HOGTRAINZ Intermountain Update

[Mark5]

So is it that preorders are not up to their expectations to produce models in N scale, but are sufficient to do them in HO?

They are cancelling HO items as well: https://www.intermountain-railway.com/hocancelled.html

The N scale list is larger though.

Mark

[OldEastRR]

In the business world it's not about designer's intent or market trends or mean Chinese factory owners it's money$money$money$ that determines everything. If IM is slacking in production, if they're cutting down the amount of stuff they make, if they're cancelling announced models it's because the money's not there. It's not they prefer HO, or some other company declared they're going to make the same model, or gremlins messing up the assembly line -- it's money. I'd say the chances are 9 out of 10 there are some real money problems going on at IM and that's driving their decisions. Actually I'd bet it's 10 out of 10.

[wazzou]

I'd say the chances are 9 out of 10 there are some real money problems going on at IM and that's driving their decisions. Actually I'd bet it's 10 out of 10.

Hmmm, I don't think anyone's thought of that angle.

[StarCruiser]

They'll have to be very careful then... Once you have a cash-flow issue, you can very quickly end up out of business.

Cutting product cuts into potential sales but, cutting poor selling product can help keep you solvent. Two-edged sword...

[squirrelhunter]

Hmmm, I don't think anyone's thought of that angle.

I suggested they were short of working capital in post 17. If they are low on cash I think the best option would be if they sold out to another manufacturer.

I also suspect that rising costs to produce in China are making their money problems worse.

[Mark5]

Hmmm, I don't think anyone's thought of that angle.

I think it was alluded to earlier.

If the old (defunct) factory had easy credit, and the new factories want payment up front - that would be a major disruption. For some companies operating on a small margin (nobody is getting rich making model trains). In fact, that could be fatal - that might explain some of the disappearances and re-alignments in the past decade.

All of the above (except for the business principles) is conjecture on my part.

Mark

[wcfn100]

I wonder if they'd be in a better place if they hadn't given up their manufacturing capabilities?

If they were still "in house" would the minimum run numbers still apply?

Jason

[eja]

Just think, when they do go toes up, all those unmade kits you have stashed away somewhere will become collector's items, you will sell them at a profit and buy something that is actually available.

[learmoia]

I heard a story that... at one point, IMRC did all of the tooling, injection molding painting and printing in the US.. then shipped all of the parts to China for assembly.. then everything came back for distribution.

I assume at some point they sold thier soul to China and shipped the tooling over to the factory....

Had they simplified thier models to easily assemble kits, they could be selling those kits or pull a Micro-Trains and assemble those kits in the UZ
US ...

I have never assembled an IM kit.. nor do I plan to.

~Ian

[basementcalling]

I heard a story that... at one point, IMRC did all of the tooling, injection molding painting and printing in the US.. then shipped all of the parts to China for assembly.. then everything came back for distribution.

I assume at some point they sold thier soul to China and shipped the tooling over to the factory....

Had they simplified thier models to easily assemble kits, they could be selling those kits or pull a Micro-Trains and assemble those kits in the UZ
US ...

I have never assembled an IM kit.. nor do I plan to.

~Ian

Well, if you have never assembled an IM kit, you are not alone in N scale. They stopped offering kits and went to built up cars because they found kits did not sell well in N scale, especially compared to HO. Hell, even old Kadee stopped selling kit versions of their cars, and those are about as collectible as anything in N scale is.

IM going to made in China isn't any different from the vast majority of model railroad manufacturers. Cash flow problems are believable. Hard to have income coming in if you announce and publicize products, but don't actually make any you can sell. Doing so to the point IM has eroded customer confidence in their ability to deliver the goods, which hurts reservations, although not income as few places ask for payment until the models are shipped to the consumer. Not so with manufacturers.

And anyone paying attention to China made prices can see that they are increasing. Recent second or third runs of existing products show anywhere from $10-25 or more increases in list price. BLI, Atlas, Athearn are all seeing prices of new items higher than the same cars or engines from just a few years ago. Heck, even Micro Trains upped the price on their newest runs of Tboxes by $20, and those are completely made in America. Course that might be a result of the first runs selling out faster than they could get them out of the factory, practically.

You can't run away from bad business practices forever, and in our pandemic impacted economy with shortages from disrupted supply chains and labor markets, poorly run companies are going to fail. Same thing is going to start happening in consumer electronics soon too.

[wazzou]

Hmmm, I don't think anyone's thought of that angle.

Sorry guys, I should have used the sarcasm font.  My bad.

[wazzou]

I have never assembled an IM kit.. nor do I plan to.

~Ian

I think I literally spent a year or more of my hobby life (a few dozen hours) assembling Intermountain kits.
It got to the point where I was like the Ford Motor Company with regard to the assembly line nature of it.
I’d guess I’ve built 55-60 kits, mostly Boxcars, Reefers and Tank Cars as well as a few Covered Hoppers.

[dem34]

And they aren't bad kits either, besides the handrails and grabs being brittle as all hell. But hey poor sales means I always get stacks of them for pennies every Greeneberg show.

[wazzou]

And they aren't bad kits either, besides the handrails and grabs being brittle as all hell. But hey poor sales means I always get stacks of them for pennies every Greeneberg show.

And because of the kits they’ve offered, I’ve been able to buy many, many parts for a lot of kitbashes and projects.

[nickelplate759]

I've built at least 30, and still use the undecorated kits for projects like this: