What hasn't been made yet....that would actually sell?

Ted makes an interesting point, and it brings up something that periodically bugs me about 0 gauge trains - how do you tell what is or is not authentic in a paint job? The Lionel PS-1's are an excellent example. I have several of them, but I couldn't tell you which of them are prototypical. Now, give me a freight car marked Milwaukee Road and I can usually tell if it's real, or I can look it up in my extensive Milwaukee Road library. But I can't tell you what is or is not real for most of the other railroads, and to have a library where you could look up that information for all the Class 1 railroads would be inconceivably expensive and take up an impossible amount of space. I don't mind the occasional fantasy color scheme - but I'd sure like to know what I'm getting.

Atlas is, to the best of my knowledge, the only 0 gauge train builder that verifies all of its paint jobs to be correct. They will paint anything on custom runs, but their own issues are at least claimed to be 100% prototypical. I know they are diligent about that, because I worked with them on the Milwaukee Road version of the extended vision caboose and it is the only fully correct Milwaukee EV caboose, although Lionel, MTH, and K-Line have all made the same caboose with varying degrees of authenticity.

I wish Lionel, MTH, etc. would include a little note with each car about the prototypical authenticity of the item - e.g. fully prototypical, prototypical for a different car (say, a paint job on a 40' single door car that in the real world was applied only to a 50' double door), complete fantasy, etc. But I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. 

Atlas is, to the best of my knowledge, the only 0 gauge train builder that verifies all of its paint jobs to be correct.

I hate to burst your bubble, but.....

They will paint anything on custom runs, but their own issues are at least claimed to be 100% prototypical.

I have never seen that claim is writing from Atlas.  I have heard it from a number of hobbyists who have believed it to be true.  It is not.  There are several Atlas Master Line regular run freight cars that are just plan wrong.  The paint schemes are prototypical but the cars are all wrong.  NONE of the Great Northern or Burlington Northern 40 foot rebuilt box cars are dimensionally correct for width or height let alone correct in roof or end details for the cars they purport to represent.  The recent CB&Q and SP&S 50 footer double door cars have the wrong roofs, ends and doors for the prototypes.

My all time favorite Atlas boxcar is the 8865 GN PS-1 50 foot plug door boxcar.  It has the distinctive Pullman ends and bow tie roof.  It is without a doubt a great model of a Pullman Standard built box car.  But it carries a GN paint scheme that is faithful to the prototype down to the arched American Car and Foundry logo to the lower left of the door!  Correct paint, wrong car. 

If there is a model you are interested in and the decoration is for a road about which you have limited knowledge or references I would suggest asking about it on the scale forums.  You will get several opinions, some of which are likely to be well informed. 

Well, that's why I said "to the best of my knowledge." No bubble to burst, unlike some I do not worship at the sacred shrine of any train builder. At least Atlas does not seem to indulge in total fantasy paint schemes, as do both Lionel and MTH. Thanks for the information.

Steam on the Union railroad (not Union Pacific)

The modern gondolas.

Thrall Car gondola

 Like this?

I'd like to see one or both versions of this nifty-shifty... 

KD

Those Z-6 Challengers are off the chart!  I didn't realize MTH made these...

Though I own a lot of Union Pacific Challengers, both Fetter's and Jabbleman versions, I'd love to have a Z-6.  Yes, I know UP never owned Z-6s, but it would be a nice addition to the other Challengers I already own.  And, though I try to be accurate to the prototype RR, I'd almost consider adding UP lettering to the Z-6!  Don't take it to serious is my motto with model trains!

I think Id like to see one of the baby faces too.

Die Cast 1:48 Scale Tractors and Trailers would sell very well...................

Regards,

Swafford

I will second Swafford's comment and say that since I model the steam/diesel transition era, I would to see more 1/50 or 1/48 tractor trailers from the 40s/50s.

Maybe I'm alone, but there must be interest in pre Employee owned Chicago Northwestern items. Hard to find scale cabooses, steam loco, or diesels without the "Employee owned" writing.

Also, seated correct scale people for the passenger cars, including different eras. Probable pre-sell out in record time.

A scale E-60.  MTH cataloged these back in 2000 but they were never produced.  I'd buy 3 road numbers in Amtrak livery.

How about presenting these in O Scale! in 3-Rail and 2-Rail would be a seller

Regards,

Swafford

The transfer caboose is a good idea. Lionel made one, but it is a traditional size item and has a toylike appearance. Nobody has done a scale one that I know of. Here's a Lionel one that I repainted.

I would definitely buy one or two of these since I remember these operating in NC during the 80s. 

I have repeatedly suggested doing either the ex-ATSF CF-7 (Not only John Santa Fe used them, but also Amtrak and a host of short lines) or the U-18B. (Maine Central, SCL, Nacionales de Mexico, Providence & Worcester). Some of us realize that we don't have the curvature that will handle full-scale 4-8-8-4s or even SD-70's.

I have three items: I have always had a fascination for the Railway Express Agency and the Railway Mail Service. I would love an operating RPO where the crew throws the bag down and then grabs the pouch off the mail stand.

And then how about some Sperry Rail Service Hi-Rail Truck and a test car. In the SRS livery these would look really sharp!

And anything for the North Pole Central passenger train, love a GG-1 or a nice F3 AA set in the red & green scheme!

All photos courtesy of the Internet.

LOL  

One hundred and forty replies (as of this reply), and maybe two had something to do with the topic starter's question.  

Everyone else apparently missed the question and thought this was  another wish list thread, or just didn't care and purposely turned it into a wish list topic.

I personally like the SD60E design, and I would not buy it if it was, say, an SD60M. Plus, I think MTH could get a least three roadnames out of it, the Veterans unit, the GoRail unit, and traditional NS black, and then maybe combine with the new Dash 8.5 locomotives, which have a similar design.

Well the answer to the original question is subjective, so what would you expect?

MTH Premier versions of the C&O Yellow Belly Hudson and or B&O Cincinnatian Pacific

Ah, the self-appointed topic monitor...

But this time, the monitor is wrong (as often turns out to be the case). Read the original post, as the vast majority of the replies are exactly what is being asked, because people can't judge what 'will sell' in regards to what they want, because most people will think whatever they want is what others would likely want as well, and probably correctly in many cases:

Every catalog release I see complaints that there is not much that is actually new or not made before. Complaints about Hudson's, Big Boy's, F-3's, etc. Over the years I have learned what the popular engines and road names are and lucky for me, they are the ones I like. I also feel lucky to see a lot of LIRR and Strasburg stuff which I consider more specialty than mainstream. So let's answer the question....what has not been made yet....that would actually sell?? Three people looking for an obscure engine to be built is never gonna happen. What is it that you think the masses want that has not been delivered?? Cause I am pretty sure that if there was a great demand for something, wouldn't someone be making it?? So...what is it?? Thanks...BigRail

Unless I'm wrong, I have never heard of figures, people, made exclusively for the Manufacturers passenger cars, yet I keep seeing post asking which firgure to use to at "least look good". What with all the passenger cars sold over the decades, I'm sure there is a "will sell if made" market. Its not a big ticket item, in the 500 to 1000.00 ticket price, but its a much needed neglected item.

Also, you'll never know how well it will sell, if you never make it. I see over just the short time I been here, how many projects are dropped. It seems in "O" gauge (my opinion), if the manufacturer can't make it for less then 1000.00, or re-use dies for generic rolling stock, it won't be made.  "N" gauge manufacturers made a turnaround and increasing modelers by taking chances, and making products, not with pre-orders, but with guts, ambitions, and chances. "O" maybe small now, but it can grow, if there are the products to interest the older, and the newer modelers.

O Scale models of the modern gondolas by Thrall Car, Greenville Steel Car, Trinity, Gunderson, and Evans would sell if they were mass produced in such a way to make them cost only $35 retail.

Andrew

I've been begging for years for a camel-back connie for the anthracite crowd. Easy to do as the CB ten wheeler castings will work.

But NO !

To the topic monitors: Turn this around. What makes you think that these suggested products wouldn't have a market? There were hundreds, if not thousands, of Ten-Wheelers built for and by American railroads. There's no market for a model? And what about the Auto-Loader? Practically every train collector in the country is familiar with it because of Lionel's postwar version. Why wouldn't a scale one sell? A couple of people suggested a modern high-sided gondola. MTH makes a very similar car for the European market, why not here? There are a lot of items suggested here that I wouldn't bend over to pick up, let alone pay for - but somebody wants them.

Don't look down your nose at an idea just because it doesn't appeal to you. I don't get the appeal of subway trains, but MTH is selling them like crazy so obviously there's a market for them. Open your minds.

I've read and re-read the original posting several times.  I'm sorry, but I simply don't find the so-called "guidelines" to the posit that you seem to reference.

Here's what the original thread asked:

So let's answer the question....what has not been made yet....that would actually sell??  Three people looking for an obscure engine to be built is never gonna happen.  What is it that you think the masses want that has not been delivered??  Cause I am pretty sure that if there was a great demand for something, wouldn't someone be making it??  So...what is it??

So, the responses, including mine, have answered the questions "What is it??", and "What has not been made yet...that would actually sell?".

I find the premise that "Three people looking for an obscure engine to be built is never gonna happen" is rather amusing if not ludicrous for the toy train business/market....of which this forum is a part.  Tell me, what then would the Beeps, Beefs, and Peeps of RMT represent?  I would imagine that before the first of any of those wildly popular 'creatures' hit the market, a forum question of this sort would've NEVER directed any manufacturer to create their ilk.  But do they sell well?  Is "Duh!' an appropriate response?

I noticed that one of the first responses to this OP's posit was the two-faced Baldwin diesel.  Now, there's a strange beast!, and I'm sure it was never made in 'large' numbers for the 1:1 market.  But would it sell in the toy train market?  Slap a Warbonnet or Daylight paint scheme on that puppy and I'll bet it'll bring a smile to a 101 market survey!

When folks think of something made in "large numbers" in the 1:1 world, that's often a car number perspective more than a railroad flags perspective.  So, as long as the typical toy train business mantra of 'any-flag-on-any-item-any-time-any-way' can be employed, everyone of the responses to this thread is valid....IMHO, of course.

And, I find absolutely NO disrespect in any of the responses...so far. 

Few, if any, of us are professional business/market analysts.  Few, if any, of the posits on this forum are valid, well-constructed market surveys for new products.  Few, if any, of the total forum responses constitute an adequate cross-section of prospective buyers to be of boardroom use to a manufacturer.

Nonetheless, it's a beautiful day in our neighborhood....and I hope yours, too!

KD

Very good reply, I agree. Unless its made, we'll never know if less then 3 will buy it? Sometimes by taking risk, you just may corner the market.

I wonder sometimes if this is the same thread that just keeps getting re-named.  There should just be a "please make" forum. 

I recognize I must have a singular taste.  One of these 4-8-2s, or a 4-6-2, or a even a repaint of existing FEF in O with Lionel's existing Heavyweights in matching two-tone gray with silver/white. etc. etc. etc. repeat.  I recognize the 4-8-2 or 4-6-2 would be new tooling but there would be enough color scheme options for UP fans or even SP fans. 

The most Cost effective production for Lionel would be to repaint the existing Lionel 6-11131 type UP FEF in TTG sil/wht stripes minus the wind wings and repaint the existing Heavyweights to match.  Re-releasing a repainted offering would seem to be a profitable venture to me but only Lionel knows the cost-benefit analysis.

More people on this forum continue to be asking for more than just a particular loco.  I seem to read over and over again that consumers may be hesitant to order a new legacy locomotive if there isn't a matching set to purchase along with it.

just my 2 cents... 

It does tend to become deja-vu repeating itself on groundhog day all over again one more time...

Rusty

We all know it is deja vu.....and we won't shut up until the "three" of us get what we

want....which will never happen, so be warned not to open threads with any title that

smells like it might go down this road.  I keep warning myself, and ignoring the warning, because deja vu exactly describes the few prototypes that keep getting made

over and over again.  As above...I want that Vanderbilt tender off that U.P. locomotive. I saw a beautiful B&O coalfired Vanderbilt tender, by 3rd Rail, in the Cleveland O scale show yesterday, by itself, no engine....I don't want the engine.  I want those tenders in three lengths.  That tender, by itself, was $400....I passed.  It was the longest model Vanderbilt tender I have seen...and would go behind my Russian decapod.  It is brass, so my drooling on it won't rust it, and it may have been as long as the decapod, which I think would make a neat image.

In that same show yesterday, of course, was one of the old Ken Kidder? McKeen cars, that did not get made in three rail.  Yup...deja vu, all over again.

"Open your minds" You say ?

Not with this bunch !!!

I had a Uncle who used to say it best when me and my cousins wanted something unattainable...

"your talking into a dead phone kid"

If K-Line offered a locomotive, the people at Kader-Bachmann have the tooling in their factory to make it.

Andrew

And, I'd gladly buy it also! 

Too bad MTH didn't make the 4-8-2.  I saw the 4-6-2s cataloged by MTH many years ago, but I don't think they were ever made either.

Ditto! 2015 Catalog for July 2015 Availability! or at least by the end of the year!

That would be a winner in six cars sets, I see them all the time on the CSX line going through DC.