NMRA Convention News / Announcments?

[coosvalley]

I see the Chinese at least know to add open slats to their stock car....

 

[cjm413]

It's just a silver series freight car painted in a Chinese paint scheme.  It's what they do.

Here's the tank car.



Here's the stock car.



Here's the hopper.



Here's another gondola.



Also, the actual Chinese cars come in packaging with Chinese writing (go figure).



While the Silver series Chinese paint cars come in the same Silver Series boxes they do here.





And finally, the N scale ore car is actually a better match to the HO MDC/Athearn car as shown by the left ladder in your photo.

Jason

WTF was with the down vote for pointing out that a picture of an HO model is NOT A PICTURE OF THE PROTOTYPE?

I had to up vote this post to balance it out at 0....

[peteski]

WTF was with the down vote for pointing out that a picture of an HO model is NOT A PICTURE OF THE PROTOTYPE?

I had to up vote this post to balance it out at 0....

Yup, people find the oddest reasons to give their thumbs down on a post.   

[Ike the BN Freak]

Ike:  The 60 seat coach and sleepers, as well as a diner, would be nice, but one can get sides for them from Brass Car Sides.  They also have the full dome and dome coach sides, but fitting them to a CC or Bachmann car is much harder than doing the non-domes.  We NEED the domes!

We do need the domes, esp the full length dome.  And I can always take a regular dome and do a fantasy business car.

I have the Brass Car Sides sides, however being core kits are becoming scarce. Plus the Kato cars would have the flush fitting windows.

[nkalanaga]

Yes, the Kato cars would actually be better models than BCS with a core kit, unless one wants to put in a lot of work.

Surprisingly, the dome is the best part of the old CC model, although painting it is a pain.  With the glass and frame cast in one piece, it's much nicer than the side windows.

On the Bachmann-Chinese fuss, China several years back bought a large group of used US hoppers, so a US prototype in Chinese lettering could be correct.  I doubt that the Bachmann 3-bay hopper is the correct prototype, but don't remember what the real ones were.

[conrail1973]

Good Morning,

In my search for more information on the Walthers Central Distributors kit (I've seen images of it being displayed at the Walthers booth, but I can't find anything on their website yet), I found this show report that has the GP39-2 announcement displayed up on the board in the Atlas booth (it shows up around the 13:00 minute mark).

I'm very excited to see the DH Lightning Stripe paint scheme, but I'm trying to figure out if that was applied after the break-up with Guilford.  Anyhow, I agree with everyone on having this great model available for us next year.

Thanks,
Adam

[mu26aeh]

Also to note in this video is that the DC GP39-2 will include a speaker built into the unit so that if you want to upgrade to sound using the ESU slide in decoder, a speaker is already there and you're ready to roll.

[coosvalley]

Also to note in this video is that the DC GP39-2 will include a speaker built into the unit so that if you want to upgrade to sound using the ESU slide in decoder, a speaker is already there and you're ready to roll.

Hmm, well, as a DC user, if I wanted the speaker, I'd just buy the DCC version. Sounds to me like I'll be paying for a speaker that I don't want or need

[Ike the BN Freak]

Hmm, well, as a DC user, if I wanted the speaker, I'd just buy the DCC version. Sounds to me like I'll be paying for a speaker that I don't want or need

Sounds like it too, wonder if I can swap frames with someone who wants the sound ready ones when the day comes for older DCC ready frames.

[coosvalley]

Honestly, for a DC model, and if the speaker is going to be in the fuel tank, I would prefer a cast lead weight or something similar. I know I could likely do this afterward, but what good is a speaker if I don't DCC

Now, if the speaker is in it's own box on or above the circuit board, like it should be ,then I wouldn't care . I'm sure the extra cost is minimal, but still, it all adds up.

[C855B]

... I'm sure the extra cost is minimal, but still, it all adds up.

What adds up are the production line starts/stops and the parts inventory management overhead necessary to manufacture two different chassis. Not to mention opening yourself up for late-in-process production errors with similar-appearing subassemblies. I'm certain this was considered, discovering in the end it was cheaper to include the speaker support in all chassis rather than incur the charges for separate production runs.

[Cajonpassfan]

Bingo!

[OldEastRR]

Just like eventually all cars had FM radios and electric windows installed on every car, instead of being custom options. Just simplifying the production process.

[coosvalley]

My problem is that the fuel tank, if that's where they are putting the speaker, is not an enclosure, and , therefore, not a forward looking solution. These tiny speakers benefit from an enclosure.These tiny locos need all the weight they can get, and the fuel tank is a big part of that weight. Now if they design it so the speaker and enclosure go on/above the board, then I would be fine with that, even if I have to pay extra for a speaker,  that I could use, someday.

I understand they would want to simplify the process in any case.....It's their company, they can do what they want. I'm sure they'll sell some too.

[Dave V]

Screw this, let's get some Chinese narrow gauge.  That stuff is the shiz...