For anyone interested in modeling "What if?" as in What if the WP, DRGW, SP or Milwaukee Road had not been bought out or gone out of business, Athearn is coming out with a bunch of their latest diesels painted for fallen flags. There is an article about them in the August news letter at the Model Railroad Hobbyist site.
Reminds me of the time that Walthers offered Penn Central decals for steam locos - what a keffluffle that one started!
Wayne
Hasn't UP been flying their fallen flag colours for some time now? Is this a model equivalent or other non-UP roads?
Andrew
This news should have made it into the July newsletter (in the 3Q issue). I think they were announced in June (IIRC)... What a waste of Athearn's money...
I think it sounds pretty cool, I know I'd like to see modern BN locos
jbaakko Wrote:This news should have made it into the July newsletter (in the 3Q issue). I think they were announced in June (IIRC)... What a waste of Athearn's money...
Well, if people buy them it is not a waste. If they didn't think people would buy them, I doubt they would make them. Put a Santa Fe Warbonnet scheme on anything and I bet it will sell.
i think they look really nice. i am not a UP modeler, but i like the railroad itself. if i was i sure would try and get all of them.
todd
csiguy68 Wrote:i think they look really nice. i am not a UP modeler, but i like the railroad itself. if i was i sure would try and get all of them.
todd
My understanding of the article I read was that these are not models of the U.P. Heritage series of locomotives, but rather actual paint schemes used by the fallen flags as they would be applied to modern locomotives. Also I understand that it is not only the fallen flags that have been bought by U.P., but others as well like Milwaukee Road that simply went out of business and disappeared.
nachoman Wrote:Well, if people buy them it is not a waste. If they didn't think people would buy them, I doubt they would make them. Put a Santa Fe Warbonnet scheme on anything and I bet it will sell.
Hmm...I like the idea of checking that...
-a John Bull
-a DeWitt Clinton
-a B-man 4-4-0
-A thomas
-a 2-8-8-2
I certainly agree that anything warbonnet sells...and so I'd just be amused to see what those would knab on ebay. Does IHC already offer locomotives in Warbonnet paint? It seems like the sort of thing they'd do...
Is there a said list yet?
I don't pay attention to modern stuff so I can't remember the anme of the company, however there was one manufacturer not long ago everyone at Atlas Forum was excited about, great detail, etc. They released I think two models, then decided to release them in paint schemes which never existed like described above. When sales lagged they did not have the capitol needed to put out their previously announced models and a great many complained. Based on this admittadly not remembered very well heresay, I would think Athearns sales may not do to well on these.
That said, thee is a modeler on Atlas who posted pics of modern units he painted in NYC lightning strips, two tone grey. They looked fantastic, and if I were working now I would probably buy a couple units like that, if tehy looked as good.
Gary
The more I've thought about this topic, the more it has occurred to me that I've seen numerous fantasy "what ifs?". It isn't really all that uncommon. Personally, it is one of the few types of "proto-freelance" that I find believable. Granted, to me, an NKP SD-70 completely defeats the purpose...since the NKP was a road primarily associated with its 700s hauling a string of reefers at 60mph and trailed by a 1000 series caboose...but there are those that enjoy to model the road not taken.
jglfan Wrote:I don't pay attention to modern stuff so I can't remember the anme of the company, however there was one manufacturer not long ago everyone at Atlas Forum was excited about, great detail, etc. They released I think two models, then decided to release them in paint schemes which never existed like described above. When sales lagged they did not have the capitol needed to put out their previously announced models and a great many complained. Based on this admittadly not remembered very well heresay, I would think Athearns sales may not do to well on these.
That said, thee is a modeler on Atlas who posted pics of modern units he painted in NYC lightning strips, two tone grey. They looked fantastic, and if I were working now I would probably buy a couple units like that, if tehy looked as good.
Gary
I suspect that Horizon is big enough that if they don't sell as well as expected, they will just move on. For a new start up company to try something like that is just not clear headed thinking.
It is essentially just shells. What does a shell cost them...$0.10-$5 dependent upon the separate detail assembly? If they don't sell, harvest the mechanisms and use conventional shells...no where near the loss it would be if they were railroad specific locomotives (for instance, CB&Q, NYC, AT&SF, NKP, and CP hudsons).
And how many modelers are like me? I could care less what the road name is...I'll be stripping the paint/lettering regardless. I would guess that many think that way...even if they never get around to it.
I think the problem is that it was no problem to change a body shell on models manufactured in the U.S. or Canada. What happens if the finished models need to be sent back to China to have them reworked? What is the cost to ship the models back to China for reworking? How many manufacturers have any capacity to do anything in North America any more?