Backorder, Out of Stock etc

[bearman]

It seems that a lot of items, and I am referring to rolling stock and locomotives, are out of stock or back order and there is no idea if or when the item will be available.  Is there something going on in China?

[Steven Otte]

There was a few months back. Check out our news story on the factory closure. I'm sure that, considering how long it would take to get tooling back from the factory, find another factory willing to take on the jobs, and ramp up production, you're probably still seeing the effects of that original shutdown. 

[bearman]

AHA!

[riogrande5761]

From Memory, Chinese factory AFFA, which reportedly produced models for a variety of US Model Train companies, closed suddenly at the end of July 2018.  This reportedly affected Atlas, Bowser, Wheels of Time, Trainworx, Intermountain and ExactRail, and possibly Tangent and others.

Most of these manufacturers have since found other factories and are resuming, or have resumed, production, not without significant delays , ranging from around 6 to 12 months.  I know Trainworx HO trailers expected last fall 2018 or now due fall 2019.  

[bearman]

Yeah, I checked the link that Steve Otte provided.  I remember hearing about something like that but it slipped my mind this weekend as I was surfing some web sites and getting frustrated at the lack of product.

[MisterBeasley]

Are you looking for things currently in production?

Walthers won't always say that an item is "retired" or is out of stock and won't be made again for some time.

I've found Trainworld and MB Klein to be places to find out of production models, better than Walthers.

[kasskaboose]

While I can't speak about production in China, I can state that the are multiple reasons things are on back-order, out of stock, waiting on a new moon phase, etc.  The reason(s) stuff isn't available matters far less than knowing places to get things.  MB Klein or the HO swap site are two places that have a large variety of items.

[BigDaddy]

Bear we've had a couple of China threads.  In the last one, someone pointed out that Boswer is putting updates on their Facebook page.

Atlas has a product shipment webpage, which was wildly optomistic even before the China kerfuffle

https://shop.atlasrr.com/t-ordership.aspx

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

bearman

It seems that a lot of items, and I am referring to rolling stock and locomotives, are out of stock or back order and there is no idea if or when the item will be available.  Is there something going on in China?

 

Once apon a time, model train manufacturers actually made the trains before they advertised them, and actually had them in stock to actually sell.

Model trains have always been manufactured in batches, here or overseas, but back in the day, manufacturers did all they could to give the impression that every product in their line was nearly always available. They tried to match production with demand and tried to keep their own shelves, and the shelves of their distributors, as full as possible.

Not so today. Nobody wants inventory, they want it to come in, and go right back out.

So all you need is one factory blip, and bingo, the zero inventory chain is broken.

It is still my belief that these manufacturers and dealers these days could sell more if they had more "in stock". But if you have to borrow lots of money to do that, then it might not pay.

I have said before, based on the "spotty" availablity of some items, if I was getting into this hobby today, I most likely would not.........

Lucky for me I have most of what I want......

Sheldon

[BATMAN]

Are you looking for anything in particular? I love a good hunt.

[BRAKIE]

bearman

It seems that a lot of items, and I am referring to rolling stock and locomotives, are out of stock or back order and there is no idea if or when the item will be available.  Is there something going on in China?

 

Its called preorder with limited over order production for actual stock..

[bearman]

Mr. B, just this morning I was on the phone to MB Klein which hasd what I was looking for, albeit, not exactly but I can easily live with the purchase.  I have never done business with Trainworld.  In my opinion, Walthers and Atlas are the main culprits.  And, I don't know if what I want is in production.  After talking to Walthers customer service, I get the impression that backorder means you order it, and if the manufacturer ever produces the item then they will charge your plastic once they ship it.  But, this is a very big if.

I think Atlas is one of those caught up in the china kerfluffle.

[DSchmitt]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Once apon a time, model train manufacturers actually made the trains before they advertised them, and actually had them in stock to actually sell.

Really?

[BRAKIE]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Once apon a time, model train manufacturers actually made the trains before they advertised them, and actually had them in stock to actually sell.

I'm still wating on that 1,000 HP Lima switcher that annouced way back in '78 or 79! They even ran a ad in MR.

Actually I gave up on this engine up after it after the release date came and went..

[BigDaddy]

I'm not the brass expert, but listening to the brasstrains.com videos, it sounds like a company floats an idea for a model, if they get enough pre orders, it gets produced, if not it doesn't.

The big companies are looking to sell a great deal more, in terms of numbers.  They aren't going to produce the odd ball stuff, as a rule.  Jason Shron might be the exception, that proves the rule.

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

DSchmitt

 

 

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Once apon a time, model train manufacturers actually made the trains before they advertised them, and actually had them in stock to actually sell.

 

 

Really?

 

Having worked in the model train business from 1970 until 1980, I can tell you that the cartoon above depicts the exception rather than the rule in those days.

Sure, sometimes stuff was out of stock between production runs, or simply out of stock at the distributors in your area, but manufacturers, distributors and retailers did not "dump" product at sale prices a year after it was released.

It was just the opposite, there was very little discounting, and those who did discount generally only gave 20% off, even if they were buying at the lowest price directfrom the manufacturer.

Shops, and the distributors who supplied them, prided themselves on the selection of merchandise they had on hand for their customers to view and choose from.

The next new item from Athearn, Walthers, or whoever was generally a closely guarded secret until the product was ready to ship, or at least actually in production.

Sheldon  

[drgwcs]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

 

 

DSchmitt

 

 

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Once apon a time, model train manufacturers actually made the trains before they advertised them, and actually had them in stock to actually sell.

 

 

Really?

 

 

 

 

Having worked in the model train business from 1970 until 1980, I can tell you that the cartoon above depicts the exception rather than the rule in those days.

Sure, sometimes stuff was out of stock between production runs, or simply out of stock at the distributors in your area, but manufacturers, distributors and retailers did not "dump" product at sale prices a year after it was released.

It was just the opposite, there was very little discounting, and those who did discount generally only gave 20% off, even if they were buying at the lowest price directfrom the manufacturer.

Shops, and the distributors who supplied them, prided themselves on the selection of merchandise they had on hand for their customers to view and choose from.

The next new item from Athearn, Walthers, or whoever was generally a closely guarded secret until the product was ready to ship, or at least actually in production.

Sheldon  

 

In some ways I kind of liked it better then- but there wasn't as much variety and detail though. The one company that I can think of perfectly fit this cartoon was GSB rail. They had a really cool catalog- I remember the gas electrics sounded neat in particular- it was all vaporware though. Only the SD 40-2 was produced along with some cab interiors

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Yes, GSB did have a list of vaporware, but they did also bring to market passenger trucks and a few other items.

I have a set of Athearn F7's with their cab interiors......

Sheldon

[IRONROOSTER]

drgwcs

In some ways I kind of liked it better then- but there wasn't as much variety and detail though.

I think that helped the dealers.  Fewer variations and less discounting enabled them to stay in business. And manufacturer's weren't so quick to dump their tooling for the next thing - they reused it, so products stayed current longer.

I suspect that's one reason there was more freelancing. You could mostly follow the B&O say, but call it the Maryland & Ohio.  Then you could use whatever off the shelf was available and appealed to you.

In S scale it's still that way somewhat.  With a smaller market, it's mostly things with the most appeal that get made and they tend to be available longer.  But it means you likely won't get very many models that are correct for your specific railroad. 

But if you're willing you can get something similar.  In my case that means using EBT 0-6-0's on my Maryland & Pennsylvania because that's what I could get for a steam switcher.

Paul

Paul