XIH availability status

[bbussey]

Well, the latest gons may be slowly moving but the boxcars are moving quickly.  Current status at ESM:

#2252xx PC&F BAR State of Maine, all three numbers sold out.
#2253xx PC&F NH State of Maine, EXTREMELY LIMITED quantities remain.
#2255xx BAR repaint, both numbers sold out.
#2256xx NH repaint, EXTREMELY LIMITED quantities remain.

The cars are in production so the total quantities of the run are locked in.  The entire run will be sold out at ESM well before the shipment hits the water in May.  Reserve with your dealers if you want one.

Also, as a reminder, the cars are delayed until July/August.  The second release will follow two months later and will be announced in the spring.

[Chris333]

Moving quickly? How do I order? Sorry I usually buy when they are released.

[GaryHinshaw]

Here's one reliable option: Chuck@FRT.

[Dave V]

Bryan,

The PC paint-outs are the second run, right?

[bbussey]

Dave - the second run hasn't been announced yet but yes, the CR ex-PC car (single#) is in that batch.  Once I can confirm more CR-marked cars with photos, more will be produced.  There will be other CR-owned XIHs appearing in the third batch, but they will be under the NH and PC stock numbers to avoid confusion, as they are not clearly marked as CR.

Chris - Chuck has a healthy amount ordered.  But I believe the scheme you would definitively want is the original Magor 1950 BAR car.  That will be out in the second batch, but there will be less of those than then PC&F 1953 BAR version so they will go quickly.

As with the gons - if the demand is there for any scheme, more will be made and filtered into future batches.  There will be a few releases before the appearance of the third ESM model, which will be announced this spring and tentatively is scheduled for a December 2011 debut.

[GonzoCRFan]

Nice to hear these things are already sold out for you. I'm looking forward to the second batch with the CR paint-out, as I think that's the first unique thing the CRHS has supplied a photo for that's hitting the store shelves...