Atlas new N scale model announcement

[cfritschle]

I will buy a couple.. when released in the correct road name.

 

I would like to learn which road name or road names people are looking forward to seeing on the 1992-98 Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks.  (I know Ford did not officially have any 1998 Heavy Duty F-250 or F-350 trucks, put many states registered those built after December 31, 1997 as 1998 models.)

Please include photos or links to photos of the paint schemes you would like to see!

[Rossford Yard]

I had a chance to look at the Sam Posey book again. I was off.  In 2001, Walthers said they sold 129 miles of HO flex track, not just 29 miles. That's over 680,000 real feet, or if all 3 foot sections, 227,000 sticks.  I thought that was just their brand, or Atlas, but it was total HO sales of track.

Again, if the typical 4 x 8 layout makes up half the new layouts in the country, and it has a double track loop or about 44 feet of main track, and perhaps double that in yards and sidings.  Say, 100 feet per 4 x 8.  That might be 3,400 new layouts that year.

Those numbers surprise me.

[thomasjmdavis]

I had a chance to look at the Sam Posey book again. I was off.  In 2001, Walthers said they sold 129 miles of HO flex track, not just 29 miles. That's over 680,000 real feet, or if all 3 foot sections, 227,000 sticks.  I thought that was just their brand, or Atlas, but it was total HO sales of track.

Again, if the typical 4 x 8 layout makes up half the new layouts in the country, and it has a double track loop or about 44 feet of main track, and perhaps double that in yards and sidings.  Say, 100 feet per 4 x 8.  That might be 3,400 new layouts that year.

Those numbers surprise me.

Not me.  In those days (might still be true?) the National Train show/NMRA convention would draw over 20,000 people.  And IIRC, Model Railroader had a 6 figure subscriber base.  Some estimates of # of model railroaders run over 300,000.  With probably 10 times that if you count the folks who have a train set they set up once in a while.  Figure that 150,000 of the 300,000 are in HO- so those 3400 layouts mean that 2%-2.5% of HO modelers built (or started, or extended) a layout that year.

I think I may have bought about 150 feet of track one year, but that was N scale.  I tend to do things a bit at a time.

[Rossford Yard]

Not me.  In those days (might still be true?) the National Train show/NMRA convention would draw over 20,000 people.  And IIRC, Model Railroader had a 6 figure subscriber base.  Some estimates of # of model railroaders run over 300,000.  With probably 10 times that if you count the folks who have a train set they set up once in a while.  Figure that 150,000 of the 300,000 are in HO- so those 3400 layouts mean that 2%-2.5% of HO modelers built (or started, or extended) a layout that year.

I think I may have bought about 150 feet of track one year, but that was N scale.  I tend to do things a bit at a time.

I track the magazines various circulations over the years.  In 1990, when I got into N, MR was around 250K, and several pundits postulated that for every MR reader, there were probably two modelers, with shared copies (father son, roomies just out of college with 5 x 9 layout where most apartments would have a dining room table (don't ask me how I know that happens....) etc.  It was dropping slowly pre 2000, to about 225K, and has dropped about 10K per year since then.  It was 130K in 2011, with last year being the first where their reported circulation was under 100K copies according to their stats in the January issue.  I doubt the hobby has dropped that much, and the drop in circulation was fueled by general decline in magazines, cannibilization by scale specific magazines (by Kalmbach and others) and other factors.  Still, I don't doubt the number of modelers went down, both in the 2000 and especially 2006-9 recessions. 

However, as I mentioned, total MR spending remained constant at $400-425 Million plus at wholesale level.  Mr. Walthers even addressed that in his Posey interview - saying that there are fewer modelers, but the old geezers live longer and spend more money.  The industry somewhat survives on upgraded products and tech appealing to the same people, a la sound in locos, DCC, or even convenience products like pre-assembled structures, etc.  He noted that sales volumes (and tell us something we don't know from personal experience) come from locos first and foremost, then rolling stock, then track, with scenery and structures a distant 4th.

Other fun facts from that interview - the 2001 Walthers catalog had 61 pages devoted to military figures and accessories and 13 pages of circus items.  Unlike most businesses, which stress turnover rates off of their shelves, Walther's keeps obscure items just in case someone with a  20 year old airbrush needs a new filter, etc.  He said they had about 10,000 items that sold from 0-1 per year.

Sorry for the topic drift.  For whatever obsessive reason, I have always wondered just how many of "us" (i.e., at least semi serious model railroaders that have or have had a permanent or modular layout, are out there.

[MK]

Unlike most businesses, which stress turnover rates off of their shelves, Walther's keeps obscure items just in case someone with a  20 year old airbrush needs a new filter, etc.  He said they had about 10,000 items that sold from 0-1 per year.

Warehouse space must be cheap where they store their stuff.   

[Rossford Yard]

They said it was an old military px compound, where each of a dozen or so buildings had been converted to warehouses.  Sounds like they came pretty cheap back in the day, but who knows what current cost, ownership situation, etc. is now.