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I didn't say people were happy with the current FA situation. I said that the consumer base won't support another FA model in N scale, because it didn't support the Life-Like units which were quality models. I said it makes more sense for a manufacturer to invest in another project other than an N scale FA model.
Regarding the big difference in N scale DC users v. HO, maybe the answer is it's pretty easy to add even a hard-wired decoder to any HO engine, even the old ones, since they've got cave-loads of space under the shell. But to add a hard-wired decoder to any shell-crammed N scale loco means chopping out part of and grooving wire runs in the frame or chassis, and if they are metal that is a hard task for anybody w/o a mini-machine shop on their work desk.
From the latest Rapido newsletter regarding the DC FL9s. Hopefully, this puts an end to the issue.N Scale's Two SolitudesWith our new FL9 locomotive we ran smack into the middle of the great divide within the N scale community. Much more so than HO, the feedback we've received from the N scale community suggests a major schism between DC and DCC. Among HO modellers, many DC users are planning to switch to DCC or have decided that at this stage in their hobby there is no point. Very few new layouts are being built using DC.But in N scale, DC is still king. And this is something I now understand and wholeheartedly respect.When we started making N scale locomotives, we approached DC and DCC as if we were making HO scale locomotives. We focused most of our R&D on DCC models and DC was more of an afterthought. This was a colossal mistake.Before we delivered the N scale GMD-1 we announced the N scale FL9, still making the same assumption. But then the GMD-1 came out, and we realized how wrong we were. DC users vastly outnumbered DCC users. And DC users were rightfully pissed off when their engines did not run as well as their DCC/sound-equipped counterparts. Our original plan not to offer a DC-only FL9 model would not fly.What were we to do? Well, we went back to the drawing board for the FL9. We designed it first as a DC locomotive, and then we added DCC and sound. We tested numerous silent DCC decoders and were unhappy with their performance on DC, so we dropped the decoders from the silent models. But as we had originally announced that the silent models would come with DCC, we decided to include a coupon for a complimentary silent decoder for the few of you who ordered the silent model for your DCC-equipped layout. That was Mike's idea.We've had half a dozen calls from DCC customers upset that they have to install their decoders themselves, but it is honestly the best solution we could find. It is very hard to bridge the yawning chasm that exists between DC and DCC users. The result is we have a silent locomotive which works beautifully in DC out of the box, and we have a sound-equipped locomotive which works beautifully in DC and DCC out of the box.Mike would have been proud of our FL9. We finally hit one out of the park in N scale. One of our distributors just bought all of our remaining inventory and another distributor came calling the next day but was too late! If you haven't seen our FL9 yet, please contact your local hobby shop. We're now completely sold out.
The only thing that's been on the market is Intermountain's FP7. Close but American prototype, not GMD Canada.
It happens if there are imperfections in the track. If you file or trim the end of the hoses slightly, the problem goes away. I actually removed the rear MU detail parts from my NH and AMTK units because back-to-back units wouldn't have the hoses hanging down. On my NH units, I clipped the hoses off and left the housings, because the hoses were not left attached on the prototype the overwhelming majority of the time as they rarely ran in a consist of more than two units. In fact, the front MU housings were only on the 1956 group, with the roof pantographs. The 1960 batch had no MU housings up front.
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Topic: Rapido FL9s in the house! (Read 8771 times)
