Breakdown of the personal fleet by model RR manufacturer

[bbussey]

A few months back, I posted my fleet breakdown based on era and general body type.  The MTL March announcements (and my lack of enthusiasm thereof) got me wondering what my fleet breakdown is by model railroad manufacturer.  It used to be predominantly and overwhelmingly MTL, but I knew that no longer was the case.  Since I have everything cataloged in a SQL database, it was easy enough to run some queries to get the stats, which I did find interesting.  I separated the fleet into three categories – freight, passenger, and motive power.  I counted equipment designated for the layout only, as all other product eventually will be dispersed.  This is a combination of the New Haven era and Conrail era equipment, so figure half of the freight and power totals will be on the layout at any given time, while the passenger ratio is probably about 4:1.  Here are the breakdowns:

FREIGHT (486 pieces in total)
Atlas, 104 (21.4%); Kitbashed, 76 (15.6%); Micro-Trains, 66 (13.6%); InterMountain, 41 (8.4%); Red Caboose, 28 (5.8%); Athearn, 26 (5.3%); TrainWorx, 21 (4.3%); Eastern Seaboard Models, 17 (3.5%); ExactRail, 13 (2.7%); BLMA, 12 (2.5%); Bachmann, 11 (2.3%); Fox Valley, 9 (1.9%); Bluford, and Roco,  8 each (1.6%); Bowser, 6 (1.2%); Con-Cor, 5 (1.0%); Deluxe, and Scratchbuilt, 4 each (0.8%); Minitrix, 3 (0.6%); Broadway Limited, Kato, Model Power, Overland Models, Pecos River Brass, Prairie Shadows, SPF Models, True Line, and Wheels Of Time, 2 each (0.4%); Fine N Scale, Life Like, Platinum Line, Model Die Casting, RivaRossi,  and TrainCat, 1 each (0.2%).

Of the kitbashed freight equipment (76 pieces), the original manufacturer numbers are:
Micro-Trains, 23; Atlas, 17; InterMountain, 12; Red Caboose, 11; Athearn, 4; GHQ, 2; Bachmann, Deluxe, Fox Valley, Life Like, Model Power, MDC, and WBM Brass, 1 each.

PASSENGER (95 pieces)
Kitbashed, 16 (16.8%); Micro-Trains, and Scratchbuilt, 14 each (14.7%); Eastern Seaboard Models, 13 (13.7%); Rapido Trains, 9 (9.5%); Kato, and Pecos River Brass, 8 (8.4%); InterMountain, 5 (5.3%); Wheels Of Time, 3 (3.2%); RivaRossi, 2 (2.1%);  Fine N Scale, Hellgate Models, and Red Caboose, 1 each (1.1%).

Of the kitbashed passenger equipment (16 pieces) the original manufacturer numbers are:
Micro-Trains, 7 (43.8%); Kato, 3 (18.8%); Athabasaca, Atlas, Lima, M&R Models, Rapido Trains, and RivaRossi, 1 each (6.3%).

MOTIVE POWER (150 pieces)
Atlas, 52 (34.7%); Kato, 28 (18.7%); Life-Like, 22 (14.7%); Con-Cor, 10 (6.7%); Kitbashed, 6 (4.0%); Bachmann, and Samhongsa, 5 each (3.3%); InterMountain, 4 (2.7%); Fox Valley, and Overland Models, 3 each (2.0%); Broadway Limited, Endo Brass, Nakamura Brass, and Walthers, 2 each (1.3%); Arnold Rapido, Model Power, Minitrix, and Scratchbuilt, 1 each (0.7%)

Of the kitbashed motive power equipment (6 pieces) the original manufacturer numbers are:
Kato, 4 (66.7%); Atlas, 2 (33.3%).

Some of the numbers surprised me.  While surprisingly I still have a sizable amount of Micro-Trains freight equipment, the numbers are dwindling as other manufacturers release new models which I use to supplant my Micro-Trains equivalent items.  Conversely, the Micro-Trains passenger equipment numbers continue to increase as new heavyweight models are released.  The heavyweight equipment is both added as-is and used as the basis for kitbashing.

[mcjaco]

You have more motive power than I have in total! 

After being a "horder" in HO, when I moved to N, I really handcuffed myself when it came to what I was going to buy.  I'm very specific, and when I decide to change era's or roads, all things must go! 

Interesting breakdown. 

[RioGrandeRod]

Hey Bryan,
I would love to know exactly what I have if you could help me with my inventory. It should only take a short time to do the over 10K (estimated) cars I have.
With that being said, I honestly do not even have a clue as to the breakdown. Maybe one of these years.
I hope I can add more of your product so keep up the great work.

[bbussey]

Ten-thousand cars??  Yikes! 

The easiest way is to get them loaded into an Excel spreadsheet.  You can get more sophisticated loading the data into an Access or SQL database.  Access probably is the most reasonable since it comes with basic Office, which would allow you to run various reports and queries.  Excel would be a start however, and that data can be imported into an Access database after the fact.

Information-wise, I track everything by railroad reporting marks, since I'm doing it from a layout standpoint.  From a collector's standpoint, tracking by manufacturer and SKU makes more sense. 

The fields I have for freight equipment are the following:  alpha reporting marks; car number reporting marks; railroad sort key (for railroads with multiple alpha reporting marks); general type; description; AAR type classic;  AAR type modern; DOT designation if tankcar; stock/limited/custom flag; date new/serviced; date built; date item purchased; weathered flag; axle springs flag; low flange wheels flag; metal wheels flag; body mounted couplers flag; proper height over rails flag; cushioned underframe flag; era (NH/CR/both); lettering colors; herald colors; manufacturer of model; coupler manufacturer; trucks manufacturer; wheels manufacturer; original manufacturer(s) if kitbashed; wheel diameter; dimensional data (Capy, LdLmt, LtWt, EXW, EXH, EW, EH, IL, IW, IH, CuFt); capacity in gallons if tankcar; railroad class; cargo; on layout flag; manufacturer's SKU#; cost; thumbnail photograph; notes.   

Passenger:  alpha reporting marks; car number reporting marks; railroad sort key; general type; body type; body style; car name if applicable; interior arrangement if applicable; stock/limited/custom flag; date item purchased; weathered flag; era (NH/CR/both); lettering colors; herald colors; manufacturer of model; coupler manufacturer; trucks manufacturer; wheels manufacturer; coupler type; trucks type; model complete flag; original manufacturer(s) if kitbashed; manufacturer's SKU#; cost; description; thumbnail photograph; notes.   

Motive Power:  alpha reporting marks; car number reporting marks; railroad sort key; class (steam/diesel/electric); material (brass/plastic); powered/unpowered flag; date item purchased; model type; wheel arrangement; weathered flag; era (NH/CR/both); lettering colors; herald colors; manufacturer of model; stock/limited/custom flag; description; coupler type; trucks type; PRR-style signal control box flag; manufacturer's SKU#; base cost; additional costs; interface (DC/DCC); decoder (make and model); extended address; consist address; last maintenance date; original manufacturer(s) if kitbashed; thumbnail photograph; notes.

[thomasjmdavis]

I have 175 freight cars, and 220 passenger cars (not counting a box of passenger cars I keep around for use as cores or kitbash fodder).  The count does include a lot of things I am working on that are not complete, but which I have all the major parts.

Just the more major percentages-
Freight- Micro-trains: 27%; Intermountain: 20%, Atlas:13%- and a whole bunch at 2% or 3%
Passenger- Kato 21%, M&R 16%, Rivarossi (includes some bashes) 12%, Con-Cor 6%, Micro-trains 6%, Kitbashes 6% and a whole lot of manufacturers at 2 or 3% and a few singles.

Like many others, MT used to be a much larger percentage of freight cars.  Most of the MT I have bought recently have been passenger cars and various boxcars that can be painted and detailed for express boxes. I have become more wary of MT once I realized that many of their cars are just paint jobs on "generic" cars. Much of those small percentage manufacturers are specific prototype purchases- if you make a baggage car or tank car I want, the brand will probably be unimportant to me, as long as the workmanship of the model is good.  And since I model mid 1950s, manufacturers who specialize in more modern equipment are not well represented.

[Mike Madonna]

Wow Bryan, pretty impressive "drill down" on the specifics in each category. Definitely a valuable tool to use in focusing in on a particular time frame.

[jagged ben]

Man, and I thought I had a lot of stuff.   (My wife thinks so, too.)

[pjm20]

Most of my freight is MTL, passenger it is a split between MTL and Kato, and for motive power it is mostly Kato and Atlas. I have downsized a lot over the last two years, mostly selling off non essential MTL freights. I am proud though to have snagged a lot of 18 Red Caboose X-29s, all with different road numbers! My fleet is mainly split between two operating interest, the Pennsy in 1930 (and Pennsy in general), and modern Amtrak.

[Hamaker]

Kinda reminds me of when I was road racing a formula car.  No matter how much I might spend on my car, I always knew I'd be racing against someone who had spent five times as much as I had.  As we used to say....."Tough to beat the cubic dollar". 

[Ken Rice]

Hey Bryan,
I would love to know exactly what I have if you could help me with my inventory. It should only take a short time to do the over 10K (estimated) cars I have.
With that being said, I honestly do not even have a clue as to the breakdown. Maybe one of these years.
I hope I can add more of your product so keep up the great work.

I just had to do a little math.  A random atlas freight car box measures 1.1x2.03x6.3.  With 10,000 of them you could make a pile 1 foot deep, 10 feet long, and just shy of 8 feet high.

I think I'll stick with my rule of all of many car boxes must fit in a drawer

[MVW]

Just for kicks I checked my relatively paltry fleet of 103 in-service freight cars.

65% MTL
20% Atlas
10% Intermountain
  2% Bachmann
  2% Miscellaneous
  1% Concor

And for 25 passenger cars:

48% Kato
24% Atlas
20% Concor
  8% Walthers

Jim

[bbussey]

Since New Haven in 1956 is my primary focus, I ran the breakdown just on the equipment from that venue.  The total fleet numbers will now give a proper indication of what the layout will hold when I get to that point.

FREIGHT (260 pieces in total)
Atlas, 54 (20.8%); Kitbashed, 50 (19.3%); InterMountain, 34 (13.1%); Micro-Trains, 33 (12.7%); Athearn, and Red Caboose, 12 each (4.6%); Eastern Seaboard Models, 10 (3.9%); Bachmann, and Bowser, 6 each (2.3%); Con-Cor, 5 (1.9%); TrainWorx, 4 (1.5%); Bluford, Fox Valley, and Minitrix, 3 each (1.2%); Broadway Limited, Deluxe, Model Power, Overland Models, Pecos River Brass, Prairie Shadows, and Scratchbuilt, 2 each (0.8%);  Fine N Scale, Kato, Model Die Casting, Roco, SPF Models,  and TrainCat, 1 each (0.4%).

Of the kitbashed freight equipment (50 pieces), the original manufacturer numbers are:
Micro-Trains, 14; InterMountain, 12; Atlas, 11; Athearn 3; GHQ, and Red Caboose, 2 each; Bachmann, Life Like, Model Power, MDC, and WBM Brass, 1 each.

PASSENGER (82 pieces)
Micro-Trains, 14 (17.1%); Eastern Seaboard Models, and Scratchbuilt, 13 each (15.9%); Kitbashed, 11 (13.4%); Pecos River Brass, and Rapido, 8 each (9.8%); InterMountain, 5 (6.1%); Wheels Of Time, 3 (3.7%); Kato, and RivaRossi, 2 each (2.4%);  Fine N Scale, Hellgate Models, and Red Caboose, 1 each (1.2%).

Of the kitbashed passenger equipment (11 pieces) the original manufacturer numbers are:
Micro-Trains, 6 (43.8%); Athabasaca, Atlas, Kato, Lima, and RivaRossi, 1 each (6.3%).

MOTIVE POWER (90 pieces)
Atlas, 30 (33.3%); Life-Like, 17 (18.9%); Con-Cor, and Kato, 10 each (11.1%); Bachmann, and Samhongsa, 5 each (5.6%); Broadway Limited, Endo Brass, InterMountain, Nakamura Brass, and Walthers, 2 each (2.2%); Model Power, Minitrix, and Scratchbuilt, 1 each (1.1%)

Again, the MTL passenger equipment total is growing as more prototypically-accurate models are released (although it will relinquish the top spot when the Rapido PBLWs are released).  Conversely, the MTL freight equipment total is dwindling as more prototypically-accurate models from other manufacturers are released that supplant existing MTL models.

[OldEastRR]

Of the kitbashed freight equipment (50 pieces), the original manufacturer numbers are:
Micro-Trains, 14; InterMountain, 12; Atlas, 11; Athearn 3; GHQ, and Red Caboose, 2 each; Bachmann, Life Like, Model Power, MDC, and WBM Brass, 1 each.

I assume the GHQ cars were the depressed center flats -- what kind of kitbashing did you do to them? I'm repainting mine now that the MS NH freight decals came out and the lettering will look a lot better than the original kit decals.

[jeffjgale]

Thought you all might be interested in this free software:

Easy Model Railroad Inventory 6.1

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Finances-Business/Easy-Model-Railroad-Inventory.shtml

Easy Model Railroad Inventory is a utility that assists users in managing railroad rolling stocks, cars, locomotives, structures, equipment and book collections.

Once the data is imported, users can explore it and generate reports or graphics. The tool provides you with multiple useful features such as inventory tracking, report and spreadsheet designers, as well as calculators for speed, length and weight.


New in version 6.1

    Added a description field to the truck file
    Switch list may now be printed to an XML file
    Added Print List button to DCC/CV window
    Added Loco DCC address report with query option
    Switch list header fields labeled for better clarity
    Added the assigned loco information to the timetable schedule
    Added to Timetable routing type "Turn"
    Departure and Arrival locations can now be the same
    Changed menu term from Freight to Rolling Stock
    Added Passenger AAR Code graph
    Changed "Distribution" to "Code" in AAR Graph captions
    Added viewing of Timetable using Gantt graph format
    Redesigned Maintain Schedule window
    Added query to Maintain Schedule window

and best of all it's free.

Regards Jeff.

[bbussey]

I assume the GHQ cars were the depressed center flats -- what kind of kitbashing did you do to them? I'm repainting mine now that the MS NH freight decals came out and the lettering will look a lot better than the original kit decals.

http://www.bbussey.net/ns/fNH17058.htm