Two New Uncataloged S Gauge Boxcars Released by MTH

Pass...

Rusty

Ditto......

Rich

Suprising for sure.  Was anyone aware these were being released?

I'd rather see the 2016 S-Fest Sprecher's Root Beer cars made/delivered! They ran these, maybe they also did the Fest cars???

surprise here to but good to see

I am not into Norfolk Southern, but I like the looks of them and could be tempted. I wonder how they intend to let the S world know these are out there.  I'd love to see these at the convention next week but I don't have my hopes up.

The "First Responders" boxcar is a nice touch because it has solid bearing trucks, outlawed years ago to eliminate the danger of hot boxes. So both the police and the firemen would be involved if the thing ever caught fire.

It is nice to see MTH come up with something new, though. Their S scale products are almost as nice as what S Helper Service provided and would be just as nice if they included both high-rail and scale wheelsets.

TOKELLY posted:

The "First Responders" boxcar is a nice touch because it has solid bearing trucks, outlawed years ago to eliminate the danger of hot boxes. So both the police and the firemen would be involved if the thing ever caught fire..

Not only that, but they appear to have the "K" brake system, which was outlawed in1935....

Rusty

Smart marketing shift.  Better to have your customer base guessing what you might come out with next without warning a la American Models than bashing you for not having come out with virtually anything in what seems like forever.  

Pretty cars.  Fun to look at.  But I'm not buying.  Need more box cars like a bent driver.  

I believe these to be fantasy paint schemes on a boxcar. So I have no interest. Unless they're testing paint masks for the soon-to-be-released NS SD60E.

The "First Responders" car is part of the NS Safety Train and is painted differently:

AM's plug door Railbox car would be much more suitable if one had to have one.

I've seen zero buzz about these on some of the other S boards.  I suspect these will become two more reasons why "S Gauge doesn't sell well" in MTH's mind.

Rusty

 

Chuck K posted:

 I'd love to see these at the convention next week but I don't have my hopes up.

The link for each says "MTH has this item in stock."

Interesting to see the moaning about the inaccurate carbody, trucks and brake systems...     Know what?    .... some/most people don't care and will appreciate these for what they are.

RadioRon posted:

Interesting to see the moaning about the inaccurate carbody, trucks and brake systems...     Know what?    .... some/most people don't care.

Meanwhile, others do care...

So far, I count 6 no's, 1 maybe, 3 possible sarcasms and 0 definite yes's.

Rusty

Make that 7 no's.

Thank You MTH for your offering

Mark, so far the Sprecher's cars are "fantasy cars" in more ways than one!

banjoflyer posted:

But remember lots of people ordered the Sprecher reefer too. Is it real or fantasy? You know the answer. Why'd they buy them? Cause they look neat:

 

People also tend to buy Convention, Fest or Spree cars as a matter of principle to support the sponsoring club.

Yes, the Specher cars are a neat fantasy.  Personally, I got "billboard-reefer fatigue" some years ago and didn't buy them.  In fact, I sold off most of my billboard reefers, not because I didn't like them, but because they didn't fit my scheme of things.  (Also they were banned by the ICC in 1937 and I model the late 50's early 60's.)  I kept a couple I'm particularly fond of, but they don't appear on my railroad except for occasional photo's.

Time will tell if the NS cars will sell, but given the amount of Flyer fantasy NS cars from Lionel still lying around unsold, I would guess these two NS cars will be sold off by MTH like the unsold club cars in a few years.

Rusty

Any news on MTH releasing a catalog this year? They were saying last Fall, then delayed to Summer. Not expecting much, just have bothered to pay attention in a while...

No Catalog in the future as I see it.

I gotta believe they just didn't want Lionel to get the company.  They issued some product to recoup their investment and have lost interest or at most have very little interest.

Brendan

Lionel wasn't interested in SHS.  Don Thompson had a tough time shopping SHS around.

Rusty

I partially retract my comment!

Brendan

I am one who would like to see the Sprecher cars, fantasy or not I love the way billboard cars look. Of course I am toy train/highrail so not super hot on prototypes.

Ray

The Sprecher cars were NASG convention cars from several years ago.  The host club (Badgerland) is still waiting for one of the cars to be delivered.

Rusty

2016 to be exact. That is why I stated that they are "Fantasy cars" in more ways than one--So far their existence is a fantasy. I've been waiting on 3 myself--and one is for a member of the Sprecher's family! I have been told that the under-frames have been made. The excuse we've been given so far is that the Chinese production manager has postponed their production multiple times. At least my credit card has already been "dinged" for the cars, so if they show up, it's not a new bill to pay. I don't understand MTH's nonchalant attitude about this special production car. I hope someone there is reading this, WE WANT OUR CARS!!! Thank you!

traindavid posted:

 I have been told that the under-frames have been made.

Probably because the same underframes are used on the NS fantasy cars... 

Rusty

I was hoping they had run them when they did these cars, but apparently not.

 

Actually the Sprecher cars were S Fest cars for the 2016 Badgerland S Fest.

 

 

 

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MTH!       There are many S gaugers out here waiting anxiously  for these cars.

 http://www.trainweb.org/bsg/events/sfesthistory.htm

Ray

More "uncataloged" cars:

https://mthtrains.com/shipping...mp;items_per_page=50

Rusty

Well not to be a sourpuss, but I've heard this line before. If it is true, then YEA!!! But I notice that list shows "shipping dates" for July 2017, as well as June and July of this year, so it's already out-dated.

That Harmony car is neat looking!

BTW. what is your take on MTH "dumping" stuff on eBay? Average $35 per car including shipping. Gotta be less than wholesale, I would imagine the dealers aren't happy. Although, I guess they could stock up with them!

Me too (keeping flicker flame alive). Yes, I blew the budget and bought to of the  PFE TOFC cars, couldn't turn them down at that price! Hard to find SP stuff 

Now if that rumored "new stuff" coming soon is a Daylight GS engine. . . . .

Three things...

1. I spoke to Dave Blum of Pikesville Models at the convention, and yes, he has cut a deal with MTH for 4 new beer reefers.

2. I am not a big fan of fantasy schemes, but I picked this up for $49 from Doug Peck at the convention. Looks good behind my son's KCS SD70.

3. I also talked to Doug about MTH direct selling the flat car with trailer for $35 via Ebay, and he was not happy to say the least. Pretty rotten way to treat your dealers who have stock sitting on their shelves.

Chuck K posted:

3. I also talked to Doug about MTH direct selling the flat car with trailer for $35 via Ebay, and he was not happy to say the least. Pretty rotten way to treat your dealers who have stock sitting on their shelves.

Yeah, it sucks.  But the reality of it is, there aren't that many S dealers to p*ss off, compared to O Gauge dealers.

An LHS I deal with doesn't carry S be it Lionel or MTH, but will is willing to order it, even with MTH requiring him to buy two freight cars of each one ordered.  (He carries a lot of MTH O.)  In other words, when I bought my two scale-wheeled IC piggyback flats, he had to take two more for stock.  They hung around the store forever, I think he finally sold them on ebay.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to buy two MTH S locomotives for every one ordered...

Needless to say, seeing his S clientele can be counted on one hand minus two fingers, I'm not going to burden him with getting stuck with any more hard to move stock.

Rusty

Doug ranted about this in his August S News email and I don't blame him:

"I’m not real happy to report this, but some of you may want to take advantage of it.  MTH is blowing-out excess S inventory (but no track products, which are sold out) on EBAY at half-price with free shipping ! There are some good deals there.  

Why am I not happy to report it? Because MTH is offering these items at prices lower than they sell them to dealers (who pay shipping as well). This is a very unfair practice that leaves dealers with the same products on our shelves, which we can’t sell without losing money.  Lionel did this same thing to us 12 years ago, and I still have several Floodlight Towers and Baggage Smashers, which don’t sell anymore, on the shelf as a result. In all likelihood, I will be reconsidering if and how I continue to offer MTH products in the future."

 

I would love to see them produce these cars in "S" Gauge.

jim sutter posted:

 

I would love to see them produce these cars in "S" Gauge.

I would go for an International Harvester covered hopper if for no other reason than I had a preowned 1970 International Harvester Scout way back when in the early 70's.  4 cylinder, 2-wheel drive, manual steering, manual drum brakes, manual 3-speed transmission, no radio, no A/C, bench seat, no rear seat. 

It rode and handled like a brick. 

It was wonderful.

Rusty

These would be great too.

American Models has had the B&M boxcar available for at least 8 years now:

Rusty