cancelled engines

PHL Gensets. CANCELLED!

 

I had three on pre-order as they switch the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (and would be switching our port at the club. Pre-orders don't guarantee production unless there are enough of them. Very disappointing.

 

Hopefully they won't cancel the ATSF GP35's.

 Matt, I wanted the BN SD45. If it meant you getting them made, I'd switch to the SF GPs. The bigger companies don't share the info like Sunset does. I don't know if it would matter. What's the magic numbers for them??

I bet it is like voting.  Your vote counts for very little, but so does everyone else's.

 

If everybody waits until the model is done, then the model does not get done.  There is nothing wrong with waiting, but like voting, if you do not make the effort, you cannot complain.  Opinion, of course.

I wanted a PHL Genset so bad! That one hurt.

Yeah. When 3rd Rail announced the CNW H1, I pre-ordered one. They didn't get enough reservations (50 of the 100 needed) so it was cancelled. A couple of people and I had offered to buy two each if they were close. Fortunately, the builder was in a slow period and offered to do low-number runs, so the project is back on. MTH has the tooling on the Gensets and the SD45 so other than decoration, there isn't much producing the PHL and the BN. Go figure.

Word is that MTH makes scale-wheel engines in very small numbers. I've heard it said that as few as a dozen diesels are made this way. Assuming the numbers are around there, it means two things: 1) If you really want to be sure of having a particular model, it's a good idea to reserve it. 2) It doesn't take very many reservations to ensure the model is made in two-rail configuration. When talking about such small quantities, your reservation "vote" carries a lot more weight in terms of whether a two-rail version is made, so it definitely helps to reserve. Of course there have to be enough three-rail reservations for anything to be made, but the point here is that if an engine is indeed going to be made it doesn't take many reservations to put a two-rail version over the top. RM

All the more reason for MTH to just raise the price for the 3-rail units by $20 and include the fixed pilots. We can get our own 2-rail wheelsets. This would make the 3RS operators exstatic, would cut stocking, cataloging and production costs and make 2-rail units more readily available.

Joe,

 

When  I got interested in "O" scale, I did a bit of research as to what all was out there in the realm of what I had interest in. Once I established that a fair percentage of the stuff I hoped to get was "out there", I started looking for it.

 

As for stuff that may or may not get made, two words: Good Luck!

 

Add to that the idea that I like to see what I am getting, because the one thing worse than something NOT getting done is something getting done and being butchered.

 

If you look for something hard enough, you will usually find it sooner or later, and the search for things helps keep up your enthusiasm.

 

That's how I go about it, and it works OK for me. If you want a lot more choices, maybe HO is your scale, but it's not for me!

 

Good Luck on your quest.

 

Simon

They just need to get on the ball in terms of initial design. They need a pilot that has a spacer. It could come without the spacer installed with the pilot mounted to the trucks. The spacer could be used to fix the pilot to the frame. They'd just need to design a removable lobster claw. If they are already 3/2 capable, this gives all options in 1 design. Problem solved.

"They" are apparently doing just fine.

 

Once in a while, enterprising folks will invent an aftermarket conversion kit.  Fred has the expertise, so it is time for him to reap the profit from Mikey's oversight.

 

I am with Simon - everything I ever lusted for in O Scale has shown up somehow, with the possible exception of the sides and nose for my sand- cast Erie-Built.  HO certainly has more variety, but way less charm.

I'm not really going to have much time to devote to any train projects for a while. I'm going to be a daddy in April.

 

I found out that York from Jeff Dobslaw that the CNJ 3/2 Trainmaster has been canceled as well.  I had reserved one from him.  Disappointed in the fact that this locomotive is one of the keys to completing my CNJ diesel roster, but not disappointed in that I'm not spending the money for it now.

Let me see if I understand this advice to Mikey:

 

You sell four thousand SD-35s to the three rail community, and a dozen to the 2- railers.  We want you to provide everybody with spare parts for $20 more per unit, so the small community of scale modelers can avoid purchasing extra parts.

 

We do not really care that yours is a price sensitive market - we think the smarter business model is catering to a minority at the expense of everybody else.

 

Did I get the gist of the argument, or am I missing something?

Bob2: I agree with you wholeheartedly. What a ridiculous idea to charge the majority for what the minority wants. Furthermore, Mikey does such a small amount of 2-rail because any true 2-railer does not want DCS crap and 3-rail details on the 2rail locomotive, like under frame handrail. I refuse to buy a subpar 2-rail locomotive until Mikey can get the quality like Sunset is now producing. Even Atlas has lost its rating with a 3-rail double motor drive and under the frame handrails on its TM line like the RS3. Give me quality and not a 2-rail model that one has to spend $100s to fix the darn thing. "Don't Waste Your Money!"

Stephen

Jonathan I totally agree.  I think once the first run came out and folks got a chance to see what could be had at such a great price the swing began.  I think it will continue.  Not to mention that when you consider the price of 3rd rails other offerings in brass such as the GS-4's or the K2's and so on you can have a superior model for about the same cost or slightly more as a Mikey special with out having to do a lot of mods.

There is some interest in two rail as well as three rail.

 

Lionel had some nice engines that would be required to pre-order and frankly I am not too thrilled with the way sometimes pre-orders get canceled. I have learned that everything that is wanted eventually shows up somewhere.

 

I ended up not making any pre-orders which may or may not impact China's ability to even produce the item. The reason being is that Retail pricing has finally increased to where it is good enough to acquire from other sources for less.

 

As far as the Coupler issue, I saw the same problem even in HO scale when dummies are applied to 600 dollar engines because the maker could not somehow design a Kaydee coupler or lobster claw (In O scale too.) Surely those computer work stations with 4000 dollar Rendering cards should be able to find room in the 3D designs prior to production.

 

Things are improving. Over time. We will see.

I would make the argument that he is already doing so with the 3/2 engines and the new release of 2 rail track so why not complete the adaptation?

The proper analogy would be if he is including 2-rail parts in all shipments and boosting the price for all by $39.95.

 

Since I am not an analogy expert, this has to be opinion.