ESM X58 teaser video

[lock4244]

Very nice. Based on the quality of the XIH, these will be great! It's just too bad Brian doesn't model CN or CP 

I'm in for some CR and a CR patched PC. A later version of the LV (as one might have appeared in the 1980's), too.

[Puddington]

Very nice. Based on the quality of the XIH, these will be great! It's just too bad Brian doesn't model CN or CP 

I'm in for some CR and a CR patched PC. A later version of the LV (as one might have appeared in the 1980's), too.

Ok; here's plan. we grab a few 2-4's of Molson; road trip down south of the hockey demarkation line ; get him all Molson'd up; work him over (verbally and with beer that is) and by morning; hell; noon at latest (after some back bacon and beer for breakfast) he's a dyed in the wool Canadian prototype modeler; a CP/CN devotee, with a TH&B / PGE bent..... he'll forget the "Queens", the Horseshoe curve hoard and the Penn Central party and concentrate solely on CC&F; Angus shops and Pointe St Charles related models, dem true"nord of dat der border" models.........none of this nansy pansy Eastern Seaboard stuff.. the company name will have to change to "Hoserrail", but that's for the lawyers to figure out........ok; maybe we let him put out some "CPR Maine Division stuff and the occasional BAR spud car ('cause they look great dirty) but that's it...... Gear up hoser; get the Pacer ready, load up the Molson's, crank up the eight track; we got a "op" to run here..............

[bbussey]

Very nice. Based on the quality of the XIH, these will be great! It's just too bad Brian doesn't model CN or CP 

I don't model Pennsy either!   

I'm open to eastern Canadian prototypes.  If you know of any that would be at least moderately popular that can be painted in multiple schemes, and there isn't another manufacturer with an inside track on releasing an N scale replica, send me some suggestions.  But if an injection-molded HO model exists and the tooling is fairly new, then that prototype is off the table.

I only know of one LV X58 car retaining its original scheme into the `80s.  There definitely were some CR ex-LV patch jobs.  But unlike the Pennsy, Valley cars sporting LV reporting marks would be rare.

[SkipGear]

Well, Bryan and Bryan are piling on against Bryan.  I don't think anyone wants to be meat in that sandwich...  The Milwaukee Road car could be a fair comparison, but maybe not...  I'll reveal my bias here, and say that Milwaukee Road has always been one of the "chosen" roads, given the heritage Milwaukee shares with the hobby, and therefore, may hold more immediate appeal in the market place.  Plus, as we've discussed here at length regarding a number of models, the horizontal ribs on a MILW car make it a real oddball, despite the large numbers of them that rode the rail.

We modelers love our oddballs.  Matt's following that niche perfectly in his freight car work, with the MILW cars, and now the B&O wagontops.  These cars are truly as road specific and unique as the X-58 is, but they look more "way out" due to the eye popping designs of the cars.

The PRR x-58 doesn't fall into this category for the average modeler.  To the untrained eye, the X=58 is just another rib side box car, and ConCor, Micro Trains and Roundhouse already make one, and all of them, I'm willing to bet, have appeared with X-58 markings at one time or another.

Bryan is responding to the part of the market that says "No, good enough isn't good enough."  It's the same thing he did with the G-26.  To Joe Runner Pack, the G-26 is no different than the 65' Athearn mill gon, and he'll look first at the price tag, and second at the paint scheme.  If he is enchanted enough by the green PC car, he might go the extra $10, but if he's even a little cost conscious, he's going to look the other way and buy the Athearn.

To those of us who know better, we're going to be more likely to seek out the right model of the car that we collectively know has been missing from the ranks of N scale models... quality or not... and know that we're getting what we're paying for.  We are a more selective group of modelers, more demanding, and hopefully we recognize that certain molded on details aren't the end of the world, particularly if ops is our game, and every add-on detail is a potential snag or derailment waiting to happen.

Part of the accuracy, if you've been following the other threads, is the paint schemes on these.  Bryan has researched cars that are notably different on both sides of the same car, and is replicating this.  Is this overkill?  Maybe.  But as we've heard echoed on these boards for years, if you have the opportunity to do something right, why not do it right?

Lee

Lee nailed it. The Milwaukee ribsides and the B&O M-53 wagontops are both very unique prototypes that by their design stand out in a train. Watch a couple old video's and I will put money that you can tell me how many Milwaukee Ribsides or B&O Wagontops you saw in the train but not how many 40' or 50' boxes of any other specific type you saw in that same train. I was suckered in by that and picked up at least one of each paint scheme on the Milwaukee Ribside cars even though they didn't make it down this way that often. The M-53's are a perfect example, I have customers that model all roads buying them. We have actually sold more to non B&O modelers than we have to the B&O guys, and they generally bought all of the release options.

I understand those of you that are excited about the X-58 and it will be a great model but the avearge person will just see another box car with above average detail. Sales will be primarily to the PRR/PC/CR crowd that knows what the car actually is and will limit it's appeal outside that market. It's the cost of road specific releases.

BTW- On the M-53 news - it appears that Exactrail may have their own HO Wagontop coming out. A sample was setting on their table at a recent event. I am loosing more and more respect for them, especially if this turns out to be true.

[bbussey]

Tony,

Since (as you already know) some of the manufacturers don't talk with others, there is the greater potential for duplicate projects.  More than likely regarding the M-53 is that ExactRail was too far along in the process then they learned that Fox Valley was releasing the car.  I'm fortunate in that I have good rapport with nearly all of my fellow manufacturers large and small, which lessens the possibility of a duplicate project.

[SkipGear]

Tony,

Since (as you already know) some of the manufacturers don't talk with others, there is the greater potential for duplicate projects.  More than likely regarding the M-53 is that ExactRail was too far along in the process then they learned that Fox Valley was releasing the car.  I'm fortunate in that I have good rapport with nearly all of my fellow manufacturers large and small, which lessens the possibility of a duplicate project.

I might agree with that if they didn't wait till the first run had sold out and the second run was already announced and pre-orders closed. The FVM Wagontops were announced on the end of Jan 11, arrived 9 months later (actually a good turn around time in todays market). If it took them 9 months to tool a sample, they had time to kill the project. It just seems like a dumb move, especially when there is no huge outcry of complaint about the FVM model. The only complaint I have heard at all was that the doors don't open.

[sizemore]

I've already placed my reservation for three LV. Looking forward to picking them up.


The S.

[Brakie]

I understand those of you that are excited about the X-58 and it will be a great model but the avearge person will just see another box car with above average detail. Sales will be primarily to the PRR/PC/CR crowd that knows what the car actually is and will limit it's appeal outside that market. It's the cost of road specific releases.
------------------------------
Tony,I think you underestimate the "wow factor" that sells a lot of freight cars to the casual roundy roundy modeler..The PRR/PC/CR guys will buy so many and like usual the slack will be taken up by the "wow factor" purchases that actually drives the market...

[bbussey]

I might agree with that if they didn't wait till the first run had sold out and the second run was already announced and pre-orders closed. The FVM Wagontops were announced on the end of Jan 11, arrived 9 months later (actually a good turn around time in todays market). If it took them 9 months to tool a sample, they had time to kill the project. It just seems like a dumb move, especially when there is no huge outcry of complaint about the FVM model. The only complaint I have heard at all was that the doors don't open.

You have a point.  I can't explain it, other than they may be slower to getting stuff to market than usual (as evidenced by the lack of N product over the past year even though I know they have been working on N stuff).

[ljudice]

Dumb question - Exactrail (is/was going be) doing a B&O Wagontop in N too?

[SkipGear]

 

Dumb question - Exactrail (is/was going be) doing a B&O Wagontop in N too?

The only thing mentioned was HO.

Now let's get back to Bryan's boxcars.

They are every bit worth the money, to those that know. Those that don't will pass, because they don't know any better.

[Philip H]

Still trying to figure out if a couple of these, beaten and ratty looking, could plausibly be in Baton Rouge around 2000 as interchange traffic . . .

[lock4244]

I don't model Pennsy either!   

I'm open to eastern Canadian prototypes.  If you know of any that would be at least moderately popular that can be painted in multiple schemes, and there isn't another manufacturer with an inside track on releasing an N scale replica, send me some suggestions.  But if an injection-molded HO model exists and the tooling is fairly new, then that prototype is off the table.

I only know of one LV X58 car retaining its original scheme into the `80s.  There definitely were some CR ex-LV patch jobs.  But unlike the Pennsy, Valley cars sporting LV reporting marks would be rare.

I'll be in for one or two patched LV's then. I get the sinking feeling that I'll be owning a few more CR versions than I'd likely ever need for southern Ontario. Oh well 

[ljudice]

Still trying to figure out if a couple of these, beaten and ratty looking, could plausibly be in Baton Rouge around 2000 as interchange traffic . . .

The Conrail cars were quite common up to the end of Conrail - and were usually in pretty good shape. I'll even  venture to say they were probably the most common 50' boxcar on Conrail in the last few years.

- Lou

[Ian MacMillan]

Everytime I see this thread title quickly I keep thinking it says X26....

Which would be the favorite thing I own.