Getting something new and going “meh…”

[leikec]

My own fault.

Nothing wrong with the locomotives, (Rapido DC New Haven FA/FB set) but once I looked at them in person they just aren’t doing it for me, so on eBay they go…

This doesn’t happen often, but it happens, and invariably when I have that initial reaction it doesn’t get better over time. I’m not like some people—who buy what they buy because their modeled railroad had it, and that’s the end of it.

I have to fall in love with every single locomotive I buy. I find this to be true mainly with locomotives and cabooses, but not so much other rolling stock items.

Is anyone else like this, or am I just weird?

Jeff C

[markfj]

Jeff, you make a good point. I think everyone has more than one “meh” buy that they sort of regret. It seems like each new product announcement comes with a knee-jerk reaction to get one before they are sold out. However, the thrill of buying can quickly wear off when you get the model and it just doesn’t bring as much satisfaction. Also the lead times on these preorder are ridiculously long, so it’s inevitable that there will be some change in enthusiasm when the product finally gets delivered.



Thanks, Mark

[jeoffreythecat]

I can't afford to spend that much money on something only to say meh.

[kentuckysouthernrwy]

Jul 27, 2024 4:49:35 GMT -8 jeoffreythecat said:

I can't afford to spend that much money on something only to say meh.

That’s just it, you spend the $$ and it really disappointing or just wasn’t worth the wait. I have one of those, a Piko Krause Maffei SP, still in the box, I preordered and forgot about. When It showed up, the dealer dinged my card and shipped it with no notice until the tracking number hit my email. Discovered I just had no desire just because. It will end up on eBay one of these days.

As far as Alco FAs go, I’m perfectly happy pickup up P2K units for $40-50 re- gear them and putting them to work. At least a dozen so far.

[cpr4200]

So, why the "meh?"

[milgentrains]

The "meh" factor hits all of us.

[prr 4467]

I have to fall in love with the items or I just end up selling them for whatever I can get for them.  I do not consider that to be unusual.

I was attempting to go "modern" a year or so ago, but the locos I bought had a very high failure rate, as in more than 50% of brand-new production Gevo's had to go back to the manufacturer for a new decoder, a new motor, or actually both, in as little as 2 to 3 hours of running time on each loco, and some failed the second time as well.

That really put a damper on my "modern" modeling interests to say the least.

Since then, I ended up ditching all diesels, as they became "meh" for me (actually a lot of quality issues on recent Rapido diesels but also some others definitely left me feeling "meh"), and now I am running all steam on the layout. My son has some modern diesels but he is selling some of them off, too...has some steam power instead.

I'm assembling a Texas & Pacific oil train to run behind the 2-10-4's (yes, they did). Tangent has the correct tank cars I need in several roadnames, still remaining in stock.

[cn2240]

For me, I haven't really said meh for a model that I actually wanted.

I used to go meh for many of the locos I got back when I didn't have a full say as to what I was getting. I had wanted to create a CN roster but my father had blocked me from doing so as in his words they all "looked the same". Instead, he wanted me to get locos from different roads so that there would be variety so I was stuck with a fleet which had at least one loco from every Class 1. When it came to almost all of the non-CN models, my reaction was meh since they were models I didn't actually want but it was either that or not having any model at all. I lost interest in the hobby during this time due to the frustration of having a bunch of frankly unwanted models in my roster and me not being able to get the ones I really did want.

Years later, I finally had the power to decide which locos I would be getting for my fleet so I got back into the hobby and set about building the CN locomotive fleet that I had always dreamed of having. I also sold many of my older models since I still didn't want them years later with the rest sitting in storage awaiting disposition.

Today, the dream of having a CN locomotive fleet has very much been fulfilled with me owning dozens of CN models to the point that they probably make up 80% of my loco roster and I enjoy having all of them, some more than others but I don't plan on selling any of them especially not based on looks. The fleet continues to grow with a couple of the new Rapido C40-8Ms being the latest additions.

I care more about reliability and functionality than looks personally, the Aurora SD60F being the prime example. It's a model that looks beautiful but was plagued with reliability issues to the point I was on the verge of selling it but I gave it one last chance and shipped it off to a hobby shop for repairs and after getting its motor replaced and the replacement trucks installed, its finally running well enough that I'll be keeping it.

[riogrande]

The Kraus Maffai SP hydraulics were mentioned. From that I've seen of them in photos, they are not Meh at all. They did a super nice job on them. In some ways I've love to have a couple, but from the stand point of money spent and enjoying models fitting a theme on my layout ... well, like many I have more models that I can use. I don't really want to spend many hundreds on model or a set of models to run them and then put them on a shelf because they don't fit the them. Some can do that. Some can run any old thing and be happy as Larry and Bob's your uncle. Me, well, less so as time goes by.

[lvrr325]

Probably the only thing I did that on recently was the Rapido LV RS11 and that was more about the color than anything.

I didn't sell it, but the Bowser C430 that came as a sound engine in a non-sound box I ran for a while with the sound, then turned it off. I can only deal with so much of that.

[jbilbrey]

Jul 27, 2024 4:46:40 GMT -8 markfj said:

Jeff, you make a good point. I think everyone has more than one “meh” buy that they sort of regret. It seems like each new product announcement comes with a knee-jerk reaction to get one before they are sold out. However, the thrill of buying can quickly wear off when you get the model and it just doesn’t bring as much satisfaction. Also the lead times on these preorder are ridiculously long, so it’s inevitable that there will be some change in enthusiasm when the product finally gets delivered.



Thanks, Mark

I have the "meh" reaction stemming from purchases from just about all the manufacturers.  Hardly anything is worse than the feeling of thinking "Why did I purchase that?" when one gets home or a package that I have been waiting on for months, if not years, don't have the "umph" that I had hoped for.  It can be even worse when the wife comes in and asks how that new locomotive is any different than other locomotive that I have on the shelves.  When that happens, the best course of action at times is to cut our losses and go ahead and sell the product.  Trying to keep it or improve usually just makes things worse for me in my book.

I think we all have made purchases that went from "Great!" to "What was I thinking?" when the time came to finally look the product over.  Fortunately as expensive as model railroad purchases can be, mistakes made during the purchase can still be far less than other purchases in life such as vacations, cars, homes, etc.

[Baikal]

Jul 27, 2024 7:32:18 GMT -8 milgentrains said:

The "meh" factor hits all of us.

Focusing on modeling one or two railroads in a relatively narrow time frame (so most all rolling stock can run with each other) and a more-or-less specific location helps stop the impulse and scattershot buying- which lessens the number of meh occurances.  And focusing saves money, which you can then spend on the focus object / time / place.

Easier said than done, I know.

But if you are more of a collector than a modeler, you might have more mehs.

[prr 4467]

It has taken me years to appreciate certain features on locomotives. Some like Elesco feedwater heaters on smokebox fronts, and for years I wouldn't buy anything that did because I didn't care for that look, even thought they were downright ugly. Being able to tolerate them has been a process akin to liking or tolerating certain types of drink or whatever, or possibly even personal nostalgia for the locos that my much older friends were playing with when I was in my early 20's.

I can be very perfectionistic, and unfortunately, I would say that some products just didn't quite live up to my expectations either regarding the details and execution of the model, or else in other cases when the model looked fantastic to my eyes, perhaps it did not run well or had serious issues there.

There's a variety of reasons as to why I sold off certain models. My one friend said "you just like the hunt", and I would argue that is not really the case.

Regarding size of fleet, I'm literally down to 3 steam locos with a 4th one on layaway, and I've never been happier since about 1975 because I really truly enjoy what I do have now. I do not need a massive fleet to run my layout, though double-heading steam power on occasion is neat.

Even if I had unlimited budget and could get anything I wanted, right now I'd just buy more road numbers or else different paint schemes of the steamers that I have.

[alcoc430]

I can see it, a PA is a big steel box that even an old athearn did a fairly good job representing one.

[grahamline]

Jul 27, 2024 16:34:17 GMT -8 alcoc430 said:

I can see it, a PA is a big steel box that even an old athearn did a fairly good job representing one.

The Alco PA is popular among the people who saw and heard it run in the late 1940s up to the '60s and '70s when it was a presence at the head of fast passenger trains. The Athearn model is acceptable but later versions have better detail, better paint and lettering, and better drives.

[lvrr325]

The biggest issue on the Athearn is that big slot in the pilot for the swinging coupler. Clean that up and put a modern drive in it and people would buy them, particularly if they could sell at a $150-ish price point.

[cpr4200]

Speaking of meh. The Athearn PA windshields and nose leave a lot to be desired, as does the general level of detail. LL/Proto's are much better proportioned and detailed, although the front of the nose seems a little too flat to me. I certainly wouldn't miss it if the Athearn PA was discontinued.

[ChessieFan1978]

Jul 27, 2024 10:09:09 GMT -8 lvrr325 said:

Probably the only thing I did that on recently was the Rapido LV RS11 and that was more about the color than anything.

I didn't sell it, but the Bowser C430 that came as a sound engine in a non-sound box I ran for a while with the sound, then turned it off. I can only deal with so much of that.

When I saw those Rapido Lehigh Valley RS11's I about barfed.  Luckily I was able to cancel them.  Now I have a pair of nice Atlas Custom painted gems by Southern Tier Modelworks

Lehigh Valley RS11's #'s 7640/7643 by Matt Fisher, on Flickr

[cpr4200]

Those RS11's look great! Been thinking about getting an MEC and an LV in the Classic line, replacing the handrails with KV parts, and cutting down the frame for new fuel tanks. More bang for the buck than buying Rapido?

[lvrr325]

Jul 28, 2024 4:51:14 GMT -8 cpr4200 said:

Speaking of meh. The Athearn PA windshields and nose leave a lot to be desired, as does the general level of detail. LL/Proto's are much better proportioned and detailed, although the front of the nose seems a little too flat to me. I certainly wouldn't miss it if the Athearn PA was discontinued.

I don't think those have been run since the 1990s.... I'm not aware of any Horizon era run of them

[sauconyard]

Jul 27, 2024 10:09:09 GMT -8 lvrr325 said:

Probably the only thing I did that on recently was the Rapido LV RS11 and that was more about the color than anything.

I didn't sell it, but the Bowser C430 that came as a sound engine in a non-sound box I ran for a while with the sound, then turned it off. I can only deal with so much of that.

I second this.  The Rapido LV RS11 was a huge meh because it seems to operate well, but the color was all wrong.  Heavy weathering required for a model of that cost.....I've refused to pre-order anything after that debacle.  I'd rather miss out on something or buy for a few bucks more than pay for something that is as suggested "meh".

[bnsf971]

Probably the worst case of "meh" I got happened a couple of times I pre-ordered something. By the time it finally arrived, competing releases from other manufacturers made my purchase look "meh". I'm sure everybody here that has pre-ordered more than one item has had that happen to them.

[packer]

I don't know if it's a "meh", but two of the last order of SXT SD40-2 got me a lil on the fence with them. Nothing wrong with them, just realized the number doesn't really work for my era. I could probably renumber them, but I have soo many projects as it is.

[wsor]

For me, it was Athearn Genesis MILW GP9. I preordered it, and picked it up when it arrived.

In the interim Walthers Proto announced Phase 3 GP9s, and the MILW versions have the trash can spark arrestors. Having a number of P2K and Walthers GP9s around, the Athearn body just doesn't look right. So it's back in the box, and the Proto ones are in use.

[cpr4200]

Jul 31, 2024 18:22:49 GMT -8 wsor said:

 Having a number of P2K and Walthers GP9s around, the Athearn body just doesn't look right.

Yep. Somehow the Genesis Geeps still have that slightly inbred look from the Front Range genes that haven't entirely been bred out of them.

[Baikal]

Jul 31, 2024 18:22:49 GMT -8 wsor said:

For me, it was Athearn Genesis MILW GP9. I preordered it, and picked it up when it arrived.

In the interim Walthers Proto announced Phase 3 GP9s, and the MILW versions have the trash can spark arrestors. Having a number of P2K and Walthers GP9s around, the Athearn body just doesn't look right. So it's back in the box, and the Proto ones are in use.

Since they were introduced, many people (including me) have made comments about the Genesis GP7/9/18 cab or body not "looking right".  If I remember correctly, Athearn made some fixes shortly after they were introduced.  Side/roof radius? Cab window location? I can't recall- does anyone remember what Athearn changed, and when?

Whatever they changed, it still ain't right... but I have no proof in the actual dimensions.  I've never measured the Genesis model or the prototype but the P2K/Walthers units look better.

Has anyone published a concise comparison of relevant prototype, Geneis and Walthers dimensions?

I'd like to know exactly why the Genesis units look "off".

[12bridge]

The big thing I do not like on them is the giant gaps around the doors. Its really noticeable on certain schemes.

[cera2254]

As much as I like Athearn, reusing the front range tooling for a genesis model just seemed so odd.

[lvrr325]

Aug 2, 2024 8:03:24 GMT -8 cera2254 said:

As much as I like Athearn, reusing the front range tooling for a genesis model just seemed so odd.

I believe that's a myth, but the truth is worse, they cloned the Front Range tooling.  

[es80ac]

In this case it is probably the prototype itself. FA locomotives just looks kind of bland and unremarkable. Not big, not complicated looking, not pretty and not even ugly. Nothing jumps out at you