It's not just Lionel that can't get electronic parts

As demand picks up in manufacturing, you will see lots of parts shortages.  Having been in the electronics industry for all my working life, it's a regular cycle.  The reason it hasn't been as bad this "recovery" is that the recovery has been very slow.  In previous recoveries from a recession, parts lead times suddenly start shooting out to months and even years in extreme examples.  The faster the recovery, the greater the shortages will be.  It takes time for the parts manufacturers to get capacity on-line to meet demand, and may are reluctant to ramp up big time for fear of the next recession catching them with lots of excess capacity.  Many simply opt for longer lead times and build up a book of back-orders.

 

Two years ago John Z told me that he was deeply concerned about the long term availability of the Cab-2 display. People want color, not a low resolution black and white screen, so few are built anymore. Not saying that this is the problem with the 990 being unavailable, but it points out a bigger problem small manufactures have to deal with.

Lionel and MTH are very small fish in a big ocean

Good Thread!!
Lets say you are correct, and the B/W screen is no longer available. What do you think Lionel would do?
Maybe they would have to upgrade to a color hi-resolution screen..

It would be pretty cool to see on the Cab-2 screen what you are running





K.C.

That would NOT be cool, I'd drop the remote in fright and probably break it!

 

I think a color display will be the answer at some point

As for your example:

 

I read recently that something like 70% or the devices on Verizon's network are "smart" devices.  I assume the other carriers are similar.  That will soon be nearly 90 or 100%.  That means almost everyone will be carrying a full color touchscreen programmable device in their pocket.  Lionel should build a Legacy base with built in WIFI and no (or optional) remote.  They can build the simple Cab-L1 remote for the kids and build a nice universal app for the modeler with the complex layouts.  Write it as a html5 web app that will run on just about any device and then it is future proof.  (You can build a simple web server into the base for a few 10s of dollars or less). In addition when groups of people get together for an operating session all they have to do is bring their phones and multiple operators can run on the layout.  I know this might not appeal to some out there but I bet the younger generation will love it and that is what we need to build more interest in the hobby.

The key difference with PocketWizard (see the official press release here) is that they are well-positioned to offer photographers a current solution with an alternate product.

 

Lionel was not that lucky, and got caught with their pants down.  The Cab1L is not a full-featured alternative for 990/Cab2 users.  

 

Nonetheless, this highlights one of the (unplanned) complexities of dealing with overseas suppliers with shortened product life-cycles.  It's a very real vulnerability of today's accelerated technology treadmill.  

 

David

Great, so much for the "collectability" for those of us that currently own one with the old black and white screen..........................

I have used  both of them The PW3 to the MutliMax is about the same as as the 1L to the Cab2. The PW3 does the basics, but the MultiMax does a bunch more.

I never gave it a thought before, but it sure sounds like a screen issue could force a color screen upgrade by Lionel. 
I would think Lionel would want to do a redo on their Command System Look. Since the new look would not be a marketing ploy, but a forced new look (lack of screens) …Sales would be brisk to all us understanding Hobbyists?!.


K.C.

"Understanding hobbyists" would be the ones who know this "train wreck" is coming. A fair chunk of the rest would probably think "forced to pay extra for something they didn't absolutely need"

 

---PCJ

When I worked for the Navy we had 3-5 years lead time on some components.  I don't know the numbers offhand, but let's say the Navy has 300 SPY-1 radar systems and there's a part in them that there's only one or two of in each system.  There's not an endless supply of these parts on hand (and we're talking about defending our nation here, not playing with trains) and if all the spares have been used, then they have to cut a new order to get more made.  This part design may be 20 years old and no longer worth the effort so then they have to modify a new design to fit the old footprint.  We could be talking about a part that would prevent the ship from deploying unless it was fixed.

 

It just takes time, folks in the electronics industry aren't sitting around waiting for an order from our train companies, they're busy inventing/improving on what they have made (and I'm sure model train electronics are not their only source of revenue).  Maybe if our train makers had the capability in-house to make the parts they need the wait times wouldn't be so bad, not our government doesn't have that capability either.

See fredt's post above.

 

It's much more likely than a re-designed CAB-2 that would probably go through the same issue years down the road.

 

I'm not in favor of it at all, but it's probably the solution that is most likely to come to reality.

 

(I'm also not a fan of those programmable entertainment remotes with the touch pad controls for similar reasons.  I can't stand having a remote that I can't feel around and know what I am touching without looking at the darn screen)

 

-Dave

Interesting.

 

Maybe we can see why Lionel is developing  tablet and phone apps. Then they can avoid

a bespoke remote. All they have to do is keep the software up to date so the latest and greatest device can run it.

 

Nick

Whats that? Lionels dropping the remote? Sweet, my collectability just shot back up!

A new remote with a color screen and new miniature cameras in the cabin of the locomotive that feed the images back to the remote.

 

 

Andrew

I've got the camera covered with an RF link to a receiver that I connect to a monitor.  It was a hit at the first show I took it to, the TCA National Convention.

 

Oh please no. Just replace the screen with color if need be but no cameras. If you're going to do that might as well just use a smart phone or iPad.