun of those who like DCC. Without RTR sales would there even be any products to buy in today’s hobby world. I am not even sure what scale has to do with what is and what isn’t modeled.

Ho has pretty much anything known to man in ready to run form. If you would prefer to just unbox it and put it on the track, maybe HO is the scale for you.
Perhaps you just don't get it.
Yes, we need ready to run models, but not 4 different manufactures making the same damned thing.
If you want FA's, get on ebay. Hell call the model railroad store i go to, he still has them in stock!
Why regurgitate everything over and over again. We will never grow further as a scale if we don't expand our market.

Drasko

[Philip H]

Some of that regurgitation is due to improvements in drive train and or body shell details.  Take the glut of SD40-2's these days.  Both the Kato and IM versions are light years ahead of the ConCor and Bachmann versions of those locos from 20ish years ago.  and thank goodnes they are.  Does that mean we have too many SD40-2 Manufacturers?

[draskouasshat]

Some of that regurgitation is due to improvements in drive train and or body shell details.  Take the glut of SD40-2's these days.  Both the Kato and IM versions are light years ahead of the ConCor and Bachmann versions of those locos from 20ish years ago.  and thank goodnes they are.  Does that mean we have too many SD40-2 Manufacturers?

I guess you don't get it either Philip.
Why is it that kato and intermountain are both making F units and SD40-2s at the same time?
Why are the 2 listed above and BLI all making the same F units?
Wht do we have 3 manufactures that have GG1s either in the process of manufacturing or just released another run? 2 with sound...........
Maybe that's why N- scale seems like a bad investment? Maybe businesses should look up market saturation.

Drasko

[Dave V]

The GG1 stuff is just ridiculous.  Of course it's the same in HO...you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a GG1 from a different manufacturer.  But in N scale obviously Kato had a good reason to think their GG1 would do well.  They'd released the Broadway Limited set, and honestly the old Arnold/Rapido GG1 wasn't up to snuff mechanically or aesthetically.  And the Kato G runs like a dream.  Street price was below $100 though and from all accounts sales were disappointing.  Kato milked a few more runs out of it but moved on to other things.

Now enter BLI.  They do a sound-equipped GG1 in HO and they're pretty much a Pennsy-focused company (the name, duh).  They look at the GG1 market and see that their niche--factory DCC/sound-equipped--is still in play, so they do what they do and announce a sound-equipped one that'll cost as least twice as much as the Kato G.  You can almost understand this move, but I'm thinking everyone who really wanted a GG1 in N already has a Kato G.  And if you really want sound (and don't mind the smell of burning electronics), MRC made a drop-in sound decoder for a Kato G.

But then there's Bachmann.  I got nuthin' there.  Bachmann just does what Bachmann does.  I have to wonder if they do any market research at all.  And yet they seem to succeed even with MSRPs that are--to put it nicely--totally unreasonable.  So the Bachmann GG1 has no explanation beyond the fact that--like BLI--they do it in HO already.

So much of this doesn't make sense to a guy outside the business like me.  I mean it's not like the GG1 was an SD40-2, used on dozens of major railroads.  It didn't even operate over very much of the Pennsy either...just confined to the electrified territory.  And how many people do catenary in N (static or live) anyway?

I agree that when significant improvements can be made on old favorites, it's worth doing.  But when effort is completely duplicated against a small audience, disappointing sales are guaranteed, and the myth of N scale being an unsupportable market persists.

[Hyperion]

I'd bet good money that half or even a quarter of the SD40-2 market is exponentially larger than having a "lock" on the entire 2-10-2 market or countless other examples.

Not that they're infallible but I doubt they're stupid either.

[Jbub]

I guess you don't get it either Philip.
Why is it that kato and intermountain are both making F units and SD40-2s at the same time?
Why are the 2 listed above and BLI all making the same F units?
Wht do we have 3 manufactures that have GG1s either in the process of manufacturing or just released another run? 2 with sound...........
Maybe that's why N- scale seems like a bad investment? Maybe businesses should look up market saturation.

Drasko

I would think Kato and IMRC had similar market research done at the same time that said these models would sell best so they both made them not knowing what the other was doing. I'm thinking also BLI thinks their sound equipped unit is superior to either IMRC or Kato and they want a slice of the pie and as far as the GG1 is concerned, if it's Pennsy related they're going to make it no matter who has already done so. I'm actually surprised they haven't made any Pennsy passenger equipment in N yet. I do agree with you that there needs to be a broader availability of models in the market, both RTR and kits to spur modeling creativity, but these companies are around to make money and if their research says it isn't worth while, then why waste the effort and possibly take a loss on it.

[DKS]

Bachmann just does what Bachmann does.

I think that pretty much sums it up for all MRR manufacturers.

[Paradise275]

They will probably be something in the F series that they could use the mechanisms they did for Prairie Shadows CN units.
Which, by the way, are exceptional locos and have great sound.

Rick

[CBQ Fan]

I guess you don't get it either Philip.
Why is it that kato and intermountain are both making F units and SD40-2s at the same time?
Why are the 2 listed above and BLI all making the same F units?
Wht do we have 3 manufactures that have GG1s either in the process of manufacturing or just released another run? 2 with sound...........
Maybe that's why N- scale seems like a bad investment? Maybe businesses should look up market saturation.

Drasko

I think you are confusing RTR vs. prototypes that manufacturers choose to produce. I agree the GG1 and BLI adding another F unit to the mix was disappointing to me.  I would love to see them come out with something different to broaden the market place.  I have plenty of kit projects to work on but if I had to build everything I would never be able to have a functioning layout based on my time available.

[squirrelhunter]

Did Kato have a run of SD40-2's concurrent with and of the IM releases?

Some duplication is bizarre (see Dave V's excellent post above) but it seems pretty clear the reason why manufacturers make F units is they sell. Try to find any IM F unit new in stock anywhere, and many places are out of the Kato ones as well right now.

N scale steam is a hard proposition, especially for non articulated big engines. Most modelers do not have layouts that will support any 2-10-2, and getting one that is priced reasonably, won't fall apart, and isn't three scale feet longer than it should be is hard.

If we're casting aspersions about "going to HO" to do out some based model railroading, AT&SF 2-10-2's can be ealiy had in HO.

Also, why are we throng shade at folks who don't own a milling machine  to convert non DCC ready locos to DCC? They hobby is model railroading,not metalworking, and a molina machine and taking the time to learn how to use it is a pretty big investment on one aspect of the hobby, when most folks have long to-do lists in areas like structures, scenery, benchwork, etc.