Two more Industrial Rail cars announced by Atlas O

[brianel027]

Atlas O has announced two more cars will be made under the Atlas owndership of the formerly made Industrial Rail cars...

http://www.atlaso.com/IR/irddboxcar.htm

http://www.atlaso.com/IR/ircoalhop.htm

I'm glad to see Atlas proceeding with these cars. I really hope someone else is going to buy them though, so they keep being made. I'd hate to see Atlas announce the cars are being dropped for lack of interest.

For me, it's not lack of interest.... NOT AT ALL! It is simply the lack of CURRENT road names. Of all the cars Atlas has announced, there is not a single one that I want to have..... yet.

I fail to understand the lack of modern roads on these cars, and I will be waiting for cars in Conrail, NS, BNSF, CSX, CPR, and CN before I consider any purchases. It puzzles me how the companies don't seem to think these lines even exist as far as beginner affordable starter products go.

I want these cars and am happy Atlas has decided to remake them. I'm just not going to be buying any until they make some in a road name I actually want to have, which thus far they haven't done. I hope all you guys who like the old-hat road names will buy these cars, so they survive long enough to see some made in a current road name.

 

[jefelectric]

brianel027,

I have a suggestion.  Why not repeat your comments on the Atlas forum.  Jim Weaver VP of Atlas O reads everything on that forum and quite often posts replies.  A local HS has put a few in stock, but reports sales are nil, can't figure out why.  Maybe you have hit the nail on the head.

Personally I buy a lot of Atlas O scale stuff and like the road names from the past (Guess I am living in the past as my layout is set in the early 50s).  Atlas O does make modern rolling stock & locos with current road names.  Maybe a post such as yours might push them in the right direction with the Industrial Rail line.

[jimhaleyscomet]

I will not be buying any Industrial Rail cars anytime soon.  The list price ($27.95) is too rich for me.  I wonder if that is why they are not "flying off the shelves".  I am sure the cars are nice, but $28 for an O27 car seems high to me. 

 

Still it is less then Lionel so time will tell.

 

Jim H 

[dougdagrump]

The ones that I have seen look really good, and the few I have seen on E-Bay were quite attractively priced.

[jefelectric]

I will not be buying any Industrial Rail cars anytime soon.  The list price ($27.95) is too rich for me.  I wonder if that is why they are not "flying off the shelves".  I am sure the cars are nice, but $28 for an O27 car seems high to me. 

Still it is less then Lionel so time will tell.

Jim H 

The LHS I mentioned has them priced less than that.  I am curious, what brand of cars are you finding new priced at less than $25.00?

[Andrew Falconer]

The price is alright, but the problem is the volume of Atlas, Lionel, and MTH O Gauge Freight Car that I can store is limited. If I had all the space and money possible I would buy one of each roadname, but there is a bell curve on the return in investment. Focus on what is important.

Andrew

[jimhaleyscomet]

For under $25 I used to purchase K-line cars at Hobby Lobby....but no more!

 

Jim H 

[brianel027]

You're right Jefelectric and I shall take your advice.

I don't think the list price on these cars is at all out of wack with anything else currently on the market. I'm sure these cars will be available at some discount. What could hurt Atlas with them on the price topic, is because Hobbyco (when they picked up the remaining stock from UMD and decided not to issue any others) blew them out at dirt cheap prices. At $10-12 dollars a pop, those prices were wholesale levels but available to the consumer. Folks got spoiled by that and now resent the higher price even though the Atlas list on these cars is not at all far off from what they were originally under United Model Distributors.

The other problem is that a good many of these Atlas releases are in roads that have been available recently. Not all, but a good many of them. Lionel just recently issued an orange New Haven box car and a grey Erie Lackawanna box car in their starter car line ups. And both the Lionel and Atlas Erie Lackawanna box cars are both the wrong color grey... they are far far too dark than the original cars were. Lionel/MPC got the color closer to correct on the little shorty 027 box cars in molded color.

Again, to me it is sheer insanity that modern road names are not offered on smaller traditionally sized 027 trains. When I was at the K-Line engineering department and saw samples, pre-production models and final products of the Conrail employee only items, I almost hit the roof, but had to hold back my frustation. I wanted to grab Maury by the collar and scream "Why????" K-Line made a whole load of very nice 027 Conrail items that were Conrail company exclusives and not intended for the public. When I saw those and heard the explanation, I knew in my heart K-Line was going to go out of business with the stupid logic of that move.

And I was right, even though the reasons for their departure are a tad more complex.

All the train companies "say" they want to appeal to the next generation of younger modelers and collectors and yet refuse to put a current road name on anything those people might buy. If that's not insanity, I don't know what is.

[Andrew Falconer]

Brian,

The shades of Gray paint sprayed on many freight cars in the past 10 years have been too dark to contrast the black letters. They do not rush these cars out so fast that these mistakes in painting can not be noticed.

Andrew

[Buckeye Riveter]

Call me when they make the IR NYC Pacemaker Boxcars again in Scarlet and Gray.

[RR Redneck]

If they got one in UP, SP or SF. You bet you bottom dollar I'll buy one of these babies.