Saw these today at Imperial Trains. A must for Montour fans. Beautiful.
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Marty,
Our those items custom run for Imperil Trains?
Yes they are. The caboose has 2 numbers 48 and 41.
Yes, Custom Run.
He has a list of other cars he would like to do in Montour. One is a flat car, another a bobber caboose. There is a story about a flat, with an earthmover, that got away, down the grade toward the McDonald viaduct, that ran into #76 after it just crossed the viaduct. There are a lot of pictures on the Montour Historical Society's website. They say #76 never ran well, after the crash. I pushed for the earth mover but was told I'd have to find my own, getting the flats was tough enough. SW9's pictured and the 55 ton hopper are Atlas. Engines are custom paint.
I have never figured out why more dealers don't do custom run items. By doing a custom run, it provides dealers with a one of kind item that is only sold through them. The only thing the dealer has to worry about is don't pick a dud.
Folks were taking home 2 of each of these special runs! They are selling very well and I suspect won't last long. Regis has a few other Montour items in the works to compliment the switcher and caboose.
I agree Jim that these special runs, when chosen carefully can be a big winner for a LHS. Kudos to MTH for making this an easy process for a small shop.
jim sutter posted:I have never figured out why more dealers don't do custom run items. By doing a custom run, it provides dealers with a one of kind item that is only sold through them. The only thing the dealer has to worry about is don't pick a dud.
Easier said than done.
Stu
Stu,
Sorry, I disagree with you. When we were in business we did several custom run freight cars with Weaver. One year, we took delivery of 300 freight cars every two weeks. Guess what, they all sold.
Jim Sutter,
Not every Train Store owner was a talented as you were Jim, at knowing what the public would purchase. For some it could be a very dangerous business move.
PCRR/Dave
If a store can't gauge what their customer base would buy, maybe they shouldn't be in business. The Montour stuff does very well at Imperial as the former RR ran very close to there as does the Montour trail that replaced a lot of the track right of ways. Regis knows this and does a pretty good job at getting made what he feels will sell. Judging from these latest offerings he might have underestimated the demand. LOL!
Ooo, that’s a little bit harsh, Marty. You can’t rate a shop’s business prowess by whether they decide to commission custom-run trains or not.
Now, if it were my shop, I would ask my customers before deciding on any deal with a manufacturer, and then I'd follow up with preorders that would have to reach a certain level before production could begin.
That’s how I’d rate the business acumen of a shop.
Otherwise, as Dave noted, it’s dangerous territory to get into special runs for locomotives.
But I am glad some shops take the risk, and these Montour locomotives are a prime example of what can be done with careful planning. I don’t even crave Montour rolling stock, yet I’m tempted by that red-white-and-blue scheme. Very nice!
Jim R. posted:Ooo, that’s a little bit harsh, Marty. You can’t rate a shop’s business prowess by whether they decide to commission custom-run trains or not.
I didn't say that you can rate a business on whether they decide to do a custom run.
What I did say is that a business that doesn't know what customers will buy possibly shouldn't be in business. They'll be doomed to fail. A store needs to know what it's customer base is interested in so that they can effectively stock their shelves whether it's a custom run or starter sets from the catalog. That will take time I imagine but eventually a store will know they can always sell PRR but maybe not so much BNSF. So they would create their order accordingly.
A shop doing a custom run would know from his customers that it would sell because of the buying habits. Sure you may get one or two misses but for the most part they should be able to gauge what will sell. If they don't you might as well be selling water to a drowning man. Personally I don't know how half the stores are able to do this with how finicky we are with our train buying habits. 
This could be a discussion for a separate thread. This one is to high light and beautiful offering from a forum sponsor.
I know next to nothing about the Montour, but those are striking models and my guess would be that Imperial will have no problem selling out of them in short order.
Well, in its own way this isn't that much different than what MTH and Weaver did years ago. Or what Lionel's BTO is (to a certain extent) now. If you wanted something in the catalog, you needed to put a deposit on it. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. But the problem is that once in a while you get a pig in a poke.
Gerry
Lower end of the Montour trail toward McKeesport.
Westland rail extension, were the railroad has returned.
These links are a virtual tour of the Montour Railroad. Or you can ride bike with me anytime.
Best wishes, Mike CT. 
Behind the Finley Twp. Allegheny Co. Municipal building.
jim sutter posted:Stu,
Sorry, I disagree with you. When we were in business we did several custom run freight cars with Weaver. One year, we took delivery of 300 freight cars every two weeks. Guess what, they all sold.
And you ain't kidding Jimmy! You sold me on those PRR "Coal goes to War" 3 bay hoppers and those Altoona Beer Co reefers- in BOTH colors. Not to mention the "Bunny Bread" boxcar!
And the former Bekeda Hobby Supply in MA. got me on those Conrail 50 ft yellow door paper boxcars along with the Container 3 bay Hoppers too!
I've dealt with a number of dealers over a 25 year period. I went to Jim Sutter after Kirke died and Shawn was impossible. I never saw anyone follow up like Jim. You'd think someone else would have learned it, but if so, I'm not aware of it. I'm happy with my train dealer, but Jim is really something special. That's one key reason that he could sell what he did.
Gerry
gmorlitz posted:I've dealt with a number of dealers over a 25 year period. I went to Jim Sutter after Kirke died and Shawn was impossible. I never saw anyone follow up like Jim. You'd think someone else would have learned it, but if so, I'm not aware of it. I'm happy with my train dealer, but Jim is really something special. That's one key reason that he could sell what he did.
Gerry
I agree. Jim Sutter would have been my dealer of choice if I ever lived in his neck of the woods.
I have been fortunate to work (part time) for two hobby shops totaling more than 11 years now. Both have done well in their own attempts to keep pace — one by quadrupling the size of the store and greatly enhancing general interest stock, and the other by aggressively increasing online sales while still maintaining a large brick-and-mortar presence.
But even healthy shops close when an owner retires and no one wants to take a risk and tie up capital on old inventory and what’s considered an aging industry with low profit margins.
That is why I see this discussion about custom runs in a different light. I don’t see that the risk is worth the reward for most shops, so I can’t agree with this notion that more shops should do it. Not in today’s market.
