Just put my order in for the Lionel UP Excursion Passenger car set, is there a car missing?

I'm going to wait and see.  Considering this is Lionel, after they're released, after all the complaining about this is wrong and that is wrong, and after everything settles down, then I'll think about picking up a set.

Unsolicited sharing of Just a few thoughts....

1. Lionel seems to be putting a lot of investment into their 21" cars.  This means that for better or worse, I think they will be making them for a while.  Scarcity in the near term should not be an issue.   

2. If they're wrong, incorrect, or whatever then there will be a lot of them available at much better prices than the advance build to order hoo-ha.  Similar to the eBay glut of renumbered FEF's that were rejected due to incorrectly advertised feedwater heater systems.   I suspect inaccurate details aside they would still be a nice set to pick up at that point, but at a much better price. Remember all the hubub about the 18" aluminum cars?  and now it seems nobody wants them.

3. I'm optimistic that Lionel will get it right and hits it out of the park with this set then (see #1) I'd wager that they will be available in the next few catalogs anyway (i.e ESE) and I will feel better about putting up bigger money after seeing the actual production models.

The rest, as I've mentioned, is wait and see.  Besides I have two sets of Harriman cars on order I have to pay for first.

WITZ 41 posted:

...  Lionel seems to be putting a lot of investment into their 21" cars.  This means that for better or worse, I think they will be making them for a while. 

...  Remember all the hubub about the 18" aluminum cars?  and now it seems nobody wants them. ...

The 21" cars, while "nice", are certainly not the be-all end-all that some are making them out to be.  I, for one, much prefer the 18" aluminum cars Lionel made for years.  And they are much more appropriate for a broader audience.

However, the "buying public" can be a funny breed of consumer, and Lionel is quite fortunate that the loyal masses tend to trip over themselves buying whatever Lionel currently says is the "in thing" to purchase.  Thus the case for the 21" passenger cars, which are only REALLY appropriate for large basement empires and club-sized layouts.  True, Lionel claims their 21" cars can accommodate an O-54 radius curve.  But quite frankly, they look absolutely silly doing so.  Heck, even O-72 is a stretch for these 21" cars.

Look... I'm happy for those who want them and choose to buy them.  But I expect in a couple of years, the secondary market is gonna be FLOODED with 21" cars that folks realize are too large for their layouts... and might even take up too much wall space on display shelves! 

I'll take the 18" aluminum cars over ANYTHING I've seen so far in 21" from Lionel.  During the year or two when Lionel cancelled 18" aluminum production and cut over to 21" ABS cars, I was SO hoping the last of the 18" aluminum would include the beautiful Texas Special that had been catalog'd.  Alas... that didn't happen, and Lionel produced them in 21" plastic instead.  They were nice cars, indeed.  And the constant LED-lighting is a big plus too.  But we haven't really seen another production run of 21" ABS cars since, despite the fact that quite a few liveries have been catalog'd for a couple of years now. 

Just seems Lionel can't get its act together with Chinese factories to make passenger cars on a regular basis anymore.    As we've noted many times here on the forum, many of the 21" cars can't even make it onto the shipping schedule after months (or in some cases a year or more) of being catalog'd.

David

I have heard the REED JACKSON car is not run now when the steamer goes out.  Guess that is one car onedoes not have to worry about with a present day steam special.

David,

There's another current thread about the ship date of the excursion cars and in it I have referred to what is the latest word about the ship date, which is spring this year (I take that to mean not before May or June). "Spring" came from a post on here by Ryan K. of Lionel. As you say, none of these cars or the theater car are in the Lionel shipping schedule yet but equally significant Charles Ro's website gives no estimated ship date for them. So while I am confident they will in fact be built I can't see them arriving any time very soon.

Lowly consumers of Lionel products are not going to be told specifics about manufacturing difficulties but that there are problems I have no doubt. 

Incidentally, although Ryan K. also said that there were samples of the next run of ABS cars at Lionel and photos would be posted of them here or Lionel's Facebook page I have not seen any here, there or anywhere. Dunno if anyone else has seen them in print or indeed in person at any recent train show.

Lionel is focusing on accurate UP Excursion cars.  I hope they succeed and we'll benefit with beautiful models.

Excited for these to arrive.  Been waiting since the 'leak' in the '15 Vol II catalog!  WOW! 

86TA355SR posted:

Lionel is focusing on accurate UP Excursion cars.  I hope they succeed and we'll benefit with beautiful models.

Excited for these to arrive.  Been waiting since the 'leak' in the '15 Vol II catalog!  WOW! 

 

Yes, I hope they get it right too. I don't think there has been a Lionel product newly tooled as highly anticipated as this one in a long time. 

Rocky Mountaineer posted:

WITZ 41 posted:

...  Lionel seems to be putting a lot of investment into their 21" cars.  This means that for better or worse, I think they will be making them for a while. 

...  Remember all the hubub about the 18" aluminum cars?  and now it seems nobody wants them. ...

The 21" cars, while "nice", are certainly not the be-all end-all that some are making them out to be.  I, for one, much prefer the 18" aluminum cars Lionel made for years.  And they are much more appropriate for a broader audience.

However, the "buying public" can be a funny breed of consumer, and Lionel is quite fortunate that the loyal masses tend to trip over themselves buying whatever Lionel currently says is the "in thing" to purchase.  Thus the case for the 21" passenger cars, which are only REALLY appropriate for large basement empires and club-sized layouts.  True, Lionel claims their 21" cars can accommodate an O-54 radius curve.  But quite frankly, they look absolutely silly doing so.  Heck, even O-72 is a stretch for these 21" cars.

Look... I'm happy for those who want them and choose to buy them.  But I expect in a couple of years, the secondary market is gonna be FLOODED with 21" cars that folks realize are too large for their layouts... and might even take up too much wall space on display shelves! 

I'll take the 18" aluminum cars over ANYTHING I've seen so far in 21" from Lionel.  During the year or two when Lionel cancelled 18" aluminum production and cut over to 21" ABS cars, I was SO hoping the last of the 18" aluminum would include the beautiful Texas Special that had been catalog'd.  Alas... that didn't happen, and Lionel produced them in 21" plastic instead.  They were nice cars, indeed.  And the constant LED-lighting is a big plus too.  But we haven't really seen another production run of 21" ABS cars since, despite the fact that quite a few liveries have been catalog'd for a couple of years now. 

Just seems Lionel can't get its act together with Chinese factories to make passenger cars on a regular basis anymore.    As we've noted many times here on the forum, many of the 21" cars can't even make it onto the shipping schedule after months (or in some cases a year or more) of being catalog'd.

David

David,

If they would have built the cataloged Texas Special set I'd have scrimped everyway possible to get it! After seeing the dismal 18" painted CZ set that came out after the notice, we spent the money on other things around the house. When the spectacular Southern Pacific set came not painted but gleaming, not only had the money been spent, the realization that the Texas Special set would have been simply breathtaking in bright finished aluminum was just heartbreaking. Would you say 21" cars require a minimum  of 14' diameter curves to look good in operation?