Top secret hobby shop near Kato USA, whaaat....

[sizemore]

Except for CSX's unrelenting paranoia about letting steam anywhere near their tracks.

You're just scared you'll get dumped with 844 as a yard goat.

The S.

[C855B]

Except for CSX's unrelenting paranoia about letting steam anywhere near their tracks.

Uh... yep. You should hear the now-retired chiefs of UP's steam program (Bob Krieger & Steve Lee) talk about the debacle (translated: monster cluster f---) when they were invited to run the 3985 disguised as a Clinchfield Challenger on CSX, as a Santa train. It had us in stitches for over an hour.

[sirenwerks]

My comment was aimed at the numerous armchair manufacturers I have run across over the years with neat products but no clue how to run a business or accept or ask for help in doing so.  ESMs, NZTs, and BLMAs of the N scale world aside, some good product lines went south because people thought word of mouth was gonna happen. 

Don Mills Models is one.  He only sells on eBay and has gorgeous HO resin model trucks. I asked him once if he'd consider trying N scale. He said he already had.  I'm pretty up on new models and I never, ever heard of these.  And he was all bitter that his N scale line didn't catch on when his business model is one of the more hopeless I've ever seen.  What did he expect?  For the wind to carry notice he'd gone N and everyone to flock to him, on eBay?

Even some of the bigger manufacturers are, um, momentarily clueless.  I won't name names so I don't piss of all its friends, but they forget the customer is actually paying attention even when said customers' screaming at them (and I don't mean zealots for a painted and super-detailed model of that one-off-prototype unit).

But my point was don't blame the customer when you make bad marketing decisions.

[packers#1]

He looks like he uses duct tape for everything!  Grunt, grunt!

Actually, the Grunt was the neighbor we followed, Tim "The Toolman" Taylor 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I knew Don from the Bay State Model Railroad Museum. I am not aware of any projects in n scale.

[peteski]

Actually, the Grunt was the neighbor we followed, Tim "The Toolman" Taylor 

But Wilson always grunted when he was applying duck tape - I know this from a reliable source. 

[John]

[packers#1]

But Wilson always grunted when he was applying duck tape - I know this from a reliable source. 

And at this point I defer to you sir, as my only exposure to that show was when Nick at Nite picked it up for a short time...I was born in the wrong era, I prefer eighties movies and nineties television!

[sirenwerks]

I knew Don from the Bay State Model Railroad Museum. I am not aware of any projects in n scale.

I still have the email he sent me somewhere.  I emailed him back in the days that I still held out hope Sylvan would expand its N scale line.

[peteski]

And at this point I defer to you sir, as my only exposure to that show was when Nick at Nite picked it up for a short time...I was born in the wrong era, I prefer eighties movies and nineties television!

I was just joking - I have no clue what Wilson did when he used duck duct tape.    While I wasn't a rabid fan, I did see quite a few episodes. But that was over a decade ago.  Funny that you said that you like TV of the 90s and that you only saw the show on reruns. The show was originally broadcast in 91-99.

[packers#1]

I was just joking - I have no clue what Wilson did when he used duck duct tape.    While I wasn't a rabid fan, I did see quite a few episodes. But that was over a decade ago.  Funny that you said that you like TV of the 90s and that you only saw the show on reruns. The show was originally broadcast in 91-99.

I was born 1994, and though my parents enjoyed it while it was on TV, I was too young to have any lasting memories of it.

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  No need to cross out "duck", as both terms are correct today.  "Duck tape" is the common term in much of Appalachia and the South, with the leading brand being "Duck Tape".  That's what it was originally, "cotton duck", a type of fabric, smeared with glue.  Eventually someone figured out how to put the glue on at the factory, without sticking the layers together in the roll, and today's tape was born.  "Duct tape" didn't become common until after WW 2, when returning servicemen started using it for DIY projects.  Most brands today call it "duct tape", since "Duck Tape" is now a brand name.

For what it's worth, for anyone thinking of using it for ductwork, don't use it on heating ducts.  The glue fails when it gets warm.  The metallic version works a lot better there.

[peteski]

I was born 1994, and though my parents enjoyed it while it was on TV, I was too young to have any lasting memories of it.

Ah, that makes sense.    I'm also enjoying reruns on TV (but usually a bit older than the Home Improvement series).

Nkalanga: thanks for the duck tape education. I have seen that brand sold here in New England too.  But I thought that duck came after duct (not the other way around).  I also thought that duct tape started off silver in color (as a cheap substitute for the aluminum tape used for sealing ducts) and that other "designer" colors (including camo-colored tape) came later.

[robert3985]

Let's see...I meet up with a Kato rep at the World's Greatest Hobby Show in SLC in 2012, and he tells me, and several of my N-scale buddies (all separately) that Kato is going to do the 844 with an accompanying and appropriate consist.  I blab this all over the net, and then n-o-t-h-i-n-g happens until now.  That rep told me (and my friends) that it would be out in the Spring of 2013. A year and a half to two years late isn't good, but I'm not complaining.

I have zippo/zero interest in what model railroad companies do/spend/don't do/screw up concerning their advertising, or whether a 90's TV character grunts or whether it's "duck" or "duct" tape...

The BIG NEWS for me is that an N-scale FEF-3 is going to be produced by a company known for its excellent running engines and great detail.  My only hesitation is the notification that they're going to articulate the centipede tender so it can maneuver on Unitrack...excuse me, I just got a little vomit in my mouth...

Since the prototype of this engine is running all over the country, and will be for years to come, this marketing decision by Kato is extremely astute because this train can be run almost everywhere by modern model railroaders (post 1960), and those of us who are modeling the UP during the transition era will buy up several of these for sure, along with mo' passenger cars to put behind 'em.

FEF-3's even ran freights in the late 50's as well as certain MOW trains.

Hopefully Kato will make tender conversions that will include (1) coal, (2) oil bunker-modern, and (3) oil bunker-original, and will have the smarts to offer this engine with different numbers in both black, and two-tone gray with both aluminum and yellow stripes along with both FEF-2 and FEF-3 pilots, stacks and smokebox doors, just like Athearn does with their HO models along with easy to add or remove smoke lifters.  Separate removable ash pans for either coal or oil would be great too.

I'll be buying at least six to compliment my brass FEF's, and more if they offer FEF-2's.

Now if Athearn would introduce some Standard and Veranda Turbines about the same time...

[sirenwerks]

Peteski:  No need to cross out "duck", as both terms are correct today.  "Duck tape" is the common term in much of Appalachia and the South, with the leading brand being "Duck Tape".  That's what it was originally, "cotton duck", a type of fabric, smeared with glue.  Eventually someone figured out how to put the glue on at the factory, without sticking the layers together in the roll, and today's tape was born.  "Duct tape" didn't become common until after WW 2, when returning servicemen started using it for DIY projects.  Most brands today call it "duct tape", since "Duck Tape" is now a brand name.

For what it's worth, for anyone thinking of using it for ductwork, don't use it on heating ducts.  The glue fails when it gets warm.  The metallic version works a lot better there.

Correct?  They're two wholly separate tapes.  "Duct" tape is used for ducts.  It's an aluminum foil with adhesive that has a high temperature resistance, specifically for use on heat duct work.  "Duck" tape gained its popularity because it was a water resistant (hence, the duck in duck tape) cloth chosen by the armed forces during WWII to use as a sealing tape for ammunition crating.  After  WWII it came home with GIs and was rebranded into the DIY nature of the homesteading many GIs were undergoing.  The silver color applied by Scotch and the near homophone quality of the terms made them the same to unsuspecting DIYers.  Scotch, and now Duck brand, have rebranded the tape for dim witted shoppers over and over.  My favorite is those users who have tried to use it as gaffers tape, and spent countless hours afterwards trying to remove the adhesive from the floor and their extension cords.