Pushed back...

Which is just around the corner.

 

My wallet needs a little time to recover from some evil non-train expedetures anyway.

 

Rusty

Does not bode well for the SD 70's.

 

Roger

smoking caboose also pushed back again to Dec.

 

Rich

This is very typical of overseas production and nothing new to AF fans.  Remember how long we had to wait for the Big Boy and Challengers!

SD70's push back to Dec. 12.

Wow, It does say Dec. 12!! I was just on Lionel's site about 2-3 days ago and the shipping schedule still indicated Oct. 12. 

2-8-8-2 pushed to November and fastrack switches pushed till December.  It is not unreasonable to think that MTH will have their SD70's out before Lionel at this point.  This is disappointing Lionel.     

 

Ben

Everyone's experiencing delays in products from the mysterious East. 

 

The Athearn HO SP MT-4 I've been waiting for was announced in May 2010, has been pushed back several times and is now "TBD."

 

And, seeing that MTH has yet to catalog, let alone deliver anything...

 

Rusty

Good Day,

 

I look at the delay of the Lionel SD70Ace from my business logic and marketing strategy view. I think the Norfolk Southern Heritage SD70ACe’s have been selected for production ahead of the Union Pacific Heritage, NS. BNSF, CSX and KCS SD70Ace’s.  I have no facts, just my thinking.

 

Model railroading is a journey………………enjoy the ride!

 

Regards,

Swafford

I seriously doubt that Lionel/Flyer NS Heritage units will leapfrog the already announced roadnames.  Hot on the heels, maybe.  Kinda like how the first two runs of U33C's happened.

 

Rusty

You won't see a SD70 from MTH until mid to late 2013.

I'm sorry, but you guys are much more willing to accept excuses than I am. It's not like there has been so much made that we can just make do with it in the mean time. I like S, but I can't take the way things are going right now. I'm switching to HO where I can model the PRR steam era. I'm willing to give up some size for product availability, scale fidelity, standards, performance, and affordability. I hope it works out well for you guys, but it just isn't for me. I want to model now, not wait...wait...wait. Good Luck.

HO ain't perfect on availablity either...  See my above comment about the Athearn SP MT-4. 

 

I wouldn't disagree with you about your other points, however.

 

We'll still be here if you change your mind.

 

Rusty

Johnny, sorry to see you go.
I'm sticking with S because of my eyesight(or lack thereoff) and it fits the space I have available.
BTW- I'll be in Cleveland this weekend, any decent hobby shops around?  Thanks!

Rusty, I think you are correct in that all the various manufacturers have delivery problems.  Look at the Weaver thread on the O scale side and there is your proof!  The only thing I see that makes this a bit different is that with Lionel it seems a recurring certainty that stuff is delayed and encompassess the ENTIRE catalog of newly tooled S scale products for 2012.  I have to say I'm disapointed to see that Lionel is basically going to forefit releasing any new S scale product for almost the entire year of 2012.  Do I even need to mention the fastrack turnouts?  So much for progress and it looks like S will be the fastest growing scale......next year.

Personally, with MTH I'm at the point that seeing is beliving.  Not just a catalog picture either, I mean actually produced.  Once upon a time, I went out and pre-ordered 3 of the MTH steamers with scale wheels. I did this about a year in advance and used one of MTH's best dealers.  I checked the shipping schedule regularly plus had the dealer check with MTH and everything looked good, until the locomotives actually shipped.  Guess what.....no scale wheeled versions showed up and nobody (and I mean nobody) at MTH could verify if they had even been made.  Interesting!! There were 5 different models with scale wheels illustrated in the cataloge and none ever got produced.  What was worse, the shipping schedule NEVER showed them as cancelled until AFTER the Hi-rail versions were actually delivered to customers.  Me, I had to scramble and find locomotives to pull the $1800 worth of GGD pullmans and head end sets that I had to again, pre-order, and had already been delivered.  I would have been SOL if not for 2 GREAT dealers that, literally, saved my chooch.

There seems to be constipation through the whole system over there.  Even Bachmann's having delivery problems.  Ask anyone waiting for the On30 Heisler and I think the WBB GP30 date has slipped, too...

 

Personally, I think we're seeing the beginning of the end of the Chinese model train manufacturing bubble.  I wouldn't be surprised if the train companies are scouting out the next offshore manufacturing mecca.

 

Rusty

I would agree with you there, Troy.  Until something shows up at a dealer, it's all just vapor-trains.

 

Fortunately, I have nothing that's waiting on something else to be made.  With the exception of a locomotive I'm waiting on from PBL (for about 2 years now) I don't have a "gotta have" list.  Pretty much everything's on a "nice to have" basis nowadays.

 

Maybe, I'll finally get caught up on some long-suffering projects.

 

Rusty

SD70ACe - Feb, new cylindrical hoppers - Jan, fast track turnouts - March Ughhh... Ben

FWIW, I'd rather have Lionel take the time to get it right, rather that have serious design flaws that would show up (which would lead to angry and disappointed customers).

 

Robyn (CarolinaRail)

Fast Track Turnouts show May 13 ???

The Defender set is now slated for Jan 13, too.

 

Bob

See Scott Mann's thread on the 3railScale forum (he posted earlier today near the end of that thread) and that will help explain what's going on over in China.

Also don't forget the added 6-8 weeks of unpacking the new engine, finding it does not work, returning it at your cost, and waiting 6-8 weeks for it to return to you just to find it is not fixed yet.  That needs to be added into the fourmula.  So sick of China....everything from appliances to tools and so on...made as cheaply as possible.  I am now disiplined to post war, scenery and building (non working) and much happier not continually shipping thinks back.

I've copied Scott's comments over here to make his observations easier to refer to for any future discussion.

 

Constipated seems like an understatement, this seems to be a downward spiral.  As I mentioned elsewhere, I think the Chinese model train manufacturing bubble has burst or very soon will.  I suspect Lionel, MTH and others will have to start looking elsewhere for their production needs.

 

Rusty

 

From Scott Mann of 3rd Rail on the 3 rail scale forum:

"Kadarr - Manufacturer of Bachmann, Lifelike, AristoCraft and others... Labor problems, shut down a week before the Thanksgiving Holiday in China.

 

Bachmann Brass - Randolph Cheng: He was a producer of UK Brass models and was the builder for some US importers. He did a lot of direct sales behind the backs of his importers in the UK. He has retired.

 

A Major Manufacturer of Toys in ShenZhen (southern China), laid off 1/2 of their thousands of workers. I didn't catch the name, anyone know?

 

There are major labor problems going on everywhere in China now. 2 factors, lower exports due to a weaker Europe and too much increases in labor rates which are dictated by the gov.. This combination is causing a meltdown of jobs in China. Factories cannot lose money. They just close when they can't make payroll.

 

FoxConn - the manufacturer of I Phones in China, are reporting rioting among employees. This is probably a bigger deal that what we are seeing on the news. It is how the workers deal with layoffs, slowdowns, or labor unrest. It can get pretty violent when workers feel they are not being treated fairly. Anyone with more insight?

 

http://thenextweb.com/asia/201...xconn-factory-china/

 

So look for more disruptions... ONLY MY HUMBLE OPINION."

The above is not good news for the US.

IF China gets strapped for cash, they can call in the US debt owed to them.  I think they hold upwards of 10% of our debt.

 

Guess what happens to us if that happens?

 

Andre