Rapido newsletter #165, a survey for N scalers

[lock4244]

There's a few types of LPG tankcars that we're very, very common from the mid/late 60's upto around 2010 (they were built through the 70's), including a whalebelly that was not like the Atlas car, that I'd wager would do well. Better than the 5820 or barrel ore car.

Whalebelly:
http://www.nakina.net/photos/cgtx/cgtx064003.jpg

Straight:
http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cgtx63962&o=cgtx

[bigdawgks]

I do wonder if Rapido's products are just too pricey to appeal to more casual modelers that make up the market; those that don't really need something of a specific prototype but just like to buy whatever they see as neat. I would guess that those who are really serious about modeling a certain prototype would probably pay whatever price to get something if it's not available elsewhere and it's not a total piece of crap. If that is the case then I do think they need to do more targeted market research. I can think of so many HO models Rapido does that I would buy in N regardless of price; yet every one of the new N scale releases since I signed up for their newsletter have just been of no interest to me.

[central.vermont]

Come on Rapido, do a damn Slab Side in N Scale for goodness sake!!!   
It doesn't get more Canadian than that !!!!!  Jon

[dem34]

Part of the problem is, I honestly feel like they just don't get what a good running N scale model is. Like out of my pack of six GP20 tanks only 2 roll right. Out of my 20 Comets only 4-5 roll in the same ballpark as an offering from Micro Trains,Kato,Atlas, BLI or even Bachmann. With the prices I simply can't justify throwing down a pre-order for something thats just going to sit on a shelf for a few months before I get around to modifying it to a running state.

Not helped by the fact they continuously pick such obscure prototypes then seem to be flabbergasted when said model picks fail to garner sales.

[basementcalling]

Used to be N scalers wanted multiple copies of the same car for longer trains instead of a few cars with all the details. Rapido at it's best offers the latter. No one beats their details, which sometimes seem to come at the expense of operating ability: min radius, delicate to touch, etc...

Seems bulkhead or centerbeam flats would have more appeal for cranking out cars N scalers would buy in bulk - and that almost every modeler would need - than unique hoppers or passenger car sets only our friends north of the border could realistically operate.

Scale trains took a bit to figure out the N scale market, but seems to have gotten it cranking. Rapido appears to be taking a touch longer. I am quite happy with my tank cars and boxcars I bought from them, but other offerings haven't hit my sweet spot.

[lock4244]

Come on Rapido, do a damn Slab Side in N Scale for goodness sake!!!   
It doesn't get more Canadian than that !!!!!  Jon

Agree with this wholeheartedly... but the what would I do with the six Geoff Gooderham slabside kits I have? 

Seems the slabs were fairly common on MILW in southern Wisconsin and in Iowa as well, at least when potash was heading to local co-ops in spring and autumn.

[mmagliaro]

Well, I took the survey.  It at least allowed me to tell them I model transition era, that I'd like them to keep doing freight cars,
and that I am more of a builder and runner than an "operations" guy.  But...
The question on what I'd pay for a new loco is deeply flawed.  I'd pay a lot more for a good steam loco than a diesel, because
a steam mechanism is much more complicated and I can justify that added cost.  But there was no accounting for this.

One idea the survey did not address was whether it makes sense for them to produce models in N that they have already done in HO.  I think they are missing the boat on this both in terms of making customers happy and in terms of lining the company coffers with cash.  Since they have already done the research and created tooling drawings, I would think they could produce the N model for less initial cost than the HO, and they don't have to charge a penny less for it.  True, they would not sell as many units.  But then again, for cars that
run in long strings on club layouts, they might actually sell MORE of them.  It is very frustrating to see them come out with HO-only models that we as N Scalers would like to have.  For example, from my own selfish perspective, I WANT AN NP RADIAL ROOF BOXCAR.... (like the one they did in HO).  Yes, I kitbashed one.  It is lovely.  I am very proud of it.  But I have no desire to make, like, 4 more of them by hand!
And I'm a small fish with a bedroom sized layout.  Imagine Pac NW themed club or large room layouts that should have dozens of those cars.

[eja]

I too took the survey .  And I thought that the available answer "choices" were designed to validate some already made decisions.  My real answer was not an available option to many of the questions.

Slow sales with the barrel hopper? No surprise to me... I've never seen a real on in the wild as I suspect is the case with many  of us.   Why would I want one ?  Bad choice.

eja

[Angus Shops]

I read Rapido’s newsletter and then got to work on my modelling project for the day, which consisted entirely of glueing little bits of styrene together - so it might have been the glue fumes, but I got to wondering about one of the statements in the commentary on N scale, the old nugget of N scale being “limited by being only 20% of the market”…

One of the commonly expressed advantages of N scale is that “you can get so much more railroad in the same space”. You would think then, if you have so much more railroad, you’d need so many more locos and cars to ‘populate’ it. For example, the space that would accommodate 4 tracks holding 10 cars each in HO (40 cars total) would fit 8 tracks holding 20 cars each in N (160 cars total), or 4 times as many (more or less) (assuming that the average sizes of space available for both N and HO modellers is the same).

So out of every 100 modellers, 80 of them are HO’ers with, 100 pieces of rolling stock (on average, to pick a number), for a total of 8000 pieces of rolling stock. The other 20 are N scalers, but they have 400 pieces of rolling stock each - for a total of 8000 pieces.

So where’s the big market advantage for HO?

I’ve been breathing fresh air for the last few hours and I can’t see the hole in my logic…

Geoff

[nkalanaga]

I'd be interested in the NP boxcars.  Modeling the BN, in the Northwest, in 1974, these things were still in use, and everywhere as company-service cars.

I have the IM 12-panel GN boxcars, and would love to have some uniquely NP to go with them.

[bbussey]

The 3500pd Flexi Flo hopper should do well for them, but yes some of the prototype choices appear to be outside of the mainstream.  If I'm going to choose a prototype that only a handful of roads had, or where the operating era is short, I'm picking something that is enormously popular to the general model railroading collective.  The B&O Wagontop boxcar is a perfect example, as is the Milwaukee ribbed boxcar, as is the XIH State of Maine boxcar.  If it's rare but iconic, it will sell.  I never heard of the barrel ore cars until the model was announced.

I agree the slab side hopper would be a good choice, as they are distinct, had multiple roads/schemes, ran for decades and traveled into the States.

[MetroRedLine]

I get the barrel ore cars as a neat prototype, but agree with your point that the audience might be quite limited for this model.  By comparison, the lumber bulkheads are widely used over a long period by a number of both Cdn and US railroads.  Seems more sensible to me as a model to pick.

Ditto this. I'm a modern-era modeler who is inspired by railfanning. I like to model what I see on the rails. I like Rapido's quality, but to be honest it took me a long time before I bought their products, not because I didn't like them, but because it was a while before they made anything that I needed. Most of their offerings are very niche Canadian, and considering where they come from, that's perfectly fine since they're modeling things other manufacturers aren't. But I have absolutely no use for a Draper Taper on my central California-based layout that has UP, BNSF and Amtrak trains. I've never seen a barrel ore car before, so it's not going to appeal to me, even though it's in my era.

I do own one of the PROCOR tanker cars, and an Amtrak California Horizon Dinette car (which is one of the best RTR passenger cars I've ever seen, aside from the fact that the couplers were way too low. I was one of the many who pre-ordered the centerbeam cars, so that's one case of Rapido filling an N scale void.

I guess they're just realizing that there needs to be a certain balance between niche and mass appeal when it comes to making products. And unlike the other model hobby sectors, model railroading is by far the most fickle since you have to appeal to so many different scale, gauge, era, geographical and roadname preferences.

[John]

I haven't taken the survey yet - but Rapido could gain some interesting insight by reading this thread

I own 2 pieces of Rapido N scale - the commemorative gondola lettered for Puddington Valley, and the CSX passenger car they ran ..

I would buy a couple of FP40's if they did them in CSX executive scheme - there are at least paint schemes .. Their models are closer than the Kato to the prototype

[mu26aeh]

I haven't taken the survey yet - but Rapido could gain some interesting insight by reading this thread

Don't worry, someone has the thread 😁

[GhengisKong]

Don't worry, someone has the thread 😁

Well if they are reading it, I echo Mr. Davis' sentiments.