N scale production runs

[TinyTurner]

Very gradually building up a MILW roster, there is not that much about.
Budget is also a factor here and Intermountain SD40-2 may have to wait   
There are plenty of good models in other road colours, and I could (and will) get to painting some.
But...
How often do the likes of Atlas, Kato and so on re-run production of models?
Would save some effort if Atlas released Torpedo tube GP9 soon.  And a GP30.  And everything else 

[DirtyD79]

Very gradually building up a MILW roster, there is not that much about.
Budget is also a factor here and Intermountain SD40-2 may have to wait   
There are plenty of good models in other road colours, and I could (and will) get to painting some.
But...
How often do the likes of Atlas, Kato and so on re-run production of models?
Would save some effort if Atlas released Torpedo tube GP9 soon.  And a GP30.  And everything else 

HO scale king comin' in peace but I'm pretty sure they do limited runs on that stuff too. Gotta keep the artifical scarcity goin'. The shareholders need their dividends.

[Point353]

Very gradually building up a MILW roster, there is not that much about.
Budget is also a factor here and Intermountain SD40-2 may have to wait   
There are plenty of good models in other road colours, and I could (and will) get to painting some.
But...
How often do the likes of Atlas, Kato and so on re-run production of models?
Would save some effort if Atlas released Torpedo tube GP9 soon.  And a GP30.  And everything else 

https://shop.atlasrr.com/c-734-n72.aspx

[lock4244]

Very gradually building up a MILW roster, there is not that much about.
Budget is also a factor here and Intermountain SD40-2 may have to wait   
There are plenty of good models in other road colours, and I could (and will) get to painting some.
But...
How often do the likes of Atlas, Kato and so on re-run production of models?
Would save some effort if Atlas released Torpedo tube GP9 soon.  And a GP30.  And everything else 

You'll be happy to know that Kato re-runs models at a rate sufficient to outpace the average glacier.

[Angus Shops]

Unfortunately, most glaciers are in retreat. So what was once comparison intended to indicate very slow movement now has an even more negative connotation.

[brokemoto]

If Original Poster is looking for an SD-40, FMs and ALCos would be out of his era.

[nkalanaga]

"If Original Poster is looking for an SD-40, FMs and ALCos would be out of his era."

Depends on where he's modeling.  The FMs, probably, but the MILW had SD40-2s in the Northwest while the BN was still running a lot of Alcos, and the two roads interchanged several places.

[randgust]

The bad news is that N scale, and to a certain extent all scales, have reruns (if any) that can be measured in dog lives.   Atlas was 'down' on the GP7 rerun for a little over two years.    The Chinese manufacturing situation, COVID, etc., and reservation only policy have not helped at all.  Some roadnames have such short manufacturing runs that you can have 100 or less actually made.   This isn't Athearn or HO.

The Chinese contract manufacturing situation is a reality we don't fully comprehend here - a company there can pretty much disappear without a trace, and dies are lost, misplaced, or damaged.   The hold that an importer has over a manufacturer has put a lot of antacids to the test.  Probably the most stable situation has been Kato in Japan, love 'em or not, but the US market is NOT the biggest target, domestic Japan is for N.

That's the bad news

The good news is that a lot of places still have a lot of stuff and other than zinc pest, it doesn't rot or spoil.   Train shows.   Ebay, although many hate it.   The classified ads systems here and on other forums.   This is a much more wide open marketplace than ever before, and if you're patient, almost anything can show up.    Get to know Spookshow's (spookshow.net) manufacturer database, ratings, etc. so you know what you're looking at, how it runs, and what it looks like under the hood and you can buy older stock and used stuff with some confidence.  I'm astounded how I can still find some stuff I wanted back in the 70's and 80's and it's out there, you can find it.

I've found just about everything I've looked for, given a little time.   Stuff going back into the 70's, and stuff just released.   If you're going to enjoy N scale at all, don't get in the habit of waiting forever for a manufacturer to produce something, or exactly the right version with the exact right details.   Get the best available NOW, have fun, and if something better comes along, learn to sell your stuff as well as buy.   I'm on my third ABBA set of ATSF F-units, first Minitrix, then early Kato, now current run Kato, each much better than the last.   Most of my stuff is in at least second generation if not third, having been in N since 1972.   Now at least the majority of product out there is of good quality, that wasn't always true.   

My personal impression of MILW was in the summer of 1980, after the Pacific extension was done, and I visited Bensenville yard, to find F-units and one of the FP45's sitting in the weeds semi-vandalized and abandoned, and SD40's about the only decent looking stuff around.   It was a pretty sad looking railroad, only outdone by the Rock Island.   I got out to Tacoma many years later and was astounded by the hill line down to Morton, could only imagine that in the day.  My good friend Hal Reigger did Milwaukee electrics in N, and the originator of NCAT, he was the first I think to do overhead powered N Milwaukee on a grand scale.

[jagged ben]

...

The good news is that a lot of places still have a lot of stuff and other than zinc pest, it doesn't rot or spoil.   Train shows.   Ebay, although many hate it.   The classified ads systems here and on other forums.   This is a much more wide open marketplace than ever before, and if you're patient, almost anything can show up.    Get to know Spookshow's (spookshow.net) manufacturer database, ratings, etc. so you know what you're looking at, how it runs, and what it looks like under the hood and you can buy older stock and used stuff with some confidence.  I'm astounded how I can still find some stuff I wanted back in the 70's and 80's and it's out there, you can find it.
...

This.

That said, try not to miss out on the new releases.  Kato announced Milwaukee SD40-2s recently also, did those ship yet?  You won't be sorry getting a Kato instead of an Intermountain.

[Missaberoad]

If Original Poster is looking for an SD-40, FMs and ALCos would be out of his era.

SD40-2    - first bought 1972
H-10-44   - retired 1983
H-12-44   - retired 1981
H-16-44   - retired 1976
H-16-66   - retired 1976
V01000   - retired 1972
DS-4-4-10- retired 1976
S-12         - retired 1976
Rs-12       - retired 1976
As-616    - retired 1976
S-4           - retired 1976
Rsc2        - retired 1976
Rs3          - retired 1976
Rsd5        - retired 1976

Modeling the Milwaukee Road - Priceless   

[brokemoto]

the Milwaukee Road -

How long did the cab units last?

NYCS' Eries were gone by the early 1960s.  The C-Liners& FM road switchers were gone by the mid to late 1960s, just before re-numbering in anticipation of PC.None of NYCS' FM cab units were re-numbered in 1966.  Many of the NYCS yard goats did make it to PC but did not last long.  Some of the FM cab units did get an EMD prime mover and lasted about ten years in that configuration.

It appears that the FMs lasted a little longer on the CMStP&P.  Thus, I would guess that the cab units lasted a bit longer on the CMStP&P as well.  This is no surprise as FM is on line at Beloit.

The FMs did last longer on the SP.  They worked mostly the Sf Peninsula and lasted into the early 1970s. SP only had Train Masters and yard goats from FM.

[Missaberoad]

How long did the cab units last?

Cab units were less long lived with the notable exception of the F7a/b and FP7 units.

The FTs were  gone in 1959
DL109 1958
Erie builts were gone in 1963
F3 1965
C liners 1967
E6 1960
E7 1969
E9 1974
F9 1981
The F7s and FP7s were the real survivors with many lasting into the 1980s with a few showing 5/1984 retirement dates.

The hood units and switchers lasting so late was because of all the major terminals and branch lines Milwaukee served. The arrival of the MP15AC units in the mid 1970s along with the GP20 and SD10 rebuilds were the death nail for all the old iron.

[milw156]

Very gradually building up a MILW roster, there is not that much about.
Budget is also a factor here and Intermountain SD40-2 may have to wait   
There are plenty of good models in other road colours, and I could (and will) get to painting some.
But...
How often do the likes of Atlas, Kato and so on re-run production of models?
Would save some effort if Atlas released Torpedo tube GP9 soon.  And a GP30.  And everything else 

I have a couple of Kato SD40-2's I am willing to part with. I have shortened the fuel tanks, a bit of a PITA, and Digitrax decoders in them. PM me if interested. I have some Scale trains on order and could stand to thin the ranks ahead of that.

[Rossford Yard]

I think re-runs depend a lot on how much demand they assess.  At one time, they would need 300 of any specific road name on a particular unit to make a re-run profitable.  As late as a few years ago at the NTS, Walthers said that was still true for any structures.

Atlas said that with modern printing they could run any number of a particular paint scheme.  They have been really good at using the big sellers to allow them to piggyback on some lesser known road names.

I don't know, but would assume MILW aren't bad sellers or IM wouldn't have run them for the SD-40-2.  ATSF, UP, and SP probably would get re-run more often.  I have also heard that they need to do reruns, i.e., the price structure is such that they at least break even on a new run of a new mold, and the profits increase during the second runs from the same mold.  In any recession, it is a better strategy to slap new numbers and paint schemes on existing tooling than trying to sell new tooling.

I know I typed a lot of words to say, "I don't really know, but love to speculate!"

[randgust]

And in case you're coming out from under an N scale rock, certain manufacturers have a relatively horrible reputation for announcing a run, even taking advance reservations and then deposits..... and waiting for the next solar eclipse, or finally terminating the run 'for lack of orders'.  Some have gone years.  Nope, we ain't makin it.  sorry....

That's created a 'buy it now or you'll never see it again' approach when things do appear.

Atlas ability to do weird roadnames on short runs is enviable when Kato has just the opposite, they'll do the big guys and that's about it.
 
But if you do see something from Atlas like that, don't hesitate.   I got a Lake Erie, Franklin & Clarion MP15 and I doubt that will EVER be run again, talk about your obtuse shortline roads, but it was in my backyard here.   Stuff like that doesn't even resurface on eBay much. either.