Tangent and N scale

[James Costello]

I totally agree (Aurora aside). There is a significant market in N for new manufactuers to cash in on, but a new entrant needs to fill a gap in the market or produce something that significantly improves on what is already there to be sucessful. The product also needs to have wide appeal, which means lots of potential (real) road names and wide-ranging use. A single railroad prototype - even a popular prototype like UP - is a poor choice, especially if it relates to cars that travel on limited routes like UP open hoppers, as it is a niche of a niche of a niche. A mythical roadname is even more niche.

I wouldn't classify the UP quads as niche, nor a poor choice: 40 years of active service, seen all over the US in use over many other railroads.
Tangent's website has many examples, but here's a version in PA in 2007:
https://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=24122

It also wasn't a real foray into the "unknowns" of N scale for a HO manufacturer. Like the PS 4000 covered hopper, it was co-developed/engineered with Craig at BLMA and we would have seen it released that way if things had worked out differently. So the actual development and decision to proceed with that model in N was well considered and based on real demand from people that new the market.

For mind, the biggest challenge that model has is the previously available Trainworx quad (different prototype) that was available for >10 years earlier and at a cheaper price. So you've lost some of that pent up demand, but you've got some up-graders willing to go for museum quality. The price point between the two has closed over time and the Tangent is available.... so there's only one choice today.

Single road prototypes that can be used in unit-trains or multiple carloads are still attractive in N scale - ScaleTrain's BNSF icicle reefer being the most recent example amongst a long list.

[Ike the BN Freak]

Personally I'm hoping the N scale announcement is PS-4000 triple hoppers, in BN of course, I've only keep asking every few months on Facebook

[Frank Amato]

They just announced a new 1960s-era tank car (in HO scale) -

https://www.tangentscalemodels.com/nacc-1963-design-20500-gallon-non-insulated-tank-car

[C855B]

They just announced a new 1960s-era tank car (in HO scale) -

https://www.tangentscalemodels.com/nacc-1963-design-20500-gallon-non-insulated-tank-car

Nice. But $70? Wow.

[sirenwerks]

N is not HO

This. Product development related marketing is a science and not free. I'm confident hobby manufacturers aren't investing in this part of the business process and rely more on hunches into market wants, and rely more on small product runs to minimize potential loss. Gone are the day of blue boxes piled up on the shelf and you knew you could find it, at anytime.
N scale structure products are par for the course in this vein. Rather than make a model that is more amenable to increased real estate availability in N scale, they just scale down HO scale structures that are severely selectively compressed. Scaling down works for structures like stations, interlocking towers, houses, retail buildings, etc. where it's 1 to 1. But industries, not so much. Funnily, more modern structures are the ones that are huge, like warehouses, and look awkward compressed. But this is the era many rolling stock manufacturers are focused on, so things don't add up. And the selectively compressed structures are at a price point that buying multiples to uncompress them isn't an option for many modelers, and manufacturers don't release uncompression options, like modularity or availability of affordable extra wall sections to enlarge a kit.

[cfritschle]

I have been extremely happy with both of the N scale releases from Tangent.  I have around 75 of the UP quad hoppers. And yes, I purchased some duplicates road numbers that will eventually be renumbered. However, I do wish that Tangent would have done some of the earlier versions of the UP quad hoppers in N scale (those before the UP class H-100-16 cars) like the H-100-10 and H-100-14 class cars they did in HO  That would have saved me from having to renumber the later versions. 

I also purchased the 24 UP road numbers for the the Trinity 4750 covered hoppers.  I am hoping for a second run of the Trinity covered hoppers with 24 new UP road numbers so I won't have to do any renumbering.  

InterMountain decorated their PS 4750 to look like Union Pacific's Trinity covered hoppers, but there are enough detail differences that I will be "redecorating" the IM "Trinity" covered hoppers I have, probably to some MP repaints. 

Now I am hoping for someone will make N scale National Steel Car covered hoppers (UP classes CH-100-119 and CH-100-121) like Walthers did in HO.