GGD Passenger Train Production?

Jay,

 What does "GGD" mean??

traindavid posted:

Jay,

 What does "GGD" mean??

Golden Gate Depot

Ah, OK--would these be brass then? (or extruded aluminum, maybe?) I don't remember the announcement.

The announcement was made last September.

http://www.goldengatedepot.com/reservationS.html

Several folks have asked for an update, but it's been silent running from GDD/3Rd Rail.  My guess is the reservations have been disappointing and the project is floundering.

Rusty

Rusty et al.,

I had pretty much come to same conclusion, but thought I would check to see if I missed  some news on the proposed project.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Jay M.

Like many things that get announced on this forum, there is a lot of initial excitement but it doesn't turn into orders.  The S project is not dead, just waiting on more pre-orders to make a run of cars financially feasible.

The same is true of the GGD "042" project.  Lots of excitement over it, but still not enough orders to put one into production. 

Wow, they look fabulous (assuming the S versions will be as nicely done as the O versions pictured, and I've no reason to believe they won't be any less fabulous).

However, (don't you hate these "However's"?) with my now-limited income, I just can't afford them! Even if they did the Shasta Daylight (my childhood passenger train)! I do hope they get enough orders, as these will be the envy of any scale.

Ah, to win the lottery. . . .what do you mean I have to first buy a ticket???. . . . .

I had the chance to talk to the GDD folks at York about the S-Gauge passenger cars.  It appears they don't have enough orders to make a run (at least not yet).  I was disappointed to hear that the person I talked too didn't know anything about the planned AF "Shorty" version of the cars.  The impression I got was they would run the cars if they got a sufficient number of orders.  Obviously, they didn't mention how many that would be...

I pre-ordered a set and received a confirmation but despite posting questions on status never got any updates. It would be helpful if we knew about how big the gap is between pre-orders and what is needed to start production.

If they are talking about also making "shorties" I fear that could kill the S gauge project, S gauge is too small to split the buyers into two pools. However if both versions could use common tooling and masks then maybe it would be additive and help get a minimum order quantity.

A little information that might be helpful.  The current status with aluminum GGD car sets is the builder is currently willing to go to 60 sets for a minimum run.  Basically about 500 cars total. 

Aluminum tooling makes these project feasible as there is not injection mold like you would see in plastic or cast metals.  The extrusion is continuous for all practical purposes and is simply cut to size (scale or short) in this case.  End caps, add-on details, trucks are the same.  The differences are in the windows, length of light bar and interior.  Not very difficult to deal with.  Windows are all CNC these days so there is no tool.

As for status, these projects are sometime slow to fill.  S is a niche market even more so than O, but once enough orders come in to make the project feasible it will go.   

Thanks Jonathan, most helpful.

All,

Other than the initial announcement, it appears that there has been no additional advertising for this project.  Yes, I know that S scale is a niche market, but unless you saw that initial potential project news, it is indeed a 'S'ecret (old joke in S circles).  If they are indeed serious about proceeding with the project, I would suggest occasional announcements (i.e. advertising) in the S media (S Scale Resource; NASG Dispatch).

Just my '2 cents' on the matter.

Jay Mellon

New Orleans, LA 

MMac posted:

I had the chance to talk to the GDD folks at York about the S-Gauge passenger cars.  It appears they don't have enough orders to make a run (at least not yet).  I was disappointed to hear that the person I talked too didn't know anything about the planned AF "Shorty" version of the cars.  The impression I got was they would run the cars if they got a sufficient number of orders.  Obviously, they didn't mention how many that would be...

You either talked to Scott Mann or me at York. If it was me then I said that the S gauge cars would be (if they went in to production) full scale length models. We do not currently plan to do "shorty" versions of passenger cars in S scale or gauge. That can always change.

The announcement on the webpage mentions Shorty cars.  .  .   .

traindavid posted:

The announcement on the webpage mentions Shorty cars.  .  .   .

To be blunt, I don't think many of the Flyer Brethren are willing to pony up the projected cost of these cars, ($1800 for the 6 car set, $300 each for the two extra cars.  Subject to change once production actually begins.)

Rusty

Rusty, I don't disagree with you, I was just pointing out that the "shorty cars" was from THEIR website, not something just suggested by someone as "a nice idea."