Micro-Trains Releases November 2018

[thomasjmdavis]

With releasing a two car set on the CNW stock car, MTL missed an opportunity to do something very MTL-like.  In the 60's the CNW 'articulated' (permanently joined) pairs of cars with 'A' and "B" cars on the same road number.


Jason

But they did pick up on the opportunity to produce a car with the same road number as the recent Atlas run of CNW stock cars...

[OldEastRR]

Truly, it is time for MTL to make new PS-1 molds. I mean, 50 years of the same version is enough, right? And since their doors already are correct height they can create new shells that take them (or abandon working doors altogether). They've gone the distance in making detailed prototype paint schemes, and excel at weathering and graffiti -- certainly they should create a new canvas to do these modern techniques on? I'm not saying re-tool everything, but new accurate 40' and 50' PS-1s would certainly be big sellers.

[peteski]

Truly, it is time for MTL to make new PS-1 molds. I mean, 50 years of the same version is enough, right?  I'm not saying re-tool everything, but new accurate 40' and 50' PS-1s would certainly be big sellers.

Retool it?  To make it a big seller?  Why?  Except for few hundred rebid rivet-counters (here and on other online forums), most modelers don't care much about the inaccuracy.  The cars MTL keeps pumping out month after month, using the old tooling, keep on selling like hot cakes! 

[nkalanaga]

The gondola itself isn't bad, if one lowers it.  I have quite a few of them.  The coil load looks more like some type of storage tank.

Modeling the Northwest, I have no use for steel coil loads.  Those going to the NW in the 1970s were all in coil cars or covered gons, so were never seen.  I did once make an N scale "steel coil", to see what it would take to model one of the truck loads here in eastern KY.  It wasn't hard, and looked pretty good, but was a little tedious.  All one needs is some magnetic tape - the kind used in VHS cassettes, or old computer mag tapes.  Start with a small brass tube for the core, and keep winding until it's as big as you want.  The magnetic surface is iron oxide, rust, so it makes a natural color.  At the time I did it the, the company I worked for used mag tapes, but that was almost 40 years ago...

[muktown128]

The gondola itself isn't bad, if one lowers it.

Agreed - The ride height on the gondola and the 50' DD boxcar really stood out to me. 
All the comments about ride height on this forum have really made me look at this a lot closer.
I'm guessing that if MT were to address the ride height on these cars, they would probably need to switch to body mount couplers, which could require other changes in the model.  While this would probably be a good thing, I don't know if this would lead to significant additional sales or support a higher sell price that would offset or justify the additional cost. 

[unittrain]

I'll probably get the GTW boxcar, I've bought several of the last 50' PS-1 releases the discrepancy in body height is small enough to over look, plus I got tons of Athearn former MDC PS-1s and side by side it's hard to see the difference unless really are looking carefully. They're still pretty good models.

[thomasjmdavis]

Retool it?  To make it a big seller?  Why?  Except for few hundred rebid rivet-counters (here and on other online forums), most modelers don't care much about the inaccuracy.  The cars MTL keeps pumping out month after month, using the old tooling, keep on selling like hot cakes! 

The proof is already out there. If a new and more accurate PS-1 would be a game changer, then the Atlas Master Line PS-1 should be changing the game and selling in such volume that MT would be forced to retool in order to compete, and Atlas should be releasing new paint schemes every month.

Not to mention, we should be spending time dissecting all the things Atlas needs to do to improve their PS-1 model, and complaining about Atlas not releasing our favorite paint scheme, etc. Why does it need to be from Micro-trains?

MT has gone far beyond "pre order"- they have collectors "subscribing" to their monthly releases- people with standing orders at their hobby shop for every boxcar MT produces, or every holiday train, or every circus car.  Accurate or not.  And those foobie boxcars and fantasy cars help to fund the tooling for new body style releases of various cars that are accurate.

Given my choice, I would take a late 20s single sheath with steel ends and roof, or a wood end stock car from a Midwestern prototype, or the NP radius roof boxcar, before worrying over another PS-1. 

[thomasjmdavis]

On those IC coaches- is that a balloon roof I see, or is the glare on my screen hiding the clerestory?  Round roof for those cars would make for a good "spare part" for a bit of kitbashing.

[jargonlet]

I would like to see more roof options offered but zoomed in it looks like the same as usual on those IC cars

[asarge]

Foob or not, I'll probably get the CNW stock cars. That's one road that's missing from my C&O of Indiana manifest's. They had a couple of hot overnight trains that came out of Chicago in the evening with mostly meat reefers and stock cars for Cincinnati and points east.

The NS with the coil lods looks interesting too.

[C855B]

I don't know how foob-ish the 50-footers are in the UP four-pack, but the scheme makes them good fodder for weathering to hit my 1970 era. I need more brown cars.