Intermountain cancellations

[thomasjmdavis]

Received the monthly missive from IMRC today, and took the opportunity to take a look at the website, that I haven't visited recently. Brand new "N Scale Cancelled" list as of March 22.
https://intermountain-railway.com/ncancelled.html

The essentially cancelled production of every boxcar I had reserved since 2010 or 12.  The upside is, I no longer have to worry that they might make all the stuff in the same year, and I would be hit with several big bills for deliveries of stuff I forgot I ordered, or ordered from 3 different dealers, years apart.

I suspect that one reason for the cancellations is that they have been sitting around so long that IMRC would no longer be able to deliver at the MSRP of 5 or 10 years ago, when they first posted the items for reservations.

[nickelplate759]

Wow - they cancelled almost every N scale boxcar.
The only boxcar that isn't cancelled is the Pullman-Standard 5277 Cubic Foot Boxcar.

[oakcreekco]

Just part of their business model.

[nickelplate759]

Well, Intermountain is no longer making any freight cars I want - the ones still in production are all too modern for me.  Of course, I probably have enough already ...

[signalmaintainer]

Just part of their business model.

Yep, unfortunately. Somehow IMR stays in business despite itself.

At least IMR cancelled the production runs and brought some kind of closure after 13 years (!). In comparison, Blackstone would still have us believe an HOn3 K-36 and K-28 are in the offing, 11 years or so since these were announced.

[mu26aeh]

My PO for the 5161 hoppers was 18.79.  Came in 5 years later at 31.79.

And still no response from them if undec versions exist or not

[Philip H]

Yep, unfortunately. Somehow IMR stays in business despite itself.

They sell a lot of HO.

[C855B]

Interesting... to me, at least. They didn't cancel the PFE mech reefers I reserved five years ago. There is hope, apparently; IM's is a better model than Athearn's.

[CBQ Fan]

Maybe while they are updating things they can remove the Trainworx Flexivan cars and trailers.

[mu26aeh]

And 3281 still at the Taking Reservations stage, announced Jan 25, 2016 with a PO price of 20.99, undec kit at 11.50

[Tristan Ashcroft]

They sell a lot of HO.

From an HO guy: they're not exactly setting the world on fire bringing the HO stuff to completion either. 

If there's anything encouraging in this development though, it seems like an acknowledgement of reality.  Maybe that mindset will take hold and allow them to get back to delivering on what they promise.  (promising less seems like a good start)

[reinhardtjh]

Back in January 2020 I asked my usual pre-order guy (Rob Gruber @ DCCTrain Cincinnati - He's great @iccn1000 )  to get me some undecorated 1937 AAR 40' Boxcars because they were on the IM product list as In-Stock.  There were 5 and IM told him they "aren't going to produce any more ever".  Notice they aren't on the list of "N-Scale Advance Reservations" with the other undecorated models.

Makes me wonder if the molds wore out or were lost, broken, etc.

Who else makes a decent 1937 era USRA all steel boxcar?

[nkalanaga]

Nobody that I know of.  IMR was about the only source for AAR boxcars.

[thomasjmdavis]

One of the ancient Roco cars is pretty close to a 10' IH 1937- but the amount of work necessary to bring it up to IMRC detail level (replacing doors, ladders, grabs, roofwalk, and potentially roof, ends, and rivets) makes it a daunting task.  Bachmann has a car that is ID'ed on Spookshow's site as a 1937 car, but that (at least in the photo on the site) is sort of a mix between a 1937 (raised panel roof, and I think the correct notches on the frame) with a PS1 (PS1 ends and appears -to me and my old eyes- to have welded seams, although the welds stand out about 2 scale inches- almost ribs). Now, for all I know, this may represent a real car- perhaps a rebuild of a 1937 done in the 60s, or a PS1 specifically ordered with the raised panel roof, but it doesn't look much like an original AAR 1937 car with rivets.

[wazzou]

...to get me some undecorated 1937 AAR 40' Boxcars because they were on the IM product list as In-Stock.  There were 5 and IM told him they "aren't going to produce any more ever". 

Makes me wonder if the molds wore out or were lost, broken, etc.

Who else makes a decent 1937 era USRA all steel boxcar?

Are you sure they weren't only referring to not running the undecorated ones anymore?