Most important manufacturer to N scales growth this year and why ?

[wm3798]

I'd actually go with Micro Trains on two counts:  The amazingly tooled and priced RPO car...  if this is a taste of things to come passenger wise, MT will attract a large pile of legal tender from a growing base of passenger fans.  The other factor is the introduction of the new standard wheels.  Okay, so maybe these didn't contribute to the growth of N scale in 2009, but they bode extremely well for the coming years.  The wheels in particular, because they will completely eliminate the divide between so-called collectors and runners, at least in the realm of realistic paint scheme equipment.

The other vote gets cast with BLMA, Bluford, ESM, and FVM for pushing the envelope on quality design and breaking the chains of truck mounted couplers, bulky details and other visual factors that are frequently associated with our beloved scale.  F'rinstance, I don't think Athearn would be putting body mounts on its new cars if ESM hadn't done such an amazing job with the gondola.

While these improvements may not be a high priority for "the average modeler" (whomever THAT is!) I think that all modelers will ultimately benefit as these kinds of things become the standard instead of the exception.

Lee

[asarge]

Some did there usual thing, some did an outstanding thing, Kato, Atlas, FVM, BLMA, Buford, IM, DI, MT, Trainwork, Big or small they are all important, without them N-scale would be just overprices kids toys made by the Bachman.

I have to agree w/Sundowner wholeheartedly on this one. The scale has growen to the point where there is no one commanding presence and actually all will depend on each other to some extent to keep the pipeline full and to keep innovating.

[C855B]

I'm going with Craig and BLMA. Nearly everything he has done this year has raised the bar, especially his marketing expertise. His marketing approach is shifting the hobby away from the '50s-era notions of "wholesome family fun" clearly into "cool!". Definitely somebody who has a grasp on how to package for hobby growth, all while giving us old farts eye-popping quality goods.

[TiVoPrince]

Many
stores appear to be reducing 'standing orders' for the MT 'flavour of he month'.  While some releases like the 89' flats filled needs, unless you are collecting presidents or navy ships the monhly releases didn't generate a whole lot of buzz.  Since this thread specifically mentioned growth I confined my response to the manuacturers who got more than last year.  MT might have made it but a SP caboose bought and then sold made my total MT dollar investment about the same as last year, maybe just a little less.

Overall the 'New Breed' manuacturers are pushing the 'Old Guard' and we the consumers are reaping the benefits.  Other than C55 track my Atlas purchases have been small, Athearn got about the same dollars, DCC manufacturers also got about the same, Magazines and books were far less and Lowes got a boost with benchwork material accumulaion in progress.  While I no doubt spent more in 2009 it was far more focused on new tooling than in years past when I was 'playing catch up' with items released while I was still wandering the HO wasteland...

[Wlal13again]

I've got to say it's FVM, going from the "little guy who makes killer wheels" to "the guy who does the GEVOs and the Hiawatha" this year really shows he's ready to play with the big boys.

Agreed, I have several of their boxcars and they are very nice, now they enter the passenger and diesel arena.

Kudos to BLMA and Bluford for bringing us much needed cars.

Kato gets the underachiever award, while I`m sure they made more than a few folks happy with the 09 releases, they again did the least with the most. But in their defense I spoke to a Kato Rep earlier this year who told me a large portion of the old tooling, including the SD45, must be redone due to the new chassis they produce.

My "Aint that just great" award goes to Intermountain for coming out with an SD40-2 product, great news, but not who I wanted to hear it from..

once again, this is just the N scale world according to Rich, just my take on our hobby...

[Ian MacMillan]

For me it is;

BLMA, FVM, ESM, Blueford, Rapido, and Atlas. All came out with top winners in my desire list.

[MichaelWinicki]

I dunno...

Even without anything incredibly new, Atlas is still the "600 lb guerrilla" in my eyes. 

Yeah, they have some misteps now and again, but between the track (including the relatively new Truscale) and the reasonable prices on their Trainman cars and the GP15-1, they're the ones that make N-scale go.

I just received new numbered versions of the C628's and they are just outstanding engines– Just like most of the Atlas engines that I own.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I think that for its size FVM has produced an incredible line in very short time. The prices are good, the tooling is well done and paint is exceptional. They also seem to be able to keep production schedules, something new others have done.

On a related note, I think ExactRail has the best business model out there. They only announce a new model when it is on the water. Add their web based store, and you never have to resort to lists and double check if I pre-ordered a model, or double ordered one by accident.

For the big boys, I would have to go with Athearn. Athearns product range (with exception of locomotives) is approaching Atlas's size. They did this in just a few years. They have introduced more new tooling then anyone else in the past year and their fit,finish and paint are all miles ahead of what they did just a few years ago. They get my vote for most improved.

[lock4244]

For me, it's FVM for the GEVO and Hiawatha releases/announcements (and those great metal wheels... and those great boxcars). You don't have to be large or have a glacial release schedule to be good.

Rapido for releasing some truly great passenger cars and a strong hope for more Canadian prototypes.

Bluford for being first to market with accurate 86' AP boxes... such a large gap that needed filling. The offsets look promising, too.

Trainworx for their 86' AP box... we've gone from none to two mfg's to choose from. Thanks for adding variety.

BLMA... Crain hasn't done any rolling stock that I really need yet, but I needn't say much about his contributions on this forum. FWIW, I'm still planning to get some of his 4000CD's, weather I need them or not.

IM, for doing the SD40-2W. Yes, I'm nervous too, but I must hand it to them for tackling a prototype that, lets face it, no other Mfg would have gone near. Only CN has operated the model to date... a real one trick pony.

Athearn. First, they've brought us a modern LPG tanker... something I've been dying for for years. Second, their other newly tooled rolling stock releases are exceptional. Third, the F45 / FP45... not for me but a really nice and needed prototype for ATSF & BN modelers (and NYSW, MRL, WC, MILW). Everytime a prototype like this is released in N it takes away an excuse from someone not to get into N. One wonders if an SD45 could be far behind???

Atlas is easy to overlook because they do so much. I hope they do the... aw heck, I don't need to say it again... they'll get my top spot for 2010 or 2011 if they do.

[Rossford Yard]

If the question is truly about N scale growth and not about what we existing modelers bought, would not the only two contenders be Kato for Unitrak, which allows a lot of fence sitters to easily build a layout where they might not before?

Or Atlas for its entry line flex track (or even reasonably priced C55) and even more reasonably priced Trainman line and Trainman Trainsets?

Just askin.

[Walkercolt]

The Atlas Trainman trainsets HAVE to be the VALUE item of the year. Atlas' new True-Track will get alot of people building "layouts" that wouldn't otherwise. It's less exspensive enough than Unitrack to make a difference, and is much better than the B-mann "E-Z track" (which the connecting tabs break off of). Now if Atlas can get Kato to let them make a "transition track" section to hook to Unitrack, that would put Atlas True-Track in solid.

Wheels of Time is big on my personal list, but probably TCS and their decoders that don't require frame milling is probably bigger for the hobby. TCS is looking at the early Kato F-units for a "plug-in, solder motor leads" decoder. That could be a winner.

Kato will always be Kato. We will get the "leavings" of the Japanese home market. Hey, the Japanese build "full-size" (big as a Buick Electra 225) sedans they don't export to the US too, with 6L+ engines in a country with a 40MPH speed limit. The Japanese movie industry (third largest in the world, after India and Brazil), rarely bothers to dub their movies for the US market, and they put out some films that Hollywood hasn't come close to in 30 years. Nobody ever asked why Fleishmann and Arnold/Rapido never made lots of US prototype stem engines....

[Rossford Yard]

Yes, we Americans do forget that the smaller apartments of other countries probably have more to do with worldwide growth of N than any mfg ever will.......

Here in the US, maybe its not the mfgs who drive growth - its the bankers, regulators or whoever screwed up our economy and will force many, many folks, including model railroaders into smaller quarters they can afford.

Or, maybe it will be the retirement of baby boomers moving to smaller places who switch to N, albeit there will be those eyeball issues, so maybe its the laser eye surgeons who will drive growth.....

Serious question though, is it really the mfgs that drive growth or are they the tail, and not the tail that wags the dog? ;D

[Philip H]

Rossford raises an interesting point.  I started in N as a middle school-er in 1979.  I've watched, waited, kitbashed and custom painted my way through 30 years of N scale.  Others here can add a decade or two to me in that regard.  And, we're finally seeing great products that rival what can be had in HO.  I say finally, because I lost count long ago of the number of times I'd open MR, see something from Athearn or Atlas (or Cal Scale or Detail Associates, or Bowser , or . . . . ) and long to see it in N scale. 

I think a lot of the growth has to do with the maturation of N as a scale in the U.S. In the 70's and 80's i think a lot of the big boys were still expecting it to go the way of so many other intermediates around HO - when was the last time you say a TT scale review in MR?  N scale hasn't, and after 30 years of the hobby press being flooded with both great n scale modeling and repeated cries for new product, we finally get it.

So while the big manufacturers may well be lagging indicators of hobby growth, the upstarts - FVM, BLMA, Bluford, ESM, and even MTL and LBF are showing what is possible.  The hobby will grow in positive directions IF we keep such "disruptive innovators" in business, and that, dear friends, takes $$ spent.

So I'd say the most important manufacturer is the hobbyist - if we hadn't shown what was possible, consistently demanded it, and then bought it, the wouldn't be here debating the alphabet soup.

[unclepete20]

I would say that all manufacturers contributed this year. I wish Atlas churned out a another loco though, a big baldwin center cab would be surely appreciated around my parts of the world.

I think the biggest thing that contributes to growth is the lack of qaulity tv shows, i mean come on, has any one watched the crap on tv? makes me hide in the train room.

[Erik W]

So I'd say the most important manufacturer is the hobbyist - if we hadn't shown what was possible, consistently demanded it, and then bought it, the wouldn't be here debating the alphabet soup.

Amen brother!  What's interesting with folks like Matt at FVM, Craig at BLMA and Pat at Trainworx, etc. is they are N scalers.  Take Matt for example, he's a life long N scaler.  He's been in the hobby long enough to know what a crap product is, there have been many out there.  He also knows what kind of products and quality he'd like to see himself.

Erik