Walthers 0-8-0? It has been cancelled.

[CBQ Fan]

I have tried as many ways as I can think of to locate the upcoming run of 0-8-0 steam locos and I couldn't find them anywhere.  That was until I ran across this:

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/929-70001

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy #542 **PROJECT CANCELLED**
 Walthers Part # 929-70001
 N scale, $219.98, sold out at Walthers

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Walthers:
"Due to lack of interest, N scale has been canceled. Please return our referance catalogs."

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Walthers strikes again.  Let's show our appreciation... honestly I don't want a dime going to anything Walthers decides to do in N and thankfully there isn't anything structure wise I am interested in.  I have heard all the talk that we need to support them with the things that they do bring out but maybe the best way to show them how we feel is doing just the opposite, to a point that our feelings are finally really felt.

[Scottl]

I think you guys are easier on Walthers than on some of the new products in n scale   

[DKS]

They obviously don't poke around eBay, where these locos are fetching pretty astronomical prices--when they show up, that is:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WALTHERS-N-920-90000-USRA-0-8-0-CB-Q-545-STEAM-LOCOMOTIVE-TENDER-436688-/200806269009?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2ec0fc8051#ht_1290wt_1163

[peteski]

David, I just went through a similar conversation with Revell of Germany about a plastic truck model kit (not N scale), which has been out of production for several years).  When it was still available at hobby shops, it used to sell for about $70 retail price. I have been tracking sales of over a dozen of them on eBay. There is usually at east one of them listed on eBay at any given time. They usually fetch between $140 and $300!  Average selling price is around $200!

When I presented my case to their marketing person he said that those (in his opinion inflated) prices and the fact that so many of them sell for those prices on eBay, does not reflect the real-world need for those kits to be reissued.  He mentioned that the kit will be reissued at some future date, but not for at last several years.

I suspect that the Walthers marketing team (besides not considering N scale a viable market in in the first place - at least IMO) would also turn their noses up at the fact that those locos sell for such high prices on eBay.  I'm glad I bought few of these locos when they were still available for reasonable prices at BLW and few other vendors.

[up1950s]

Maybe they are devoting resources to a bigger seller ............. 0-6-0 with full visible valve gear . How nice would that be !?

[jmlaboda - RIP]

"Maybe they are devoting resources to a bigger seller ............. 0-6-0 with full visible valve gear . How nice would that be !?"

Walthers?  Are you kidding???  The money likely is going to go towards another new HO scale passenger car that six months from now they will be dumping on the market because modelers didn't buy enough to begin with.

[Cajonpassfan]

Maybe they are devoting resources to a bigger seller ............. 0-6-0 with full visible valve gear . How nice would that be !?

Oh please, DREAM ON....
Walthers is just not interested, their guys are in HO, and N Scale is not really on their radar. If they're going to put their effort into anything, it's not going to be N. Let's face it, it takes some passion to produce new models, and it just isn't there for N at Wathers. Still, how much  passion does it take to rerelease existing models? IMHO the business model is low hanging fruit and N just hangs too high....why bother?
My two cents...
Otto

[MVW]

From product announcement to cancellation in just over four months. That's efficiency! (And just three months before delivery was promised; in other words, Walthers had absolutely no intention of meeting its promised delivery date of Dec. 2012. Isn't that a shock?)

I'm not usually one to jump in on these "bash the manufacturer" threads ... but I'll make an exception in this case.

If one of our small, fledgling manufacturers had handled a product rollout like this, they would have irreparably damaged their credibility. I see no reason to give Walthers a pass. They overpriced their product ($220 list, $155 street -- compared to $140 street for Bachmann's DCC-equipped 2-8-0) and then panicked and pulled the plug when orders didn't roll in.

I am, unfortunately, awaiting delivery of a Walthers SW9 (already more than a year late, I believe). I started getting sceptical when they changed the SW9's product description from "DCC ready" to "DCC friendly" (after I ordered, of course). Their handling of the 0-8-0 project does nothing to assure me. If that SW9 ever arrives, I expect it will be the last item I ever purchase from this company. No sense rewarding such poor management.

Jim

[up1950s]

Oh please, DREAM ON....
Walthers is just not interested, their guys are in HO, and N Scale is not really on their radar. If they're going to put their effort into anything, it's not going to be N. Let's face it, it takes some passion to produce new models, and it just isn't there for N at Wathers. Still, how much  passion does it take to rerelease existing models? IMHO the business model is low hanging fruit and N just hangs too high....why bother?
My two cents...
Otto

[CBQ Fan]

While I made my opinion of Intermountain for how they handled the cancellation of a run of FT units at least they made everyone aware of it and were above board (I now have two AB sets and I am very pleased with them) with it and cared enough to care.  Walthers just cancels it and does not communicate it.  Lacking class if you ask me!!  They are probably all patting each other on the back saying "See we cancelled it and no one even noticed"

Walthers sucks.  They are like trying to catch a fart in a skillet.  You just get burned and it smells really bad!

I regret now ordering their SW unit and would just as soon cancel my order, but that would just punish the shop and it is not their fault.  I had considered 1 or 2 DL units but this is really making me think again.

[fredmoehrle]

Um, actually, it was in their latest email news letter, if one is signed up for it.

"WalthersN Alco RS-2 and USRA 0-8-0 Locomotives Cancelled
Walthers regrets to inform you that the WalthersN Alco RS-2 and USRA 0-8-0 locomotives announced in the May 2012 Flyer are being cancelled due to lack of interest and pre-orders. Please see the below details for SKUs that have been cancelled.

WalthersN USRA 0-8-0
929-70001 CB&Q #542
929-70002 CB&Q #548
929-70003 Erie #123
929-70004 Erie #124
929-70005 NKP #205
929-70006 NKP #207
929-70007 NP #1170
929-70008 NP #1171
929-70009 NYC #7818
929-70010 NYC #7741
929-70011 SOU #1886
929-70012 SOU #1897

WalthersN Alco RS-2
929-50001 LV #214
929-50002 LV #218
929-50003 Ontario Northland #214
929-50004 Ontario Northland #214
929-50005 RI #214
929-50006 RI #214
929-50007 UP® D.S. #1192
929-50008 UP® D.S. #1195"

Though I do agree they have been shooting them selves in the foot with their marketing stratagy.  (with a double barreled 12 gage!)
Hobby shops wont order them because they sit on the shelves because we've been trained to wait till (hopefully) WKW blows them out.
I mean think of it, if the likes of MBK, BLW, TTH and others wont place their usual orders for what, 100 each?
Then mininum orders  wont be met.  They (WKW) have placed N scale in a vicious downward cycle, imho.

[CBQ Fan]

Nope, don't get their flyers!!  Aparantly none of the hobby shops get them either since they are still showing them available!

[Kisatchie]

...They (WKW) have placed N scale in a vicious downward cycle, imho.

I don't know about that. I've been buying Atlas, Intermountain, and Micro-Trains products en masse lately. I even bought some BLMA gondolas a couple of months ago. 


Hmm... The only thing in N
scale that Kiz bought within
the past 7 years from WKW
was an N scale catalog...