Hi, All. Sorry, I have some sad news for those who want to build Bowser locos...prodded by a post from "Top Train" A the "other" gauge, e-mailed Bowser, and got a confirmation from Lee English that the locomotive KITS are to be discontinued. RTR locos, and PARTS will still be available. Apparently customers want RTR - the locomotive kits aren't paying the rent. Bowser's locos are unique in their quality for the dollar, and (for a Pennsy guy), examples of prototypes rarely available from other sources. Business is rough for everyone right now,so I hope Lee hangs on to the kit format and that we can give him reason to release them again. (No, I have no affiliation with Bowser , or English Hobbies - but my first HO loco was a Penn-Line {now Bowser} L-1 Mikado) Thanks for listening. Bob C.
Can't believe that has happened. :cry:
that sucks
,i better get my butt over there to order some stuff before i cant anymore
--josh
I read this on another forum too. It seems people are to busy to build things nowadays. :cry:
Loren
nomad Wrote:I read this on another forum too. It seems people are to busy to build things nowadays. :cry:
Loren
Not me... Building things is why I am busy!
Well that sucks... I was thinking about buying one to build for the heck of it. Guess I'll have act a little sooner then later...
With the cost of things going up all the time, retirement income has reached the point where it's too expensive to leave the house. I'm building considerably more these days!
I'm not surprised by the move to stop selling kits, I just hope RTR becomes too expensive, and people turn back to building again.
People in government have obviously never spent any time at sea.
They don't realize that you don't bail out, until you have patched the holes!!!!
Even in a sinking economy, you have to remember to keep the "sea", on the outside of the hull!
"Water...water everywhere..." OK, I'll stick my foot in my mouth ! It seem to me that a trend toward RTR has been growing - Dream It, Plan It, BUY IT !!! "How come nobody MAKES(fill in blank with ultra-specific obscure bit of equipment)?" No one seems interested in what to start with and how to change/modify it to get that unusual model. Particularly (but not ONLY) in the smaller scales, this hobby seems more driven by "collectors", or acquirers rather than "modelers". That's just observation - not criticism - whatever makes YOU happy is OK. I'm sorry that the "builders" don't seem to carry enough influence in the market to have suppliers even maintain interesting and affordable offerings, let alone explore and develop new products. These folks have a living to make and employees to support - they can't make what's not reasonably profitable for long. I never thought, though, that RTR would supplant KITs in this hobby. I'm saddened at the trend - but I won't quit ! All the Best. Bob C.
Sumpter250 Wrote:With the cost of things going up all the time, retirement income has reached the point where it's too expensive to leave the house. I'm building considerably more these days!
I'm not surprised by the move to stop selling kits, I just hope RTR becomes too expensive, and people turn back to building again.
That is why this is my favorite railroad forum. We have a lot of builders here, of all skill levels. Not just snotty "expert" builders, and not just people whining about how the lates BLI steamer has an incorrect number of rivets on the the back of the tender tank. There are many creative people here who do things I would have never thought of - everything from Jeffrey' mounting every kind of shell imaginable on a proto 2000 chasis, to Dr Wayne modifying RTR steamers to be more prototype specific, to Ray's upgrading the train-set locomotives from the junk pile.
well Bowser just lost another coumster not that they care .
Jim
I fail to see the logic behind Bowser's reasoning as expressed to Bob C. If they are continuing the manufacture of RTR locos, they'll need the PARTS to make them....The very same parts that go into making up a kit....Yet, in a kit, they don't need to make the investment in LABOR that a RTR loco requires. Quite the contrary....You can stick a higher markup on the kit parts, yet keep the kit itself much cheaper than the RTR.....There is nothing more expensive in this country than labor....
Steamtrains Wrote:I fail to see the logic behind Bowser's reasoning as expressed to Bob C. If they are continuing the manufacture of RTR locos, they'll need the PARTS to make them....The very same parts that go into making up a kit....Yet, in a kit, they don't need to make the investment in LABOR that a RTR loco requires. Quite the contrary....You can stick a higher markup on the kit parts, yet keep the kit itself much cheaper than the RTR.....There is nothing more expensive in this country than labor....
Their RTR isn't steam (aside from a dockside). They offer di-evils and freight cars RTR.
I have flirted with getting one of their kits for years, but the deficiencies have always prevented me from doing so. The two most interesting locomotives for me are the USRA 2-8-2 and 4-6-2. The problem is this: the Mike has the wrong valve gear, needs new gearing and a new motor, all new detail parts (for the NKP), a new cab, a new tender (for the NKP), and is more difficult to kitbash than a BLI or Athearn. For the pacific, I don't care that the boiler is wrong...as I'd be replacing it for a non-USRA NKP pacific, but the price is a little steep to junk everything but the wheels and frame. It makes more sense to start with either a sound equiped BLI or a cheaper Athearn pacific...which is also easier to kitbash. Despite these deficiencies, they look like fun.
I wish that Bowser, MDC, and Mantua would have gotten their acts together and brought their technology out of the 1950s. The diecast boilers are fine, but how about getting the details correct? How about a gearbox and motor? For these reasons...I'd love to get my hands on one of their 0-6-0s...which is what I'd want for the price.
I'd love to see them take their inventory of fine brass detail parts and drivers, and offer some new kits with etched brass frames, pewter or resin boilers, cabs, and such...and modern mechanisms. For budget, I'd prefer to see mashima motors rather than the Falhauber and Maxon motors I really love. PSC's $18 gearboxes would be perfect for the drives.
Here is what Railmaster has done with the formula of modern kits: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.railmaster.co.nz/gallery/sn3gallery.htm">http://www.railmaster.co.nz/gallery/sn3gallery.htm</a><!-- m -->
Here's a British manufacturer:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://website.lineone.net/~cbwesson/">http://website.lineone.net/~cbwesson/</a><!-- m -->
Bowser could take their 2-8-2 parts, offer the correct valve gear, fix the cab, and then turn around and also offer an H-5 2-8-2. With BLI's post settlement slowdown, they won't be coming out with as many new items...and most are not happy with MTH (whom "won" the settlement) whom is far $$$ than a quality, new Bowser kit would cost.
While I admit that Bowser is mostly 1950s/'60s tech in their steamers (mostly tooling bought from Penn-Line and others), they run well, in my experience,but aren't "easy" DCC conversions. The metal frame/boiler/cab has rudimentarily detail, but can be "tarted-up" with aftermarket parts to equal or surpass commercial brass, (see the PRRTHS "The Keystone Modeler" e-zine for examples). Some of the masters I understand, were re-worked, but could have been brought to contemporary standards - but weren't. As a PRR guy, Bowser is a major source of steam of the Pennsy stripe, catalogueing 8 or 10 types, most not available elsewhere on a regular basis, if at all. It's too bad business can't always fulfill the customer's every need, (would have liked to see Bowser apply its casting artistry to "N" scale, with complete engines or conversions to PRR engines) but perhaps when things begin to return to normal, for both the hobbiest and the suppliers, the kits will re-appear, and we'll get another chance. Hop for the best for us all. Bob C.
Guys,Here's my thoughts I posted on another forum..
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I don't know guys,but,there is more going down then the discontinuance of steam locomotive kits.
I suspect many won't understand what I am about to say.
Its a closure of history..When I was 10 years old I built my first Penn-Line kit,a PRR H9 2-8-0,under my dad's experience watchful eye...It was pure joy when the engine moved for the first time.That's the type of joy we can't get by simply opening a box..Doesn't come close to comparing the joy and yes pride..
The Varney "Old Lady" and "Casey Jones" will be remembered by us old modelers as a locomotive that was widely used for many road names...What modeler didn't own Varney's "Lil'Joe"?
So long Penn-Line Kits..So long "Old Lady"...So long "Casey Jones" and farewell "Lil' Joe..
You will be sadly missed by those that experience the joys of building you in our younger days.
Ye did well.
I ran across a post elsewhere that the H9, B6 and a few others are going to get one last production run.
I'd like to pick up one of their A5s or B6s...well, actually I'd prefer an H9 on the same level as the B6, but I'll go with the B6 if I can get a good deal and my budget can accommodate it.