Hello all,
One of the reasons that it takes so long to get products to market is that a company may be working on many things at the same time.
You get so far on one project, switch to another, change priorities, etc. When your business is offering completely unique kits, it is difficult to gauge what will sell enough to actually make it viable.
Gregg Scott has been working on accurate, operational Milwaukee Electrics locomotives for about three years now. Entirely from scratch. Not shrunk down HO versions. And not kitbashed from anything. He has finished several versions of Milwaukee boxcabs, as well as the Little Joe. Many of his projects he does strictly for his own enjoyment. Right now he is trying to weigh the viability of putting the parts into production molds and offering highly specialized kits that can be used to create your own functional models.
Here is the current state of the Little Joe.
Note that it is fully powered.
So,
it is possible for you to have one of these. Here is what it would take:
1) You will have to make it yourself and you have to be one of quite a few other people who commit to buying one (that is, more than 25 units).
2) The kit cannot be powered by anything else and is based on the old Arnold GG1 (and be accurate to the prototype).
3) It is not based on (and
cannot be based on) the Kato GG1 model.
4) You need to buy 3 Arnold/Rapido GG1s to create 2 Little Joes (You just need the extra axles from a donor unit).
5) You would need to use basic modeling skills to disassemble the GG1s and make the chassis using parts in the kit.
6) The kits will not come with detailed instructions, but information non how to make it will be provided either on this site or on GHQs forum.
7) To make it like this model you will need to perform some advanced modeling tasks like turning down wheel flanges or bending grabs and ladders from wire.
Some additional parts, such as Kato GG1 pantographs would need to be purchased (and modified) to match the Milwaukee prototype.
If there are enough N-scale modellers left out there, we can make this happen.
So, the question is:
Is it worth the effort to you to actually model something for yourself that you want in N-scale if it isn't available RTR?
Hopefully, the answer is a resounding yes!
Otherwise, this and many other non-RTR projects probably won't become generally available, and that would truly be a shame for N-scale modellers.
Michael Livingston
A Railroad Modeller in N-scale and TT-scale