ST C39-8 and PS 4785 hopper pushed back

[delphiz302]

PS - Shane, Don't give up on N scale!

[scaletrains]

I think these are going to be a sleeper hit once folks see them in action on layouts and at shows.  I pre-ordered a pair after seeing (and hearing) the functioning preprod unit at the Salt Lake convention.

Thanks for the vote of confidence @delphiz302. Although we're revising our N Scale business strategy, we're not planning to exit N Scale.  In fact, we'll be announcing our next N Scale locomotive with operating samples at the Railroad Hobby Show in W. Springfield, MA at the end of January.  We expect it to be as popular as the Tier 4.

Shane


Shane Wilson
President
ScaleTrains.com, Inc.

[unittrain]

Looking forward to the new locomotive announcement! Would love to see a 60s 70s era EMD or Alco! A GP30 or SD45 ECT.

[scaletrains]

Shane @scaletrains, Just curious, how many T4 engines were pre-ordered in N? I have two on order. If it makes the difference between being produced and not, I'll add a third.

These are a hard sell. They were used by few roads and were only on the rails for a fairly short time.

I was always hoping you would do a popular model, then something eccentric, and repeat. We could use another SD40-2. Or a good GP40-2 and GP50.

For something a bit more eccentric, I think the CF7 would prove incredibly popular.

@daniel_leavitt2000: I think you're asking about the C39-8s.  We ordered about 600 units from the factory and they will be produced later this year.  We kept additional quantities very tight since the market has limited interest in these versions.

Shane


Shane Wilson
President
ScaleTrains.com, Inc.

[Steveruger45]

I believe there is a hole in the market for a good GP50.   The last good one was from Kato decades ago IIRC.

[Doug W]

Looking forward to the new locomotive announcement! Would love to see a 60s 70s era EMD or Alco! A GP30 or SD45 ECT.

Me too!

I always try to support new manufacturers and products, but the only ScaleTrains product that has been any good for me to date is the PS-4785. Everything else has either been too modern for my 1975 era, way too niche, or both. While I understand some folks' desire for a GP50, that would just me more of the same for my perspective.

Please give us locomotives (and cars) that have widespread application. The SD40 and SD45 have never been properly done by Kato (or others) and have widespread appeal in time and place. I'd buy lots of both if you do, and do them in the right road names (Clinchfield, SCL and C&O please). The U33/36C has never been done, although that might be a little more niche (Clinchfield for that). There are plenty of other options too.

There is a good market in N for the right products.

Doug

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Yes I was talking about the C39-8. I was wondering how many units (600) were produced compared to the T4 GEVOs.

ST would have a hit with any of the following:

U28B
U30B
U33/36B
U28/30C
U33/36C
C30-7
GP40-2
GP50
SD40-2
C425
CF7

As for freight cars, tanks are criminally underrepresented. Modern acid tanks in the 13-18k gallon range. 19k gallon corn syrup cars (especially Staley and Tate and Lyle. UTLX general purpose tanks in the 23-25k gallon range. Any modernish pre-qualification tanks.


A rib sided plastics hopper would be a nice addition too. We don't have a really good ACF 5200 Centerflow. The Atlas design is 3 decades old and has no free-standing detail. And finally, I don't think the Walthers tooling is up to Atlas's standards, so why not do a really good North American PD5000? These featured billboard logos and are sure to sell well.

Or maybe you could pull and Atlas and just buy Exactrail's N tooling. They are not doing anything with it and almost all of the models were under utilized.

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the correction @scaletrains.  I for one have been very happy with your modern offerings, to the tune of eight T4s, three carbon black hoppers (beautiful models, but I don't need many), fifteen 5188 hoppers (on pre-order), and something like seventy five 53' containers.  I hope modern models continue to figure into your plans. 

edit: I second Daniel's tank car list.  And I'll add: TBOX!

[James Costello]

The grief over the C39-8s / PS 4785 preorders vs the success of the containers / T4s / 5188s really show how critical product selection and market knowledge is. The competition against IMRC for the 4785 can't have helped.

I'm in the same boat as Gary - limited uses for the PS4785 (still got 3 on order) and the carbon black cars (got 4 at a stretch, but the schemes in the first run didn't suit mid-90s Tehachapi as well as others). I even experiences (another) era creep to get 4x T4s to the hard era end of Walonger.

I've got a CR C39-8 leaser and a bunch of 5188s on order.....

But you wouldn't have to spend much time here reading posts to see how popular a non-Gunderson 53' well car, a TBOX or a BNSF "icicle" reefer would be.

I suspect a state of the art SD40-2 is the same (those exMILW EMD Leasers are hawt). 

[jagged ben]

Add to the suggestion list:

SDP45 (at least 6 paint schemes to do, from both coasts)

They could probably even do well with the tunnel motors they are doing in HO.

[BruceStikkers]

I planned to order some PS 4785 hoppers before the deadline but didn't get it done. I will be ordering some Cargill ones for sure when they come out. Shane has been my hero ever since I got by UP turbine. I also like and have some of the carbon black hoppers.

I appreciate the info from Shane about the financial side because that helps us understand what is involved for the manufacturer. There is a huge risk in all new models they come out with.

Bruce Stikkers
St. Joseph, IL

[greenwizard88]

Let me preface this by stating that I know this would never happen, but I'd really like to dream:

I'd like some kits. Make them snap and press-fit like Kato, and leave them un-numbered. Provide a decal sheet for the numbers, and a suggested spray-can list, so anyone can put them together - call it "Idiot Proof Kits by ScaleTrains.com" (but really, don't call them that). By my estimate, a sprune and a body (painted 3 colors) plus some screw, wheels, and couplers (I'll call them 1 piece) would make a complete car. Sell them in 3-packs, or 3-pack with a 6-pack case (implied, you buy 6 if you want a case, a la Kato). My wife and I had a great time building the kit classics, and would love to be able to do that with her again, now that I'm in N scale.

On a similar line of thinking, reefer kit cars can be sold with speaker holes pre-molded and an optional electronics kit that would provide pickup trucks and a speaker/decoder setup, much like Kato sells their passenger cars without a lighting kit. Thanks to Arduino clones, you can build a sound decoder for under $6. In bulk, I'm sure ScaleTrains.com can create a simple 1 or 2 function sound decoder that costs about that to produce. The thing about N scale is you can afford to buy in bulk, and store 5000 of them in a shoebox.

Imagine a string of Tropicana reefers, $45 per 3, designed from scratch as a shake-the-box kit to minimize production costs, $55 for a 3 pack with a box, and an optional $45 for 2 sound decoder kits. That's $470 for a string of 12 if you want to go all out -- and very little inventory management on your end since they're all the same exact SKU.

----------------------

Back in reality, I'd like a ST.com SD40-2, Dash 9, and AC44C6M. But not until the BLI T1 is shipped this may june july august October

[High Hood]

I'd like some kits. Make them snap and press-fit like Kato, and leave them un-numbered. Provide a decal sheet for the numbers, and a suggested spray-can list, so anyone can put them together - call it "Idiot Proof Kits by ScaleTrains.com" (but really, don't call them that). By my estimate, a sprune and a body (painted 3 colors) plus some screw, wheels, and couplers (I'll call them 1 piece) would make a complete car. Sell them in 3-packs, or 3-pack with a 6-pack case (implied, you buy 6 if you want a case, a la Kato). My wife and I had a

I like this!

[jereising]

I'd be another one for - not exactly an SD40-2, but the SD40N.  Granted, only one road, UP, but they have a pile of them.  There are significant differences but an it's an easy mod if you did the SD40-2 as well.  There is, after all, great dissatisfaction in the land with the IMRC version, and in a comparison with Kato, well, there is no comparison to the kind of model you would produce.  You'd sell a ton.
From a very happy operator of the T4s,

[peteski]

Let me preface this by stating that I know this would never happen, but I'd really like to dream:

I'd like some kits. Make them snap and press-fit like Kato, and leave them un-numbered. Provide a decal sheet for the numbers, and a suggested spray-can list, so anyone can put them together - call it "Idiot Proof Kits by ScaleTrains.com" (but really, don't call them that). By my estimate, a sprune and a body (painted 3 colors) plus some screw, wheels, and couplers (I'll call them 1 piece) would make a complete car. Sell them in 3-packs, or 3-pack with a 6-pack case (implied, you buy 6 if you want a case, a la Kato). My wife and I had a great time building the kit classics, and would love to be able to do that with her again, now that I'm in N scale.

The problem with that idea is that I have never seen any Chinese designed and manufactured model trains to snap together without glue like Kato models. There usually is a fair amount  of glue involved (and unlike Kato, the parts fit isn't perfect).  Also, there is a strong trend for producing super-detailed models, with all those free standing details - a snap-together model would have to be simplified like Katos are (which might not entice many modelers).  Personally, I like the kit idea myself, but IMO it is a pipe dream.