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Post by rapidotrains on Nov 3, 2018 16:52:51 GMT -8
CP 41000-series hi-cube 40' boxcar! Come on! We need these!  |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 3, 2018 17:15:58 GMT -8
Also, I have to ask the question: Fox Valley Models Soo Line/Wisconsin Central 50' plug door boxcars, available fairly cheaply everywhere, versus the other guys much more detailed but $50 boxcars--which is better? (Roadname not a concern at all) Is there another maker of that Soo 7 post boxcar? |
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Post by GP40P-2 on Nov 3, 2018 17:30:15 GMT -8
CP 41000-series hi-cube 40' boxcar! Come on! We need these! Wait a minute, ==> YOU<== can make it happen!!!!! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2018 17:54:16 GMT -8
Also, I have to ask the question: Fox Valley Models Soo Line/Wisconsin Central 50' plug door boxcars, available fairly cheaply everywhere, versus the other guys much more detailed but $50 boxcars--which is better? (Roadname not a concern at all) Is there another maker of that Soo 7 post boxcar? NO, but my point was if I'm not too picky about the roadname, those Fox Valley cars, which can be found for $17 each (at least here in the east), look like a good buy related to, say, the Tangent X58, which is a lot more. |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 3, 2018 18:25:12 GMT -8
NO, but my point was if I'm not too picky about the roadname, those Fox Valley cars, which can be found for $17 each (at least here in the east), look like a good buy related to, say, the Tangent X58, which is a lot more. Where are you finding the Soo 7 post for $17? Cheapest I've seen is about $20 at a train show until they were gone, then $25+. I have one of the white and red SOO but still need a brown SOO to mix in. I know the GN green is a foobie but they kinda look like the GN PC&F so I can see why FV did them, although they chose a number series built in 1965 with roof walk and different door; wouldn't a later PC&F been a better foob with closer door and no roofwalk? GN had a blue PC&F that was pretty close to the FV model. Can't remember if FV did that one before. Regarding Tangent X58, I like those too, six so far. Good buy is nice but I like a realistic variety of era appropriate cars hence both FV and Tangent and Moloco and even a few Accurail 40 footers that appear to be visual matches. It's not an either/or thing for me. |
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Post by talltim on Nov 5, 2018 4:53:09 GMT -8
As a Brit, 'Made in the USA' holds no cachet for me. I don't really have a preference which unpredictable superpower my model trains are made in  |
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Post by John Sheridan on Nov 5, 2018 5:15:38 GMT -8
They have packaging!  By the looks of the packaging, I'm going to guess they are targeting that untapped HO Scale toy train "choo-choo" market. However, they are offing "Kadee equipped" somethingorothers so they are not going to be cheap plastic either. I'm sure Tangent, Moloco, Exactrail, & others are quaking in the boots at the prospect of QUALITY*BOLD*EXCITING screaming at them. |
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Post by John Sheridan on Nov 5, 2018 5:16:39 GMT -8
You win 100 Internets for just saying that. |
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Post by John Sheridan on Nov 5, 2018 5:20:00 GMT -8
I'm thinking with a name like "Value Trains" these won't be $100 cars. Jason has already discussed how he believes Kadee can produce their detailed RTR freight cars for their under $50 price, many under $40. Yeah, Take away Kadee's coupler business & those same cars would be in the 40+ range AND made in china. If I were to guess, i'm going with 2 parts total NOT counting the trucks or couplers. |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 5, 2018 5:28:35 GMT -8
As a Brit, 'Made in the USA' holds no cachet for me. I don't really have a preference which unpredictable superpower my model trains are made in What seems to hold more cachet for people is made in a country where costs are kept at bay. Seems China is the super power of choice these days. As for made on home soil, my wife is a Brit and it always warms her heart when I buy Peco.  |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 5, 2018 5:32:44 GMT -8
By the looks of the packaging, I'm going to guess they are targeting that untapped HO Scale toy train "choo-choo" market. If they are going after the toy train "choo choo" market, Kadee couplers and wheels might be like casting pearls before ... " If I were to guess, i'm going with 2 parts total NOT counting the trucks or couplers. Two part would have to be body and a one-piece weight car bottom, ala some of the old MDC kits. A couple years ago I put together some MDC ballast cars with the cast metal weight and there was a ton of flash on it to file and clean off before I spay painted them black and installed. |
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Post by middledivision on Nov 5, 2018 7:12:09 GMT -8
^^^
Remember the $5 Roundhouse gondolas?
Athearn added a few metal grabs, junk couplers and metal wheels and raised the price by $28!
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Post by stottman on Nov 5, 2018 7:53:24 GMT -8
NO, but my point was if I'm not too picky about the roadname, those Fox Valley cars, which can be found for $17 each (at least here in the east), look like a good buy related to, say, the Tangent X58, which is a lot more. Where are you finding the Soo 7 post for $17? Cheapest I've seen is about $20 at a train show until they were gone, then $25+. I have one of the white and red SOO but still need a brown SOO to mix in. I know the GN green is a foobie but they kinda look like the GN PC&F so I can see why FV did them, although they chose a number series built in 1965 with roof walk and different door; wouldn't a later PC&F been a better foob with closer door and no roofwalk? GN had a blue PC&F that was pretty close to the FV model. Can't remember if FV did that one before. Regarding Tangent X58, I like those too, six so far. Good buy is nice but I like a realistic variety of era appropriate cars hence both FV and Tangent and Moloco and even a few Accurail 40 footers that appear to be visual matches. It's not an either/or thing for me. Actually, the Soo line historical society (something like that) did do a special run of Accurail cars that have a different an extra "rib" to match the Soo line boxcars. I have 10 or so "undecs" tucked away in storage. They are Accurail cars though, which themselves are warmed over "McKean" cars. |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 5, 2018 8:41:53 GMT -8
^^^ Remember the $5 Roundhouse gondolas? Athearn added a few metal grabs, junk couplers and metal wheels and raised the price by $28! When were they $5? A long time ago in a Galaxy far far away.  I remember walking into a cigar smoke filled hobby shop about 21 years ago in Schenectady NY and saw one of those Roundhouse Railgon gondola's priced around $8 and I knew it should have been around 5 because none had been produced since in some years. Apparently the shop owner marked it up a few dollars to be in-line with more recent kits that had gone up since the Railgon was made. That irked me enough that I left it on the shelf. Yeah, I remember seeing the RTR versions with the separate grabs and couldn't bring myself to buy them at that price. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 9:11:29 GMT -8
NO, but my point was if I'm not too picky about the roadname, those Fox Valley cars, which can be found for $17 each (at least here in the east), look like a good buy related to, say, the Tangent X58, which is a lot more. Where are you finding the Soo 7 post for $17? Cheapest I've seen is about $20 at a train show until they were gone, then $25+. I have one of the white and red SOO but still need a brown SOO to mix in. I know the GN green is a foobie but they kinda look like the GN PC&F so I can see why FV did them, although they chose a number series built in 1965 with roof walk and different door; wouldn't a later PC&F been a better foob with closer door and no roofwalk? GN had a blue PC&F that was pretty close to the FV model. Can't remember if FV did that one before. Regarding Tangent X58, I like those too, six so far. Good buy is nice but I like a realistic variety of era appropriate cars hence both FV and Tangent and Moloco and even a few Accurail 40 footers that appear to be visual matches. It's not an either/or thing for me. Dealer at the front tables at Timonium, to the right of the door when one entered, had plenty of deals on HO rolling stock, including freight cars from a number of manufacturers, Genesis freight cars and Fox Valley, all cheap. I could have gotten all the Fox Valley Soo and Wisconsin Central boxcars I wanted at $17 each, his stickered price. Stupidly, I only bought one. The white ones with the large SOO lettering were not there that I saw, but the others were.
I would normally agree on the variety part, but when the price difference between what is readily available and the latest/greatest high dollar car starts to exceed 2.5 to 1, then I have to sit up and take notice.
I also noticed that ExactRail 50' Hi Cube boxcars that used to sell for $20 or less have been jacked up on Ebay to buy it now prices that are twice or more what the original list price of those cars was.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 9:24:54 GMT -8
riogrande--
China? Seriously? Manufacturing costs held at bay? Really?
The Japanese (Kato) stuff was never on what I would call the "low" end of the pricing spectrum (versus Athearn and others at the time), but now when compared to the latest plastic coming out of China, actually appears to be at least "competitively priced" if not a deal just for the quality. Their SD40-2 Mid versions, of the latest run, are selling at prices comparable to, if not actually slightly less than, the first run which was several years ago.
(Not talking about the Kobo stuff).
Maybe not everyone needs BNSF, I get it, but they have actually held some of the prices down.
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Post by riogrande on Nov 5, 2018 9:45:56 GMT -8
Dealer at the front tables at Timonium, to the right of the door when one entered, had plenty of deals on HO rolling stock, including freight cars from a number of manufacturers, Genesis freight cars and Fox Valley, all cheap. I could have gotten all the Fox Valley Soo and Wisconsin Central boxcars I wanted at $17 each, his stickered price. Stupidly, I only bought one. The white ones with the large SOO lettering were not there that I saw, but the others were. That table was Choo Choo Nuts going out of business table. I bought an ExactRail SP 6033 PC&F box car with the 2 panel COTS for $20 and two RTR P2K gondolas $10 each. All good deals. $17 is a good deal on the FV SOO but I didn't notice them; I already have a single of the white SOO and eventually will pickup a brown one at some point. That would be enough for a thru the Rockes RR. |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 5, 2018 9:48:10 GMT -8
riogrande-- China? Seriously? Manufacturing costs held at bay? Really?[ Obviously stuff is made in China to keep labor costs from going higher than they already are. Where else are these models going to be made? It's all relative but sure, prices are always going up and I'm no happier about it than anyone. |
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Post by GP40P-2 on Nov 5, 2018 10:30:28 GMT -8
riogrande-- Where else are these models going to be made? . My bet is on Vietnam. Large industrial concerns that I am involved with are giving it a go to work around the China tariffs. It is a matter of time before the capacity filters down to hobby level activities. |
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Post by gevohogger on Nov 5, 2018 10:36:58 GMT -8
^^^ Remember the $5 Roundhouse gondolas? Athearn added a few metal grabs, junk couplers and metal wheels and raised the price by $28! When were they $5? A long time ago in a Galaxy far far away. Retail price was something like $2.98 back in the 70s... |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 5, 2018 10:38:11 GMT -8
My bet is on Vietnam. Large industrial concerns that I am involved with are giving it a go to work around the China tariffs. It is a matter of time before the capacity filters down to hobby level activities. You may be right about Vietnam being the next China. As they get the infrastructure in place and more skilled workforce, we may see model train manufacture shift there in time. |
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Post by captainmudflap (AL) on Nov 5, 2018 19:20:56 GMT -8
"Zzzz...zzz...zzz..."
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Post by packer on Nov 5, 2018 22:04:00 GMT -8
ExactRail SP 6033 PC&F box car with the 2 panel COTS for $20 and two RTR P2K gondolas $10 each. All good deals. $17 is a good deal on the FV SOO but I didn't notice them; I already have a single of the white SOO and eventually will pickup a brown one at some point. That would be enough for a thru the Rockes RR. Is there any real difference between the SP 6033 with 2-panel cots and the one without any as far as the data or the like? As far as I could tell there wasn’t, so I’m going to add them to mine. I have a brown FV SOO with a body color single panel plate. Didn’t know that those cots could be anything but black. Again, I’ll change it. I do want a red and white SOO. Just have yet to find one. |
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Post by lvrr325 on Nov 6, 2018 1:01:08 GMT -8
I picked up some old stock last week with original MSRP stamps in the $2.98-$3.98 range.
I priced most from $5 to $10.
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Post by PennCentral on Nov 6, 2018 5:09:42 GMT -8
[/quote] When were they $5? A long time ago in a Galaxy far far away. I remember walking into a cigar smoke filled hobby shop about 21 years ago in Schenectady NY and saw one of those Roundhouse Railgon gondola's priced around $8 and I knew it should have been around 5 because none had been produced since in some years. Apparently the shop owner marked it up a few dollars to be in-line with more recent kits that had gone up since the Railgon was made. That irked me enough that I left it on the shelf. [/quote] Scotia. Schenectady was across the river. That was Glen. The Model Railway Station in Scotia was one of the two primary train shops of my childhood. The other being Charlie Benscoter's 'The Depot' in Ballston Spa, my hometown. Glen could be a crusty curmudgeon and the smell of his cigars would linger on the magazines, books, and models I bought there for a long time after getting them home. Glen was always up to date on the latest railfan news of the region. After I joined the Marine Corps, I used to stop in and see Glen when I'd visit NY. In spite of that sometimes crusty exterior, he was always happy to see me when I'd make a random visit and we'd catch up for a while. Back in the day, he did layaway which made a world of difference to a high school kid. It was the only reason I was able to buy Atlas D&H RS-3's, S-2/4's, and C424's at that age. Up to that point, the only D&H locomotives on the market were the Athearn BB PA's. I know your experience wasn't the greatest and honesty, probably not even unique, but I'd give a lot to be able to go back to and have another visit with Glen. And Charlie at The Depot. Jason C Sentimental, Indiana |
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Post by riogrande on Nov 6, 2018 5:49:35 GMT -8
ExactRail SP 6033 PC&F box car with the 2 panel COTS for $20 and two RTR P2K gondolas $10 each. All good deals. $17 is a good deal on the FV SOO but I didn't notice them; I already have a single of the white SOO and eventually will pickup a brown one at some point. That would be enough for a thru the Rockes RR. Is there any real difference between the SP 6033 with 2-panel cots and the one without any as far as the data or the like? As far as I know, the difference between the Exactrail 5033 PC&F previous run and the newest run in SP is the previous run is for the ~1978+ period (wheel dot) and the most recent run is for as-delivered in the late 1960's. I have treasure hunted the 1978 version on the secondary market - found 4 numbers so far and probably enough (they show up in Ebay now and then if you check regular):   I couldn't find a close up image for the data section on the recent as-delivered run but here is the whole car.  The only caveat is Blaine mentioned at some point that the graphics on recent cars had been refined vs. earlier releases but didn't go into specifics. As time allows, I plan on adding ACI and 2-panel stencils to rolling stock which was factory decorated for as-delivered before those features. I've already bought some 2 panel stencil decals but still need to order some ACI plates/decals. I was happy to find a number of previous run ExactRail 4427 hoppers with the stencils and the 6033 PC&F box cars, in SP anyway, so fewer to have to update with decals. Most COTS's I have seen are black, but when people were talking about the PWRS box cars, one or two had colored stencil panels. Check the prototype photos. |
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Post by NS4122 on Nov 6, 2018 8:24:56 GMT -8
Ah yes, The Model Railway Station. That was my LHS until it closed. It's a shame too, because his prices were pretty good. He usually offered nice discounts on new arrivals and had sales on a regular basis. I certainly don't recall him marking older stock up to be in line with current prices. On the other hand, his ordering system was a disaster. He would write down the orders in his notepad, but would never write down the name of the person that ordered it. More often then not, my orders would end up on the shelves for sale because he didn't remember. As you said, he was a crusty curmudgeon. I remember being in the store one evening when someone brought in a Lionel piece to be appraised. Him and his cronies laughed at the poor guy and told him he was sucker. He angrily stormed out and probably never returned. Scotia. Schenectady was across the river. That was Glen. The Model Railway Station in Scotia was one of the two primary train shops of my childhood. The other being Charlie Benscoter's 'The Depot' in Ballston Spa, my hometown. Glen could be a crusty curmudgeon and the smell of his cigars would linger on the magazines, books, and models I bought there for a long time after getting them home. Glen was always up to date on the latest railfan news of the region. After I joined the Marine Corps, I used to stop in and see Glen when I'd visit NY. In spite of that sometimes crusty exterior, he was always happy to see me when I'd make a random visit and we'd catch up for a while. Back in the day, he did layaway which made a world of difference to a high school kid. It was the only reason I was able to buy Atlas D&H RS-3's, S-2/4's, and C424's at that age. Up to that point, the only D&H locomotives on the market were the Athearn BB PA's. I know your experience wasn't the greatest and honesty, probably not even unique, but I'd give a lot to be able to go back to and have another visit with Glen. And Charlie at The Depot. Jason C Sentimental, Indiana |
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Post by edwardsutorik on Nov 6, 2018 8:36:32 GMT -8
I remember being in the store one evening when someone brought in a Lionel piece to be appraised. Him and his cronies laughed at the poor guy and told him he was sucker. He angrily stormed out and probably never returned. At my long ago train shop (Lee's Train Service, Oakland CA), people would bring in their Lionel trains all the time for an appraisal. Generally, they'd be informed they were worth very little. Because it was true. The people were frequently convinced the store owner was lying and trying to take advantage. They, too, stormed out and probably never returned. Ed |
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Post by csx3305 on Nov 6, 2018 11:43:04 GMT -8
Was this new company ever explicitly stated to be developing all new tooling?
I’m thinking of all the lower end stuff made in the last 50 years that could magically reappear....AHM, tyco, etc. Lionel bought Mantua, so that thins it down a little, I suppose.
What about the E&C/LBF stuff? Did Huberts get all there was to get?
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Post by brakie on Nov 6, 2018 12:08:24 GMT -8
Guys,Here's the rub as I see it.. Those so called RTR "economy" cars isn't that much difference at street price then the better grade of car..
Those $28.00 former Roundhouse gons is outshined by the Atlas 53' gon that costs a few dollars more at street.
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