Model Power Going Out of Business

[Puddington]

No one here is going to vamp for Model Power as a "class one" n scale supplier; they were not a top tier player for quality or product selection but they were, nevertheless, valuable. Their steam engines were quite acceptable, especially if you didn't mind tinkering; their FP7A was years ahead of IM's and if not the most detailed model in the world it was, nevertheless a first and a real puller. Their building were, and are valuable as bases for kitbashs and their passenger cars have served as the core kit and fodder for many exceptional bashes through the years by many members here. Many a modeller started out with a Model Power train set......

In the spectrum of the scale, there are many players, each adding something - the loss of Model Power is a loss for the scale, and the hobby. It is also a cautionary tale about how the industry is changing from that of the traditional inventory based supplier to the "offer it and make it" based supplier. Maybe not what we, the modelling public wants but what the current financial environment demands.

[Scottl]

Sad news.  I had Model Power HO equipment as a kid.

In the spectrum of the scale, there are many players, each adding something - the loss of Model Power is a loss for the scale, and the hobby. It is also a cautionary tale about how the industry is changing from that of the traditional inventory based supplier to the "offer it and make it" based supplier. Maybe not what we, the modelling public wants but what the current financial environment demands.

True indeed, and unfortunately, reflected at the hobby shop level as well.  Store fronts are getting challenging to keep viable.

[C855B]

I will miss their Vandy tender - a good core especially for UP and SP modelers. Hopefully somebody will pickup the tooling. MBK has a handful in stock, maybe I ought to get one or two to have on-hand for future projects.

[tom mann]

I just went to the locomotive page.

They have an FP7 with DCC and sound.

Did anyone know they sold a loco with DCC and sound?  I didn't.

I was thinking the same thing.  Amazingly, it is pictured having rapido couplers though.  Odd, eh?

[learmoia]

Well this sucks. I wonder how far they got on their SW1500 project before pulling the plug. Curious to see what becomes of the stream engine line. The structures were always junk, but even their original owner Pola is out of business.

Someone in China could get rich collecting all this derelict ţ tooling and starting a new company up.

Umm.. the SW1500 is based on the Life Like/Walthers Mech.. isn't it?

The Steam engine loss is a shame though..

~Ian

[up1950s]

(counting the seconds until someone on this forum quotes this post and types.....

"does anyone care?"  Hahaha.  5, 4, 3, 2, ... )

Honey Badgers don't care , but Vandy tender users do . Any loss of steam reduces N scale options . I will miss the options they offered .

[Dave Schneider]

I see this as quite a large loss for N scale in general, if not for TRW members in particular. Look at many, many of the "beginner" N scale model railroads that are out there (for lack of a better term). You will see these populated by many of the buildings currently offered by Model Power. Some of us like to scratch build and modify kits, but almost all of us started in the hobby with these types of kits. One less supplier is really a loss. Just my opinion.

Best wishes, Dave

[Nato]

     Their product line (N Scale) will be missed. I really love  / like their small steamers ,purchased a number of them including undec with various cab , pilot and other detal options included in box. I will miss a source for small vandy tenders. Web side gives no info on sound equiped FP-7 execpt that they were selling one. I bettter stock up on a couple of CP Action Red FP-7's. Nate Goodman (Nato).

[Chris333]

I wonder if things would be different if they had built all those steamers the way everyone on earth told them to?

[lock4244]

Big deal. Haven't bought anything from them in like 25 years. More concerned about that ant I stepped on on Saturday 

I'm also not mourning the downfall of the telegraph or asbestos...

There, someone had to say it 

[lock4244]

On a sad note, just got word that ant passed away

[mmagliaro]

For all the flaws in those steam locos, they had a lot of promise.  The detailing was good, the gearing was smooth, the drivers were nice.  On the 4-4-0, the motor was superb.  It is a 5-pole Mashima can.  Other makers would do well to use that motor, which handily beats the ones that Kato, Atlas, and Bachmann put in their engines.   
Why they didn't use the same motor in all their engines, I'll never know.
 
Sadly, they blew it on electrical pickup and traction, so I would never pay the $150+ pricing they had on those engines.
Even at half that price, it is hard to convince anyone to buy them because they require fixin'.

All that said, they were great sources for steam kitbashing, and I am really sad to see this.  Those steam locos
were not dinosaurs or telegraphs.   They were a bold idea that simply missed the mark in some critical areas.
They introduced a whole new newly-designed line of steam
against the competition from Bachmann and Kato.  That was a gutsy move.  I wish they had not made those
basic design errors.  I wish they had talked to some of us and listened before they came out with the initial runs.

Oh how, I wish...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm sad, but not surprised, to hear this news.

They do make some decent things (their steamers, and that FP7), but what have you heard from them lately?

I think their demise might have also been related to the fact that they play in the lower end of a high end market, and just haven't kept with the times.

Also, that FP7 that people like? That thing came out something like 10 years ago. In this industry, you've got to come out with new stuff or you die. I mean, how many of the "Collector Edition" Dutch Masters boxcars does the world need?

I do hope that some of the quite nice folks over there land on their feet.

[VonRyan]

Buy up them steamers while they're cheap.
I never did buy any, but I might just have to now.

-Cody F.

[MichaelWinicki]

I think their demise might have also been related to the fact that they play in the lower end of a high end market, and just haven't kept with the times.

Well said Ed.

One well known business consultant once said "You (as a business) need to re-invent yourself every 7 years."

The number may not be 7 years for every industry.  For one industry it may be 3 years, for another 10 years.  But the point is clear (and it's something I'm experiencing myself), you will have to change your business model at some point– and either you willingly embrace that change and run with it or the market will punish you severely for ignoring it.

I don't have a single Model Power anything on my layout... freight car... locomotive... track... building... scenery item.

It sounds like the steam loco line will be greatly missed, but it's not a good thing that a good percentage of any loco that's released needs to be "tinkered with" in order to run properly.  That shouldn't be the case.  I wonder how many kids out there received a MP train set and ended up getting frustrated because it just didn't work right.