Why can't they make motive power for certain railroads?

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

The [}:)] Doctor is in !!! Why is it, This Humble Doctor wants to know , That the makers of three rail O gauge make steamers and most all diesels for most all
prototype railroads except the one I want ??? Case in point : I was looking at some catalogs from last year, Lionel listed two steamers. One was a model of a coal burner that was used on the Rio Grande Route that SP was running on
back in the day. Then they list another steamer for the SP and it has a coal tender! As for diesels, I want early models, Lionel has made FT's and Alcos
But besides the FM Trainmaster, where are the F-units, GP-7,9 and so on !
They have made some modern examples, but most makers just don't seem to put out the ones I want. K-Line makes a fair GP unit, But it runs on a battery,
And unless you want to Pay Big Bucks For a limited edition example like #2472
(the real one is at the Golden Gate Railroad Museuem in San Francisco) you seem to be out of luck. It seems the only way to get what I want is to buy older
pieces and repaint ! I am sorry but that is the way this Doctor feels! And don't get me started as to rolling stock, that can be worse. Anybody else having the same problems ? Or is it just me???? Untill My Next Humble Missive, I Remain, The Humble, Yet Strangly Evil Doctor( with a bone to pick) !!!!

[ChiefEagles]

See, I like the newer merged lines. Get a few things in Norfolk Southern but not a lot. To me, there are too many "old" lines. Think they try to hit the "happy medium".

[eZAK]

Because.................

.............The big train Co's. do not cater to just one doctor!

They appeal to the masses.
After all that's how they make their money.

The 'work around' here is to repaint it. Either professionally or DiY.

[FJ and G]

agree w/Pat. Great excuse to learn some air brushing and kitbashing skills!

[brianel027]

I'm going with eZak here. Never mind different locomotive types (which involves big investments in dies and tooling). I've always wondered why it is that the same few railroad lines are the ones always offered. Sure - Santa Fe, Pennsy, NYC are probably gauranteed sellers. But I noticed the starter U36B in Conrail from Lionel a couple eyars ago sold very well. I never saw that one advertised as a blowout... a couple dealers told me that one sold very well. We'll see how the upcoming starter Lionel U36B in CSX does sales-wise. For comparison, I've seen the U36B Western Pacific as a blowout.

So I wonder why haven't there been some low end locos like the typical Alco FA in Norfolk Southern, BNSF, Conrail or CSX. Talk about getting some younger folks interested... a railroad they currently see will go futher than one that isn't around anymore... except if grandpa is buying the kid the set... then I guess he'll choose the RR he remembers, not the one his grandson might relate too.

Which is why I do my own painting. I have S-2's and Alco FA's in modern roads. Rolling stock too, including my own modified 027 intermodal cars and 027 coil cars. I wanted a current modern looking loco that looked at home on my layout (not like a tall shoebox on wheels when compared to the other cars), so I started with a K-Line MP-15 chassis and custom built my own. If the companies won't make it, then I will! My collection may be worth squat on a monetary level, but it is truly unique and very likely one-of-a-kind.

The K-Line S-2 looks pretty sharp in the new CSX deep blue scheme with the white cab roof. Or I have an Alco FA in the orange CSX MOW scheme... granted that's not totally prototypical, but CSX did use it's older more antiquated models for MOW service. Even the Santa Fe warbonnet scheme would be pretty cool with BNSF painted on it - and that is prototypical because I've seen them, so there's a future project for my paintshop. I sanded down the side vents on the Lionel Industrial Switcher, filled in the old slot for the reverse lever, and did it in Norfolk Southern (wanted the logo on the hood, not below the cab window) and put in custom headlights, strobe light and ditch lights for fun.

The nice thing about doing it yourself, especially with the low-end stuff is that the bodies are now painted, not molded plastic color. So no shell glow from interior lights, headlights, etc. Even with the simple, non-detailed stuff I start with - doing things like adding handrails, painting the steps, adding custom headlights, marker lights, ditch lights, engineer figures in cab windows... little things like that go a long way to making a plain jane into something much greater. They can appear to have more detail than they actually do and that for me is part of the fun.

And when train guys who would never dream of repainting tell me my stuff looks really sharp, or why don't I send pics to Lionel so they will consider making it - well, that feels just as nice.

[3railguy]

To sum it up in one sentence, it's Murphy's law.

[FEClionel]

Why can't Lionel make any Florida East Coast engine or rolling stock. The Champion is nice but alittle out of my price range. The Geeps they made in 1980 were great except I was only a year old - the lash ups were cool too. I wi***hey would make a FT or F3 in the FEC vintage color scheme.

[Anonymous]

Here's another question for the Dr.. Why is it that they make ( MoW ) in HO, but only the Ballast tamper and Tie ejector cars in O ? Where's the rest of the equipment? Or, if anyone knows of a supplier of these vehicles I'm interested.
Thanks, Dave

[Anonymous]

Cuase... if your not a PRR/UP/SF/NYC fan, your out of luck!

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is, "what will sell" train mfg need to make a profit and if they produce something not popular it will not sell and they do not make a profit.
They want your monely and that is number one thing that keeps them in business.
Why so many eastern roads, most of the buyers are from the east coast. Why so much pennsy , a super amt of people love pennsy.
Dave.