I like to see what the rest of the world is doing in the hobby and check out MRR forums from where ever I can find them on the planet. They are plentiful.
I was reading some Chinese forums this morning and a member was showing off his new 2-8-2 on a stunning layout.
Got me thinking about model train sales in China and how they compare to North America in volume. I know in the movie industry the big money does not start to roll in until the movies hit the Asian market.
Below is a website that those that care about what goes on in the rest of the world might find interesting.
It would be interesting to see how Bachmann China does business toward the Chinese market compared to the North American market. The market in Asia is huge compared to here and I think that will be the primary focus down the road.
There are product reviews as well.
Is Bachmann China even connected to Bachmann U.S.A.
http://www.chinesemodeltrains.com/encyclopedia_brand.html#bachmann
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Bachmann Industries is a company within the Kader Industrial Co. Ltd., Hongkong. Bachmann Industries holds
The model railroading hobby is slowly developing with only a few special shops in Shanghai and Beijing. I can imagine, though, that with the middle class growing rapidly, that the hobby will be spreading rapidly.
Kader also owns Sanda Kan, at one time the manufactiuring resource for a number of US and European brands. nder the management of JP Morgan, Sanda Kan developed a number of production and debt issues, which finally led to the Kader take over and a dramatic cut-back in production. Sanda Kan still is the manufacturing resource for Bachmann´s strongest rival on the European markets, Hornby UK, who owns the brands of Rivarossi, Lima, Elletren, Jouef and Arnold.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Bachmann China?
Now just a minute here, this thread has got me thinking. My daughter is over there. I wonder if she can get this stuff cheaper for me
Then again I wonder if it's like Canada and you have to pay Customs when you come back
Thanks, Ulrich, As always a wealth of information.
I was looking at a layout a guy had in his Basement on the Chinese forum and it was 24' x 12' and made mostly out of 1" x 4's. Mine is 15' x 24' and made out of mostly 1" x 4"s. I used Fir on mine and I would sure like to know what he was using, it was beautiful stuff, had a real yellowish tinge to it. I will try and find it again and steal a pic. I was dozens of clicks in when I came across it. I was surprised at how close his track plan was to mine.
Track fiddlerNow just a minute here, this thread has got me thinking. My daughter is over there. I wonder if she can get this stuff cheaper for me
I would certainly be looking into it. I bet it would not be hard to find Chinese online shops. Just hit translator when you find them. I have to do that with their forums. Sometimes the translations will give you a good chuckle.
Track fiddlerThen again I wonder if it's like Canada and you have to pay Customs when you come back
No duty on toys!
Check this page for info on retailers!
Kader -
Thanks for the info Ulrich.
BATMAN http://www.chinesemodeltrains.com/encyclopedia_brand.html#bachmann
If you click on the locos with reviews, you see some interesting models.
Is this forum in english or do you need to translate the page?
While the average wage is less than in the US, there are 2 billion potential model railroaders. You can imagine the factory owners involved in the MR business, looking at a Consolidation and thinking, if we just change the shell....it looks like something we remember from our youth.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyIs this forum in english or do you need to translate the page?
Henry, it is really hit and miss on finding forums in other countries. I often use Google advanced search and am very successful or I just ask Google to find say a "Russian model train club". Note I used the word "train" instead of "railroad". One word differences can really make a difference in the results.
I just found this one by asking Google to find a "Russian toy train club" as I walked into the room.
http://scaletrainsclub.com/board/viewforum.php?f=11
If I want to see a Russian "model train" I say that, and make sure to leave out the word "layout" as that gets me nowhere when searching foreign countries. Maybe one of our computer wizzes can give us a lesson on searching foreign lands.
China is hit and miss on what you can see. They obviously keep a tight grip on us, foreign invaders. I have booked marked pages where I have seen incredible modeling only to go back the next day and get "this page not available".
Places like China, Japan, and Singapore have hotel rooms you can book that have model railroad layouts in them. You pay a premium but apparently, they are popular. $4.5 billion people in East Asia dwarves the North American population and model railroading is popular.
My son had friends in from University in Ottawa where he goes. One of them lived in Singapore for nine years and he said he knew people with layouts there and it was popular.
For all the doom and gloomers that say the hobby is dying. I think not. I wonder how Bachmann China sales compare to Bachmann U.S.A. sales.
Brent - your statement that model railroading is popular in Asia maybe true for Japan, where people display extraordinary skills in building small, but highly sophisticated and detailed layouts, mainly in N scale, but for the rest of Asia I wouldn´t sign it. China is emerging, but still low key compared to the population of 1.3 billion people. Places like India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malysia, Myanmar are still too poor to have a well established model railroading community. I don´t know about Taiwan and Korea - they have a well established model train industry.
Russia is a different story. There has always been some kind of modeling activity - starting with the Czar´s Marklin Gauge Two layout. After WW II, the east German company Piko supplied model trains to the Soviet Union and there have been a number of people building excellent models using the Piko stuff as a basis. I bet there are quite a few model railroaders there these days.
Russiam prototype models are still as rare as hen´s teeth. Roco has a few Russian-built Diesels, but I am not aware of any of those electric behemoths or any steam engine being available - yet. You can see that in the video - mot of the engines are of western European prototype.
In 2008, I traveled quite a bit by rail through China and found their trains, clean, on time and sufficiently fast. Most of them follow European design practices or should I better say, copy the design?
I kind of expected that, guess why?
Yes, Ulrich, I am painting with a broad brush indeed. The hobby will only grow in the emerging economies and is well established in the wealthy ones. My Sister flys to Asia to judge dog shows all the time, Dog showing is a pastime of only the wealthy in many of the countries she travels to over there. You would be surprised at some of the layout photo's she shows me on her return. I agree Small "N scale" layouts are the norm, however, she has been to homes that are quite large and luxurious even by North American standards and a few of those have impressive layouts in them.
I am glad Asia is following the European model of transportation, it is the best. There is nothing better than getting off the plane in Frankfurt, Paris, London or anywhere else and carrying on seamlessly with your journey without having to think about renting a car. When I think about landing in Zurich and getting around after that either up through Germany or down through Italy, it just boggles the mind we are so far behind over here. Though I must admit the public transportation system in the greater Vancouver area is getting really good, however, that ends about 20kms to the East.
Tinplate ToddlerBrent - your statement that model railroading is popular in Asia maybe true for Japan, where people display extraordinary skills in building small, but highly sophisticated and detailed layouts, mainly in N scale, but for the rest of Asia I wouldn´t sign it. China is emerging, but still low key compared to the population of 1.3 billion people.
Ulrich,
Whenever a small % of 1.3 billion people decide to take up something, it can still run to significant numbers. The NMRA has been working with its Chinese counterparts on a number of issues, most significantly on implementing and getting mfg's to agree to follow standards. I forget the exact size of the organization, but it was somewhere over 100,000 or 5 to 6 times as large as the NMRA.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Mike - I think the NMRA is talking to a manufacturer´s organisation, but not to an organisation representing model railroaders in China.
China certainly has a fast growing middle class which enjoys a financial situation allowing gthem to live a life much better off than the frugal life the majority still has to lead. However, most of them live in tiny apartments in high-rise condos with very little space for a layout.
Whatever - the development of a model railroading community in China will have effects on us. Whether they are positive or negative I am not able to tell.
Tinplate ToddlerRussia is a different story. There has always been some kind of modeling activity
.
This is surprisingly very true.
Russian companies make some of the best scale plastic models available. The wargaming models from Russia are very well made and impressive. Metal figure models from Russia are among the best available, even rivalling Pegaso of Italy.
There is potential there for some very good new suppliers.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Tinplate ToddlerMike - I think the NMRA is talking to a manufacturer´s organisation, but not to an organisation representing model railroaders in China.
I've just been following reports on the cooperation, so won't claim to know a lot. But this has been oingoing for some years now. This is from some 2013 meeting notes that provide a barebones treatment of HASEA, the Chinese modeler and railfan origanization:
The BOD approved extending indefinitely the one-year working agreement with HASEA, an association of 100,000 Chinese Model Railroaders and railfans, to share the NMRA’s standards and organizational knowledge.
http://4dpnr.com/nmra-infonet-news-for-february/
I know what you mean about the limited space many Chinese face in pursuing this hobby. But I would not be surprised if club and workspace layouts play a large part, too.