The West Springfield Report

[up1950s]

Flexi-Van...

Ever since I first saw them new in a 50 something Trains mag way back then I wanted some . Then Skibbe did that jaw dropping one which re-kindled my desires . Boy would those be great .

[GaryHinshaw]

ExactRail brought a hottie to sell product. And I will never buy from Tex N Rails again.

But surely there is room in this world for two hotties?   

[sirenwerks]

Flexi-Van...

If it is, Bob should give a courtesy call to N Scale Kits so it can stop "researching" its model, which it's been doing forever. Hmmm... NSK has also been saying it's releasing a PRR F39 flat. Don't suppose you have one of those up your sleeve too, Bob?

Bryan,

Yes, it is a Flexi-Van Mark III. There were four variants commonly called Mark I - Mark IV. I did not know that NSK was doing the Mark II Flexi-Van (same as the model Skibbe showed in an earlier thread) nor the PRR F39 until Richie (UP1950) reported it. It really was a surprise because I already had the SolidWorks files for the Mark II Flexi-Van and the F39 completed. They were going to be my first "shots" in stepping up to the die-cast level. It is not my intention to compete, which is why I switched to the Mark III. However, if NSK does not release them in the very near future, I guess I will go ahead and continue with my original plans as I have already everything I need to start production.

Expect at least 6-8 new releases that are intermodal in the late 50's to 80's in the next couple of months.

Bob,

Between the length of time it has taken NSK to "research" and the fact that you tend to also provide decals, my vote's for you! Granted, NSK has a distance factor to consider in its research but it has been many years that the Flexi-Van has been on their list and the F39's been in pre-production for about 2 years. Your concept-to-sales turnaround proves that doesn't NEED to be the case so, again, my vote's with you. There's no need for modelers to wait a lifetime for their models these days.

The WP used Flexi-Vans, 1 Mark II unit and a larger group of Mark III units. The WP Color Guide states the latter were numbered 1601-1606 and 1611-1630. So, please consider the WP units in your decal sets. Now I need the PS fishbelly-silled 85' tofc/cofc foot cars WP had...

BTW, kudos for your post-transition era intermodal releases! It's a hole very much in need of filling and seems the perfect niche for TC. I look forward to seeing these and will save my pennies to be the first to buy.

[John]

My feeling is that as a consumer, I will buy what is available ..

[bobcat]

ExactRail brought a hottie to sell product.

I noticed that too(no big surprise ). I guess Craig's marketing strategies are catching on. ;D

And I will never buy from Tex N Rails again.

What happened Ian? I wasn't thrilled with them this year either, but nothing happened to swear off of them by me.

[Big4Man]

NYC FlexiVans! Finally!!  ;D

Microscale decal #60-1248
Includes the trailer decals in two schemes from 1958-67. also for a P&LE flat.

I bought a dozen of these sets when they came out years ago patiently waiting on someone (NSK) to release what they had announced.  :

Could these trailers be a perfect opportunity for Bob to try some resin castings?

Thanks Bob!

Dan

[Big4Man]

do not want to hijack this thread, but here is the link to MS decals:


http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=60-1248&Category_Code=NYC&Product_Count=31

Dan

[sirenwerks]

Great decals, but they are only for NYC cars. Other roads did run these cars - like the WP, IC, SAL, Southern, CB&Q, & Santa Fe, as well as MFVX & IFIX markings - and it would be nice to have them covered as well. Unless Microscale does a set for those?

[TrainCat2]

Great decals, but they are only for NYC cars. Other roads did run these cars - like the WP, IC, SAL, Southern, CB&Q, & Santa Fe, as well as MFVX & IFIX markings - and it would be nice to have them covered as well. Unless Microscale does a set for those?

Get the details and all the information/reference pics you can find over to Steve Campbell @ The Intermodal Store. Something is afoot.