Atlas - why have you forsaken me?

[asciibaron]

Statements like yours above signal either that you are not doing any work or are not interested in sharing said work, which in either case makes it completely nonsensical for you to stay involved in TRW.

i thought i was here to share and learn.  and i also thought i got to pick what i shared.  thanks for clearing that up for me.

[David Leonard]

I wouldn't give up hope on Atlas upcoming products just yet: http://www.atlasrr.com/News/atlastrack.htm

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Statements like yours above signal either that you are not doing any work or are not interested in sharing said work, which in either case makes it completely nonsensical for you to stay involved in TRW.

i thought i was here to share and learn.  and i also thought i got to pick what i shared.  thanks for clearing that up for me.

Except you just said that you're NOT going to share. Pick one. But don't just come here to complain about a manufacturer's delays (especially one who has their OWN forum that you could complain on).

[avel]

Anyone here have an accurate template of the Atlas curved turnouts? I could give it a go with code 40 rail, all soldered so no spike head detail to worry about.

[Philip H]

No, but Fast Tracks hads all of their templates online for free as PDF downloads.

http://www.handlaidtrack.com/printable-track-templates-c-11.php

[PGBowler2]

Asarge,

Please read the letter posted here http://www.atlasrr.com/News/atlastrack.htm .  It explains the reason why many of our products have been and are delayed.  2009 would have been comparable to prior years if all of the items we had reservations for had actually been delivered as scheduled.

I personally met with the management of Kader during the Nurnberg Toy Fair, and they expect to have the backlog from 2009 cleared by April, and will then start attacking the orders that were given to them earlier this year.  Remember we are not their only customer - in fact, we may not even be in their top five - so they have a balancing act to do as well.

And we do use some other suppliers.  Some have had delivery problems as well.  There is a shortage of labor in the area of China where a lot of this work is presently being done, so it isn't as easy as just moving production from one factory to another. 

As far as another company setting up shop - I heard a story of a friend of one of our factory's owners.  He had taken some of his molds to a new mold shop for production.  With no warning the mold shop closed, and the molds disappeared.  Only because of the factory owner's contacts was the person able to recover his molds - from a scrapping business.  It has been reported that as many as 40% of the mold shops in China have gone under in the past 18 months or so.

Paul Graf

[Dave V]

Paul,

A shortage of labor in China...?

...

Did they try to sell you a bridge in Brooklyn too?

[PGBowler2]

China changed some of their tax laws, and with the economic downturn, many of the workers that would come from the agricultural areas to work for a few years then return to their home area with their earnings no longer make the trek.  Note that I said "in the area of China where a lot of this work is presently being done". 

[Dave V]

I understood; the smiley was meant to convey my jest. ;D

I wonder when/if there will come a break point where some downtrodden American manufacturing centers (thinking Michigan) might be able to stand up a competative capability.  Especially if the cost of shipping also continues to rise as oil prices recover.

Then again, I'm no businessman.

[Kev1340]

I wonder when/if there will come a break point where some downtrodden American manufacturing centers (thinking Michigan) might be able to stand up a competative capability.  Especially if the cost of shipping also continues to rise as oil prices recover.

I work for an appliance manufacturer in the UK, and for many years we have had some of our range made in China. Already this is becoming less cost effective, and those products are, admittedly slowly, returning to UK plants.

Cheers,

Kev

[Blazeman]

I work for an appliance manufacturer in the UK, and for many years we have had some of our range made in China. Already this is becoming less cost effective, and those products are, admittedly slowly, returning to UK plants.

Wouldn't that be a nice thing for your land and ours. But unfortunately, political as well as economic forces have to be dealt with to make this happen to a large degree. I'm not pointing to any specific situations, but just speaking to the general situation businesses have to accomodate when doing manufacturing in NA and EC. EPA things, hiring guidelines, union, zoning, insurance.... It isn't easy.

[inkaneer]

Afghanistan is looking better and better.  I can just see the CIA operative holding up a piece of flex track and telling the people that their economy will be upgraded from a strictly agarian model cultivating opium poppies to a manufacturing model making flex track.  By the way are there any railroads in Afghanistan?  I don't recall ever seeing any video or any news reports.  They blow up everything else but nothing about railroads.   ;D

[John]

Afghanistan is looking better and better.  I can just see the CIA operative holding up a piece of flex track and telling the people that their economy will be upgraded from a strictly agarian model cultivating opium poppies to a manufacturing model making flex track.  By the way are there any railroads in Afghanistan?  I don't recall ever seeing any video or any news reports.  They blow up everything else but nothing about railroads.   ;D

Google is your friend ..  http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/

[asarge]

Yes, I saw a pice on CNBC last spring about China's labor issues. They even have illegal immigrant issues in the Hong Kong area. Thanks for the info Paul and good luck getting back on track. (pardon the pun) I know ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do, but please don't pile on us dealers right at the time things are slowing down for the spring!  ;D

[DKS]

Wow. From curved turnouts to kvetching to Chinese labor. Threads usually meander, but this one seems to have veered wildly.