Update 12/31/13:) GGD 2ND Run of the Lightweight Passenger cars

Speaking of F40's I've been wanting a set of Proto 2 versions for some time.  However my 3rd Rail Amtrak FL9's are really much more unique pulling my Amtrak train anyway with the Pyle headlight and five chime horn.  I have a strobe kit ready to go to get the strobes working as well on one of my two.   

If Amfleet cars were announced I'd be in for at least 8 if not more.  My preference would be Phase III Amfleet II cars.  They mix so well with the Atlas Horizon coaches and would make a great looking modern mid distance train.  Likewise they would work well mixed in with Budd Heritage cars for a very passable long distance train.

We have to keep in mind though that the minimum order to support a run of Amfleet cars in going to be in the range of 1500-2000 cars.  One thing the Amfleet cars have going for them is that detail wise they are a little simpler to produce than some of the recent sets.

For me, quantity would depend on how they were offered.

If the coaches were in sets of 4, I think I'd go for a Phase IVb set, and a phase III set. If singles were available, I'd probably grab a few of Phase III, IV and IVb so I could mix them forward or backward into a mixed phase train. I'd also like a Metroliner cafe, as well as a the business class/cafe combo car. Obviously given my geographic location, the Phase IVb "Northeast Regional" cafe car is also a must.

Nice video Boilermaker.

Am I reading this thread correctly that the finish sets which were supposed to be done this month, moved to the spring (14), now have not secured enough orders to move forward?

If so this is very troubling having purchased the B&O "A" set based upon one day (March 2014) owning a complete train not four random cars.

That is not correct.  The B&O sets are moving forward.  We are doing some last minute adjustments to verify the accuracy of the graphics right now.  While I can't completely speak for Scott, the cars are in production and at this point the March date should hold.

The finish sets that are not scheduled for production yet include roads like NP and GN among others.  As has been mentioned, a lot of tooling has been completed for other sets such as the Lark, the '38 Broadway and the Canadian that can be used for future sets of cars.  It always comes down to orders and meeting minimum run requirements though.

Which is precisely why I just cancelled my order for ala-carte GN cars, as well as the pre-order for NP and GN finish sets with my GGD dealer.

I realize GGD cannot be all things to all people -- nor should they try.  I'm just not an ideal customer-match for this ala-carte style of passenger car production without a commitment for a full train.  I'm glad to see GGD has done full trains at times, but the ala carte approach is just not for me.

I haven't been particularly happy with any vendor's approach to this type of production -- regardless of the quality and/or price.  But at least with Atlas-O, I was able to jump on board and purchase enough of the earlier cars once they committed to an observation car.

David

Then perhaps I can interest you in 3 NP ala carte coaches/sleepers that I had purchased in hopes of having a complete NP passenger train.  I now plan to sell these -- hopefully to folks like you who prefer the mix/match approach to creating a passenger train. 

David

David - sorry to hear that you feel that way.  With enough orders, those finish sets will be run there just needs to be enough people willing to commit to the sets to meet minimum requirements to get them into production. 

As has been pointed out earlier in this thread, the B&O cars are very specific to the Columbian and not suitable for the North Coast Limited.  I am sure Scott would really like to get these sets finished, but without the minimum orders, it is difficult to justify from a business standpoint. 

Perhaps legitimate question, but would it be preferable to finish out the sets using existing tooling even if it meant a loss of prototype fidelity on the final product?  K-Line ran a lot of road names using generic tooling and there is some GGD precedent in some of the PS coaches that were run.

I am fine with that approach.  However, I suspect you may get some backlash from the true-to-exact-prototype crowd.  OTOH, if they never get the train completed due to insisting on prototype fidelity, then which problem is worse?  I would rather have a "close enough" complete train. 

David

I agree... and I'm not expecting the phone to be "ringing off the hook" on this offering!!! 

David

My role is primarily graphics and research so I can't speak to production numbers and minimums as well as some others.  I would agree that having a goal in mind would be helpful as a point of information. 

I believe for a four car set, the minimum is in the range of 250 sets, but I could be wrong on that.  More to the point, an update of how many sets have been reserved against a minimum could be helpful and I'll be sure to pass that on to Scott.  It might even help the dealer network as they might be more willing to purchase sets without pre-orders as well. 

He is coming back from the factory on Wednesday.  I'm sure the Big Boss himself will post to this thread with a better update when he recovers from the jet lag.

You know, detailwise, the k-line f40ph is a good looker too!

Here is an mth ps1 F40ph vs the k-line F40ph

I agree.  But,

The K-Line F40s are THE hardest thing to find.  I have an easier time finding brass I'm looking for than K-Line F40s.

Supposedly Atlas got the K-Line F40 tooling but then, poof, gone.

Scott really wants to make what he thinks he can make a profit on.  I think he's way out there with the Train of Tomorrow but I'm really happy he is trying.  75 sets was a go for the Lark and less than 50 (I recall) for the Columbian.  But if you only get 5 for a '48 EB or NCL not much you can do with that.  Even if you combine them for basic production you still don't have enough for the individual decorations. 

Don't tell him I said so but, I think he needs to drop most of the steam stuff.  By far the most amount of work and effort for the ROI.  But that reminds me I do need to reserve a green boilered S-12.

I was hoping that with all the talk about the finish sets that people would make some proposals as to what might make it possible to complete the set. I would be one who could accept some compramise to the perfect prototype. I for one would like to have a complete set rather than an incomplete waiting waiting waiting and never made!

I suppose one possible approach would be to provide an ala carte observation car for several roadnames -- just like the last few runs of coaches and sleepers.  Of course the most obvious challenge is each train only needs ONE observation car, whereas I believe the last few production runs of coaches and sleepers had 3 or 4 road numbers per livery to bring up the production volume.

Hate to say it... but if the orders aren't there, perhaps that says something about the market for cars being produced like this (i.e., in an ala carte manner at premium price points).

David

Boilermaker , I think my CN cars maybe are going to leave San Ramon shortly and journey up to the UPS Facility and hopefully make tonights train to Chicago. SO maybe with any luck at all Monday delivery or TUESDAY would be my guess.

Got an update from UPS  tonight that says

Scheduled Delivery Updated ToTuesday, 12/24/2013, By End of Day....YES!!!!!!!!

Yes they are rolling...UPS UPDATE SAID :" Left San Pablo, CA,12/19/2013  1:51A.M.PST

so that all sounds like it might just make it.

My Amtrak coaches arrived Friday.  No time to take pictures because I have a deadline today, but suffice it to say they are of the same excellent quality that the 10-6 and 4-4-2 sleepers were. 

Now for a Slumbercoach, a Budd 10-6, a corrugated lounge, crew - dorm, and a few baggage cars and I'm set. 

Jonathan, That is good news!! I am glad to know the quality of these coaches is as good as the 2 sleepers. Also good that yours have arrived. My cars are on a UPS train somewhere between Chicago and San Pablo CA. Mine are scgeduled for 12/24 so I am hoping the weather does not become  an issue. Wehave had an Ice storm yesterday and everything is coated with ice and it is now starting to snow some. So fingers crossed that 12/24 holds.

Just checked UPS and they got into Chicago about 4am at the scanner, so they are on track for a delivery tomorrow,

Here is one of the Amtrak cars.  Overall I'm pleased. 

Jonathan, Very clean lines on your cars. Thanks for sharing them with us.

My shipment should get picked up shortly and hauled back to Kalamazoo Mi very soon,

The cars just arrived. Pictures later today.

Popsrr,  how many CN cars to you have now?  Enough for a train (even without an observation)? 

From the looks of the GGD website, they don't even have the "finish sets" on the reservation order page anymore.    I guess I just can't follow the marketing madness for these "one-off" roadnames that are being made without a complete train offering (like some of the other GGD passenger trains).  How will GGD EVER get sufficient reservations if they've given up on taking orders for them.

Right now, I've cut my losses on these light-weight coaches.  Won't spend a penny more until I see more commitment from the importer.  If they don't commit, I ain't spending another $$$ on these passenger cars.  If I could, I'd return the 3 NP cars I purchased this year for a full refund... 'cause Lord knows when I'll ever see a finish set produced for them. 

David

Hi Daved,

I have 4 of the 10-6 sleepers, 7 of the 4-4-2 sleepers and now 8 of the light weight aluminum coaches for a total of 19 of the GGD Streamline cars. I have a ton of MTH 70' CN cars that match these GGD cars in the CN Green and Black. I am planning to make upat least 2 passenger consit's out of these cars. I can use the MTH cars to fill in what I don't hsve in GGD. However I would like tohave the matching GGD cars in a finish set.

But I wish Scott would make it possible for people to pick how many of what style car they would want for their "FINISH SET". I would pick 2 of the fishtail observation cars and probably 2 of another carLike a dome if offered. If he wanted to set a 4 car minimum for a "YOU PICK EM" finish set that would be ok for me but he needs ro out out some options to move the finish set forward.

I am not ready to give up on Scott at this point. I know he just got back from the far east and will be going  back for another round of inspections on another set of passerger cars.

My coaches have been on order since this past spring and did not maje the cut for the first run but were in the second run that arrived at my home 12/24/13. So I have a plan how to finish the set but also have an alternate that I hope can be worked out with Scott.

Dave hang inthere and give Scott some time to sort out a path to the finish set.

David,

Why don't you put those NP coaches on the for sale forum? You may be able to recover most,if not all, of your investment.

Those Amtrak smooth sided cars would look great behind a SDP40F, provided the later stays on the track!

Dave,

I JUST CHECKED fLEA BAY and Beth is getting $200+ ABOUT $13 FOR SHIPPING.

Her ad says it's her last one so I think posting it for sale could be a good move.

rheil,

Any more discussion on the finished sets?

I have said in my post above

"But I wish Scott would make it possible for people to pick how many of what style car they would want for their "FINISH SET". I would pick 2 of the fishtail observation cars and probably 2 of another car Like a dome if offered. If he wanted to set a 4 car minimum for a "YOU PICK EM" finish set that would be ok for me but he needs to put out some options to move the finish set forward.

I am not ready to give up on Scott at this point. I know he just got back from the far east and will be going back for another round of inspections on another set of passerger cars very soon so it may be a good thing to be talking with his supplier about.

Boilermaker1,

Did your GGH Light Weight Cars arrive?

Yes, the UPS man finally showed up about half an hour ago.

They look pretty nice, although I just opened one of them up and didnt really unpack it. I have too much of a mess going on in the basement already. I dont need any more stuff out and about right now.

Bolimaker1,

Glad to hear that the delivery was made. When you have a chance in a few days please post pictures. Thank you.

Well, I finally got around to opening them up. One of them is missing chunks of paint above the steps, and the other one has a scratch in it and part of the windowband is missing. Most of it just looks like the steps were not carefully assembled. The window banding on all the cars isnt spectacular, all of them have rough spots around the window openings, but to be missing a spot completely is just not acceptable. I've emailed Scott to see if he has replacements in stock, as repainting metallic silver may as well be impossible. The other 2 are fine.

Boilermaker1, Thanks for posting your pictures. I am sure Scott will find a way to take care of your issues. Glad you have a couple of cars that are ok.