With next year being the 40th anniversary of the "Year of the Amfleet", and this turning into the summer of forum product requests, it seems like the time is right to start my campaign.
It would seem to me like these would sell big, considering how long they've been on the rails, and the near complete lack of scale modern Amtrak equipment available (because we all know how easy it is to find 21" Superliners). Yet... its obvious the demand for the modern equipment is there, just look at the prices being commanded for MTH Genesis locomotives... all of them, not just the "holy grail" phase V version. F40's are hard to stumble upon as well, either MTH or K-lines. All these people need some cars, and at least some of them want the full scale cars (I know this because I've seen it requested repeatedly on this forum).
So, having said that, here's my case:
-Its basically a standardized car. Yes, the Amfleet I and II differ and one or the other would have to be selected from the outset but from the perspective of making it, its a fluted tube shaped extrusion. Most of the detail is in getting the HEP underframe right.
-It can be boiled down to coaches, and cafe cars. A train consists of many coaches, and one cafe car, making a "set" mostly coaches, which ought to help with getting the necessary order volume.
-Its worn every Amtrak paint scheme. When you add in all of the special service schemes (Metroliner Service, Northeast Direct, Northeast Regional (only marked on the cafe), etc....), its many more. This fact means that ANY locomotive that Amtrak had, pulled an Amfleet at some point or another. GG1s with power cars, 5 E-8s were converted to HEP so they could pull Amfleets, and everything since then has had amfleets in tow. Same car, painted at least 8 different ways (Phase I, II, III, IV, IVb and V (the Acela Blotch), plus the service logos, in 4 car sets, I suspect the numbers would climb quickly... its just making the same car over and over again, with a few different sets of decals.
Then add the cafe/lounges... still the same extrusion with a different window arrangement, and sell it individually. This enables things like buying a NE Regional Phase IVb cafe car, and also buying a standard IVb cafe car, and one set of coaches, and having the ability to create 2 different regional trains with the same set of coaches.
If these were done, I'd have a hard time not just blowing next year's entire train allotment on multiple sets of these cars. These nice scale locomotives just dont look right with short cars.
Bonus for making Viewliners as well, but in needing just one or 2 per train, I could see that being a little bit tougher of a sell (however because one or 2 would do, could be done in brass?)
Double Bonus for doing the 2 Amfleet sleepers.
Who's with me?
