I am going to ride several of the 2-foot gauge trains in Maine next Month for my birthday and I thought it would be neat to purchase a On30 Forney engine to run on my layout (even though it is an HO scale layout). I asked on the forum here previously about that: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/t/251039.aspx
However, I looked on the Bachmann site and saw that they are all marked as discontinued. Many of the online vendors don't have them in stock anymore. There are a couple on EBay though.
I was just wondering if anyone knew why they were discontinued? Was the market saturated, or are there plans to re-release upgraded versions? Based on online forums/reviews, some people had good experiences with them and others had problems (cracked gears).
Thanks.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
I suspect that the last of the runs of these sold out at Bachmann and new runs are very much dependent on Bachmann deciding whether it can pass on new price increases after customers grew used to them being so inexpensive. The effort behind much of Bachmann's line, Lee Rilery, passed away last year. See [urtl]http://mrr.trains.com/news-reviews/new-products/2016/03/in-memoriam-lee-riley-of-bachmann-trains[/url]
Cost of production have been rising in China in recent years and it's been some time since the last run of these wer produced. When they do come back, sticker shock may set in, but these are still nice locos.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Benjamin Maggi I am going to ride several of the 2-foot gauge trains in Maine next Month for my birthday and I thought it would be neat to purchase a On30 Forney engine to run on my layout (even though it is an HO scale layout). I asked on the forum here previously about that: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/t/251039.aspx However, I looked on the Bachmann site and saw that they are all marked as discontinued. Many of the online vendors don't have them in stock anymore. There are a couple on EBay though. I was just wondering if anyone knew why they were discontinued? Was the market saturated, or are there plans to re-release upgraded versions? Based on online forums/reviews, some people had good experiences with them and others had problems (cracked gears). Thanks.
Go back to the Bachmann site and ask. There is an On30 forum and company reps.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Given that the On30 segment is small and modeling Maine 2 footers even smaller, I suspect that Bachmann has pretty well satisfied/saturated the market. I wouldn't expect another run for some years.
If you can get to train shows you might find some.
Good luck
Paul
You guys are probably right. I wish I had spent more time at the Springfield train show looking for one, but I was distracted by other things. I saw some on Ebay, so perhaps that is where I should go.
Have you tried ebay and on line train stores yet? (sigh! Kids today}
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Toys-Hobbies/220/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=On30+Forney&_sop=16
I looked at the Springfield train show for a Forney this year and didn't see one. But, it might have been hiding. When talking with a prominent On30 vendor about the lack of Forneys out there, he told me he heard from several sources that the Bachmann molds had been damaged, which is why they are out of production.
To update my post above, I also asked about the Bachmann damaged molds on their own forum and a Bachmann representative denied that the molds were damaged. Just a rumor I guess...
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34544.0.html
Sometimes "discontinued" means the manufacturer has decided not to make any more ever; sometimes it just means that they aren't making any right now, or are out of stock. On30 is popular enough I imagine they will re-run the Forney engine at some time in the future.
KIM sometimes a manufacturer has "discontinued" an item and a few years later come out with an improved version of the earlier item. IIRC Atlas did that with their HO GP-7.
Micro Mark was selling them and while they are not in the online catalog perhaps they had too few to list but might have one sitting around, if you are lucky.
Dave Nelson
They come up on Ebay all the time. Just be patient, but search frequently for the ones you want so that you can pounce when opportunities come up.