Charles Ro Shipping

i will be getting Santa fe passenger cars tomorrow .

they arrived today will unbox tomorrow!

FedEx shows two boxes coming from Ro, but my credit card shows only one item has been charged.  I guess I'll wait to see what shows up.

My Ferdinand Magellan Presidential car arrived - A huge disappointment!!  There was nothing changed from the other observation cars except name on the side of the car and the presidential seal on the back.  They did not make a real attempt at modeling the actual car which still exists.

@Roundhouse Bill posted:

My Ferdinand Magellan Presidential car arrived - A huge disappointment!!  There was nothing changed from the other observation cars except name on the side of the car and the presidential seal on the back.  They did not make a real attempt at modeling the actual car which still exists.

That was pretty obvious by the catalog illustration.

You were expecting miracles?

Rusty

I had an email conversation with Ryan Kunkle yesterday.  I also chatted with him when they were cataloged.  Initially he said they were going to make the car look like the original.  Yesterday he said that not enough were ordered to alter the tooling of the car.  Yes, I expected more.

@Roundhouse Bill posted:

I had an email conversation with Ryan Kunkle yesterday.  I also chatted with him when they were cataloged.  Initially he said they were going to make the car look like the original.  Yesterday he said that not enough were ordered to alter the tooling of the car.  Yes, I expected more.

They probably would have only changed the roof, anyway.  The car would've needed a completely new body to match the prototype Ferdinand Magellan.

Rusty

Rusty, if you look at the actual car it was pretty standard.  Modeling the the roof of the car and taking passengers out of the windows would have been enough. 

@Roundhouse Bill posted:

Rusty, if you look at the actual car it was pretty standard.  Modeling the the roof of the car and taking passengers out of the windows would have been enough.

I have taken a look.  Outside of the obvious roof difference, there's no vestibule on the No. 2 end, there's a service door for the galley and the window arrangement is completely different from the Lionel/Flyer observation.

Image: The Pennsy Modeller

Image: Lionel/Flyer catalog  2020 V1.

Now, that said, I actually considered throwing the inaccuracies to the wind, ordering the Ferd and scalifying it with AM trucks.  But more than anything else, I decided I didn't need another project.

Rusty

Thanks for the visuals.  At least I will take the people out of the windows.  When I looked it up the presidential train usually had two other cars.  Another coach and a combine car for communications.  I might try to get the other two cars.

@Roundhouse Bill posted:

I had an email conversation with Ryan Kunkle yesterday.  I also chatted with him when they were cataloged.  Initially he said they were going to make the car look like the original.  Yesterday he said that not enough were ordered to alter the tooling of the car.  Yes, I expected more.

Bill,

Thank you for posting your sample. I liked the idea of a Ferdinand Magellan, but was afraid that it would turnout as Lionel pictured it. You may remember that I posted a picture of an accurate brass model and a news photo awhile back so it is not difficult to check the appearance of the real one. Not making the car look more like the prototype is a great way to stunt sales. Duh. A self-fulfilling prophecy. Sorry to use you as the "early adopter", but you were very helpful, albeit in a round about way.

Thanks.

Bob

Bob:

When this was just in the catalog I called Ryan Kunkle and discussed it with him.  He said the car would be accurate.  If you read above I  communicated after I got the car.  He said that not enough were ordered to change any tooling.  It was unfortunate that orders were low on a historic car.  As always production costs determine the outcome based on orders.

It will be interesting to see what will be produced from the new catalog because the prices are higher than the past on some of it.

Unfortunately, catalog copy outweighs a phone call with one individual.

Had Lionel put up a prototype photo of the Ferdinand Magellan in the catalog (or heavily photoshopped the model photo,) then released the car as it is, I would say there would be a case.  But, there was no mention in the catalog hard copy or online the car was going to emulate the prototype.  The car was produced as cataloged.  There is no case here.

We're not dealing with Athearn Genesis, Rapido Trains, Scale Trains or Walthers here.  We're dealing with the red-haired stepchild of Lionel and expectations should be lowered accordingly.

I suspect most of the Flyer Folks don't really care if the model matches the prototype.  Had a new roof been applied, I would wager Lionel would have taken heat "because the roof doesn't match the other cars."

Rusty

@Roundhouse Bill posted:

Bob:

When this was just in the catalog I called Ryan Kunkle and discussed it with him.  He said the car would be accurate.  If you read above I  communicated after I got the car.  He said that not enough were ordered to change any tooling.  It was unfortunate that orders were low on a historic car.  As always production costs determine the outcome based on orders.

Correct you are. My friendly point is that if they had pictured and made a more accurate car in the first place, Lionel might have had more preorders and more subsequent sales upon delivery.   Thanks again.

Respectfully,

Bob

@Rusty Traque posted:

Unfortunately, catalog copy outweighs a phone call with one individual.

<snip>

We're not dealing with Athearn Genesis, Rapido Trains, Scale Trains or Walthers here.  We're dealing with the red-haired stepchild of Lionel and expectations should be lowered accordingly.

I suspect most of the Flyer Folks don't really care if the model matches the prototype.  Had a new roof been applied, I would wager Lionel would have taken heat "because the roof doesn't match the other cars."

Rusty

True. However, I am a life long 'Flyer guy' and I do care within reason what S gauge and scale trains (setting prewar tinplate aside) look like as models relative to the prototypes. Historically, A. C. Gilbert and Maury Romer did, too.

For what it is worth.

Bob