National Virtual Train Show on now at Trainworld Facebook.

[wazzou]

This is good news for me:

(Attachment Link)

This design is very close to the N&W H12 class (the N&W car is slightly longer). H12s were also built for Conrail and a bunch of other roads as well (including a swap with UP of a handful of cars).

Mark

Sure, you can get two of them for $94.   

[cjm413]

Also cool is that Eric from MTL said the tooling is now being "cut" on the PS-2 2 bay covered hoppers (coming 2021):

https://www.micro-trains.com/ps2-2bay

I hope they also offer the earlier cars with the channel ribs

[Shaggy170]

There was a very awkward exchange when after most of the chat was complaining about the Bachmann prices where the guy from Trainworld told everybody to check their dealer for 'actual' pricing.  The guy from Bachmann was definitely taken aback by that.  For some reason he felt compelled to mentioned it was against the law for Bachmann to force retailers to sell at a certain price.


Jason

I watched the entire presentation and I thought it was ridiculous that so many people were complaining about Bachmann's pricing. It was awkward and I felt bad for all the manufacturers, not just Bachmann. I saw so many complaints during many of the presentations about prices and stuff being made in china vs USA. If you dont like it, dont buy it. If you think the price is too high, go hunt for it cheaper or deal with it and buy it. End of story.

I did find it amusing that someone complained that Kato retailed their FEF's for less than Bachmann's Hudson but when you compare apples to apples, the MSRP of Kato's FEF's with sound was MORE than Bachmann's Hudsons.

[peteski]

I watched the entire presentation and I thought it was ridiculous that so many people were complaining about Bachmann's pricing. It was awkward and I felt bad for all the manufacturers, not just Bachmann. I saw so many complaints during many of the presentations about prices and stuff being made in china vs USA. If you dont like it, dont buy it. If you think the price is too high, go hunt for it cheaper or deal with it and buy it. End of story.

I did find it amusing that someone complained that Kato retailed their FEF's for less than Bachmann's Hudson but when you compare apples to apples, the MSRP of Kato's FEF's with sound was MORE than Bachmann's Hudsons.

Sounds like a typical Facebook behavior, or for that matter (Not to just single out FB) for any online type of a meeting. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I watched the entire presentation and I thought it was ridiculous that so many people were complaining about Bachmann's pricing. It was awkward and I felt bad for all the manufacturers, not just Bachmann. I saw so many complaints during many of the presentations about prices and stuff being made in china vs USA. If you dont like it, dont buy it. If you think the price is too high, go hunt for it cheaper or deal with it and buy it. End of story.

I did find it amusing that someone complained that Kato retailed their FEF's for less than Bachmann's Hudson but when you compare apples to apples, the MSRP of Kato's FEF's with sound was MORE than Bachmann's Hudsons.

Now I'm usually quite critical of complaining about pricing, but almost $50 for a VERY basic looking car (no separate parts, no roadname specific details, etc...) is ludicrous. At some point that whole charade is going to have to face a reckoning.

[thomasjmdavis]

Bachmann pricing is irrelevant for me, at least on freight cars.  I haven't bought a Bachmann freight car since Jimmy Carter was president (not including a couple that came in boxes of cars bought on auction).  In those days, they were under $5.  Usually $2 in the bargain bin.  Other than changing from the "rapido" coupler to the boxing glove, I don't see any improvement in detail in the 40+ years since.  I don't care what they charge for it, I won't buy it.

I did buy one of their new passenger cars for under $20, just to see what they are like.  Won't be buying any more- trucks look like they were done with old Model Power molds from their 70' fluted cars.

I will happily buy their current issue steam locomotives at prices I see as reasonable.  No idea why they are willing to make tiny, accurate details on their steamers, but expect them to pull boxcars with 8" thick doors (or whatever those are) and ladders made with 4x4s. 

Was hoping that we might hear more from MTL about those combines and baggage cars that Shipsure has hinted at.  Disappointed there, but happy to know that MT is doing well generally.  And it is very interesting (after watching the presentations from several manufacturers and the fan reactions) that the companies producing offshore because it is "cheaper" cannot meet the price points for what is often higher quality, better detailed product produced by MTL in the USA.  And MTL releases product in a dozen or more body styles every month, while others have difficulty releasing that much in a year.

[greenwizard88]

I was a bit surprised by Bachmann's K4 pricing, but otherwise I'm not griping. Everyone knows that they will sell for 1/2ish to 2/3ish MSRP everywhere except for my local hobby store.

[C855B]

I see B'mann's MSRP from multiple perspectives. First is attempt to acknowledge the old-school mom'n'pop B&M need for markup to keep the lights on. IIRC, MSRP in the old days was the shelf price, with 40-45% built-in for the retailer. Then there is the big-box genre, since Bachmann is the only MRR major with a significant big-box presence, where there is middle ground since there is usually no competitive product on the shelf for the hobby-unaware to compare with. The next issue is the in-the-know hobbyists and hobby retailers, who throw away the ludicrous markup, keeping a couple of percent for themselves and, in the end, blow them out for cost or even less once the quality and fidelity issues stanch sales.

Above all, it's B'mann pushing the pricing envelope, throwing the spaghetti against the wall to see how much of it sticks. Even with the street-price discounting it is moving the needle on "acceptable" pricing, especially once we factor-in the sound premium.

I also look at it as a foot in the door of moving production out of China, though not necessarily to the US. If their pricing continues to influence the market, there should be enough wiggle room for other sources to participate. I'd like to see more model production move back to Japan, or even here given the success of MTL's business model.

Bottom line: Bachmann's MSRP is a Hail Mary pass every time, but with possible positive consequences.

[Chris333]

This is part of what they sent me in the mail:


I have a few of those $3 cars laying around.

[davefoxx]

Is it me, or does that gon look like it's riding higher on the left end than on the right end in this photo?  Look carefully at the gap over the wheelsets.

Well, the load looks like it's shifted towards the right end, so maybe that crooked ride height was built into the car.   

DFF

[Chris333]

All I see is the MSRP is about $26 too high.

[Jbub]

Is it me, or does that gon look like it's riding higher on the left end than on the right end in this photo?  Look carefully at the gap over the wheelsets.

Well, the load looks like it's shifted towards the right end, so maybe that crooked ride height was built into the car.   

DFF

Yeah, it's the new rear end dumb gon.

[Missaberoad]

I really wish the industry would stop making 8 panel solid bottom gons...  besides some rebuilt GS cars they didn't exist...

[cjm413]

I really wish the industry would stop making 8 panel solid bottom gons...  besides some rebuilt GS cars they didn't exist...

If Botchmann is going to insist on re-releasing cars that they already have, they could have at least picked the war emergency gondola...

http://www.spookshow.net/freight/bach42obgond.html

[ncbqguy]

Without going into what prototypes these cars are supposed to replicate, here is a comparison of four existing cars that are/were on the market that are similar to the new Bachmann car.  While there are differences (I do not have cars in hand to analyze in detail) it appears that the Bachmann is closest to the Micro-Trains especially in the slope sheet.
Charlie Vlk

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