At The Grade Crossing column (March)

[hovehicle]

The March issue summarizes our hobby perfectly. When I started on this forum back in June 2007 the hobby was flying and there were many choices available in HO concerning American vehicles. Now, it's quite different, but there are three companies at least to get excited about... RPS, CMW, and Athearn.

We all know about RPS and their fine products. I can't wait for the former Masterpiece vehicles to make it to the shops because it will be one of the highlights of 2011. The Fords that are pictured on p.82 look great and I'll buy a couple to put in a couple of locations.

CMW is getting better with their tooling, and I really like the new Ford station wagon that came out recently. Let's hope that the 1960-1970's get noticed and we see some muscle cars!

Athearn is coming out with the UPS trailers, but it stops there apparently. According to Bill, there are no new vehicles in the pipeline. So much for a modern day cab from Athearn; it seems like that is a rumor that went dead. What a shame, all of those Duraplate and Utility 53' trailers with no possible tractors from Athearn.

In summary, how about lobbying new manufacturers to get into our scale? Put out limited numbers like RPS and do it with precision and quality. I don't know if shipping the product out to another country will save on costs. I doubt it, the way fuel prices are going.

One more thought if the people at Neo are reading this. I want to buy your products, bit not at 30.00 each plus shipping. Please have your products available in the Wathers catalog to order from. Otherwise, I can't afford your products.

Good column Bill, and keep up the good work.

Vito L.

[Cor_DutchArt]

And how about Tonkin?
They have some very nice new trucks.

[hovehicle]

DutchArt,

You're right; an oversight on my part. I have 4 4-packs so far of the new trucks, and with new wheels and tires, the trucks are very good quality for their price. Ton can release 4 new trucks at once, and Athearn is petrified to do one!

Vito L.

P.S. By the way, when I said I'm excited about Athearn, this is only in regard to the UPS licensing deal. This is just speculation on my part, but we might get a new UPS trailer before we ever see a truck tractor from the big A.

[JM82]

As a fire apparatus model enthusiast, I'm disappointed that Athearn has discontinued their fire apparatus line. I understand that the economy may have something to do with it, but they were really on a role for a few years.

[Cor_DutchArt]

Luckily you have companies like Ralph Ratcliffe's, who makes beautiful models.
Yes, you have to assemble them yourself.
www.ralphratcliffemodels.com/

[swampdaddy]

I don't think Athearn stopped their fire trucks for economy reasons, I think they ran out of ideas. About every piece of equipment you could think of had been assembled with both the MACK cab and the Ford 650 cab.

The only thing left was lettering the same pieces of equipment for actual fire companies and you can't sell much that way.

When, or if, they make a new cab, I bet you'll see more fire apparatus.

Unlike a state police car for each state I don't think there were many people wanting fire trucks in every paint scheme out there.

have fun, Swamp Daddy

[JM82]

Swampdaddy, your thoughts on the matter do make sense, and possibly what I think and what you think are a combination of what happened with Athearn's line of fire apparatus models.

I realize that Athearn's concerns are for the model railroaders first and foremost, not the 1/87 scale model collectors. And Athearn knows that a lot of these model railroaders enjoy modeling their layouts in the 1950s-1960s eras. So that's why, in my humble opinion, we only saw the Ford Cs, Mack Bs, and Ford 850s being modeled and not anything newer.

And after reading replies on here in past threads about Athearn, understandably, for financial reasons, they want to put a product out that can be used over and over again, i.e. the various commercial cabs that can be used for multiple types of trucks, not just fire apparatus.

If Athearn wanted to, couldn't they do the Ford Louisville cab? Or how about a 1970s/1980s Chevrolet C70? Imagine the possibilities with those two! Many fire departments used these cabs, as well as them being used for construction, delivery trucks, etc. Yes, I realize that licensing is an issue, but it can be done.

Athearn should never run out of ideas!

[swampdaddy]

It's certainly a more complex situation than what any of us have discussed. The basic situation remains as JM82 stated - Athearn is at heart a model railroad company; and, the facts are for each model car collector there are 1000s of model railroaders.

And, I often wonder why Athearn on one hand seems stuck in the 50's - 60's (in terms of their vehicles); and, on the other hand they make a cornucopia of modern diesel engines all the way up to prototypes in the 2000s. The answer might lie in the relative sales quantities of each era. They continually bring out new paint schemes for the 1960s EMD F-units; so, obviously, there is a demand for this.

I lobbied for a more modern bus (and a city transit one) when I heard they were considering one. But, we got another 50s over the road bus (which is far better than nothing).

It would sure make sense to me for them to make a modern Ford Louisville cab or equivalent Chevy cab. Any new cab could then be mounted on every chassis they have from box vans, tankers, cement mixers, & cranes to all the fire apparatus.

But, my vote is only one grain of sand.

We can only wait and see. All companies now are shifting to shorter custom runs which mean higher and higher prices. I don't buy fleets of vehicles anymore but choose and pick carefully among items available. And, as I am first a model railroader (as many on this site come from model railroading) I do see a lot of sides to this.

At some point, every modelrailroader realizes he has far too many locomotives and rolling stock than any possible layout will need or hold. At this point, some keep on buying and filling closets or basements - nothing wrong with this. Others then decide to move into auxillary modeling areas they previously neglected including lighting, people, scenery and the closely related area of vehicles where a lot of customizing is possible.

I'm simply happy with what Athearn (and others) have done and I'm glad they continue to add products at whatever pace they find profitable.

Swamp Daddy

[sirentoys]

ON the Athearn Fire front I think it wasn't they ran out of ideas but rather they ran out of combinations. Adding another rear section could lead to another set of releases. I suggested both ladder and Snorkel trucks. Bother were widely used on the Ford Chassis both in standard and canopy styles released by Athearn.

But also based on the numbers available on eBay and lack of stock at hobby shops I think they could release some more of them. They are a getting tougher to find.

Jeff

[swampdaddy]

Hi: You are saying the same thing I did. Athearn ran out of "ideas" on how to combine various cabs with various rear ends. They had done about all of the combinations.

Yes, new bodies would be nice for the existing cabs; however, I would like to see it the other way around. Some new cabs to use with existing bodies.

Swamp Daddy

[BillC]

Athearn didn't run out of ideas; believe me, there was more that could have been done. For example, they could have re-released several truck with bodies that were the correct width.

It may well be that they ran out of sufficient sales. Athearn, like every other major manufacturer, wants to pre-sell a new model and each subsequent run. It's very possible that sales to model railroaders have slowed because they are spending their available resources on locomotives, rolling stock and other items that have priority over things like vehicles.

In addition, the cost of new product development in China has gone through the roof for a variety of reasons. You spend your money where it will provide the best return.

The reason for the concentration on the 1950s and, to a lesser extent, the 1960s, is that's where the money is. Your maximum sales potential to the U.S. model railroad market is the period from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, the steam-to-diesel "Transition Era." That represents a very large percentage of model railroaders.