I attended a Swap meet a week ago Saturday and have to say that the old Roundhouse, Athearn Blue Box, Walthers and other kits are starting to dwindle, as would be suspected! Possibly, there are large caches of them in other parts of the country, don’t know, don’t much care!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
I started buying steam loco kits a few years back for just this reason- it's a finite supply, and will only get smaller. I probably have everything I ever wanted (save, perhaps, for a couple of the smaller Arbour engines, and I am not sure how much I want those), and I certainly have enough to last me for the rest of my life.
i do harbor the occasional hope that 3D printing will make it possible to offer small-batch steam kits again, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see. The techniques of today - 3D printing and resin-casting in particular - seem to require less up-front investment, and a lot of very creative folks are finding ways to provide kits and parts for turn-of-the-century modelers that weren't always widely available or affordable before.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Mark,Even though I have several RTR cars and locomotives I still want to thank the companies that still offer kits since it gives us a choice.
I would like to share what was mention yesterday at the club..I was working on three cars that had gave me problems the last time I used them and during our chat one of the guys said he wouldn't be in the hobby if he couldn't build kits..I had to stop and think..He is correct..I still enjoy building a simple Accurail,Roundhouse or Athearn kits.The simple joys of the hobby that has given me so much over the last 60 years..
I will mention I too have notice the dwindling supply of BB and Roundhouse kits at our show 2 weeks ago..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I, too, salute the kitmakers, and the kit builders among us, too. I've been buying Accurail kits, since they fit my era nicely, but also Bowser and Tichy kits. I was going crazy with my Tichy flat cars with all the individually-applied stake pockets and all that under-car brake details, but I still bought another one when the need for another flat car arose.
I've been trying to better balance my fleet by adding more home-road Milwaukee box cars, and I am happy to say that Accurail has been obliging me by coming out with new road numbers now and then. Then, of course, there's the Rib Side Car guy for us Milwaukee modelers, who makes un-numbered cars and supplies decal sheets so we can really go to town.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The best thing about kits is they are a good stepping stone toward scratch building. When you put a kit together, you can see how they are put together and follow the basic ideas into the structuring of your own designs. Kits are a wonderful way to learn.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
While I do have several RTR cars and Locomotives, of my last 8 Rrailcars I purchased, 5 have been kits. Locomotives? Well, only 2 are Athearn BB. But I am in the process of finishing the upgrades to them both. (DCC and lighting, including working ditch lights, as well as the mandatory coupler slot fix for both, paint and details for one.) All my other locomotives, including my 7 newest, have been RTR. Why? Nobody makes new diesel locomotive kits, so either buy old (now mostly used) BB, or buy the new RTR ones. Would I be interested in new, modern made, locomotive kits for diesels? Yes.... Please, and thank you! (Hint hint... )
So, to those (Like Accurail, Bowser, etc....) still making kits, Thanks!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
I like kits (and scratchbuilding), but I also buy a lot of RTR. Around half of my rolling stock are kits (though most RTR needs some work before hitting the layout).
Just getting a large layout built and running takes a lot of time, so while I have a couple of kits under construction at any point in time, the layout has priority.
I see I'm not the only one buying the old kits at train shows. Steam locomotive kits seem to be getting scarce (although I did buy 2 at the last train show - only 2 I saw). But plenty of BB and MDC still around.
I have come to realize that there are really 2 hobbies here. One is building and the other is operating/railfanning. Both sides help the other by keeping the number of model railroaders up.
Enjoy
Paul
I certainly still appreciate all of the kits that are still being made. Since I have a small layout, it is not hard to fill it with all kit built rolling stock. Right now I am in the middle of building eight Sunshine resin kits. I will say that I am not a big fan of trimming and filing the small parts from the resin sheet.
I do thoroughly enjoy building LaBelle kits...
RailLine HOn3 kit (kitbashed ventilator car)...
Tichy kits....
and any Sn3 kits...
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
Yes, there are kit manufacturers I overlooked and I appreciate every one of them!
Chuck:
Nice work on the kits!
I love building kits including the work often required to bring them up to snuff. As simple as it is I find that just adding weight, metal wheels and Kadees at the right height to a BB is fun. I also like more detailed and complex kits like Tichy. I just finished a Grandt Line 25 tonner and I am now working on a Grandt Line box cab, both with sound.
As has been said, that is just one enjoyable aspect of the hobby. I love the other aspects like kitbashing, scratch building, decoder installations etc. just as much too!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I too appreciate that there are still a few kit manufacturers still out there. 95% of the rollng stock on my layout are from kits and most of them I built many years ago. The Athearn Blue Box, MDC/Roundhouse and the Train Miniature of Illinois were and still are some of my favorite freight cars that I have and run on my layout. So thanks to all of them and I hope that the current kit producers continue to supply us with good, well detailed kits to build, as I feel building your own rolling stock, locomotives, buildings or what have you is a cornerstone of model railroading.
One other comment on the availability of Athearn BB kits. The last train show and sale I attended was at Barrie, Ontario in February, 2015. I don't think there were 100 BB kits available between all of the vendors.
There were also many fewer vendors than in previous years. That's not a good sign.
I still managed to spend way more than I thought I would, and I could have spent more! I guess for the industry that's a good sign.
Each kit I build is approached as a fresh project, no matter if the steps taken are the same as others I have built before. I research the real thing online and build an image data base, I look further online to see what others far more skilled than I have done with the same thing, be it a box car or a building and then I take my time working on it to give it sufficient attention at a pace that allows for careful consideration of each step.
Cedarwoodron
Cedarwoodron:
Man, you have way more patience than I do! My usual method is to dive in and then realize what I have done wrong afterwards Heck, that gives me twice as many projects to work on to get the first attempts right!
Just kidding! Hope you don't mind. I mean no disrespect what so ever.
My choices are different than your's, what I want and like, you may not. The fact that I have over 140 freight and passenger cars that were built from kits and a layout that may only be 1/2 finished is fine with me. We are all driven by different motives. My only true motive, is to have fun in this hobby!
hon30critterI don't think there were 100 BB kits available between all of the vendors.
That's because those of us who have them are hoarding them. In another year or two we can say they are "rare, out of production" and sell them at 4X the price on the box.
Well, I praised the "thank you for ready to run" thread and I praise this one too. The newer era RTR rolling stock I have purchased is expensive but they are all beautiful cars; still, I enjoy and continue to purchase kits of all levels of difficulty. I am not making progress on the layout but can hardly blame the kits!
If it has been a long day and I just want to sit at the workbench for a half-hour or so before calling it a night, I have an ample supply of Accurail, Bowser, Blue-box/MDC kits that I can just pull off the shelf and finish at one sitting. There are days where that is about as much model railroading as I care to do.
Other days (particularly in winter) I enjoy taking on a more challenging kit, the kind that provides a real feeling of accomplishment when it is done. Other times I tackle a rebuild or bash of lower-end rolling stock, and again I enjoy the challenge particularly when I know I have a long span of uninterrupted time to work on it.
What I am thankful for is that I have the choice. I have to admit however that one reason I have the choice is that I loaded up on all kinds of kits over the years. At a train show this last weekend I saw plenty of Blue-box/MDC kits, often at surprisingly robust prices, but not a lot of choices. I also saw lots of Branchline/Red Caboose/Intermountain/old P2K kits and often at shockingly low prices, but again choices were limited. Ditto for decals - I saw a lot for sale, but not a lot of variety or choice.
Indeed one could conclude from that train show and others I have attended recently that the real issue isn't "RTR vs kits" -- but that guys are obsessed with locomotives at the expense of freight and passenger cars. Locomotives were everywhere and that is where the crowds seemed to congregate. Maybe it has always been that way and I just didn't notice it until lately.
Dave Nelson
Thanks, Dave! I am also building a 25 tonner. No sound, but it does have a decoder mounted on the cab floor and all of the cab details built around it.
I'll have to post a pic when it gets a little more presentable.
I also have a lot of fun building MDC 40' boxcars by adding Kadee trucks, couplers, Central Valley underframe parts, A-Line metal stirrups, DA cut levers (I am starting to bend my own) and adding American Model Builders wood roofwalks.
maxman hon30critter I don't think there were 100 BB kits available between all of the vendors. That's because those of us who have them are hoarding them. In another year or two we can say they are "rare, out of production" and sell them at 4X the price on the box.
hon30critter I don't think there were 100 BB kits available between all of the vendors.
Meh, they've been doing that on fleabay for the past several years - nothing new.
That said, I guess it depends on where you are or what shows. At the Timonium show north of Baltimore MD, I still see a lot of kits of all stripes and for good prices. If your having a hard time, if you know someone in the area, have them look at the next T show for you.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761 maxman hon30critter I don't think there were 100 BB kits available between all of the vendors. That's because those of us who have them are hoarding them. In another year or two we can say they are "rare, out of production" and sell them at 4X the price on the box. Meh, they've been doing that on fleabay for the past several years - nothing new. That said, I guess it depends on where you are or what shows. At the Timonium show north of Baltimore MD, I still see a lot of kits of all stripes and for good prices. If your having a hard time, if you know someone in the area, have them look at the next T show for you.
I guess I don't feel it matters very much if they're available at train shows. In the end, there is a finite quantity and sooner; or, later they will disapear. So, if you don't mind, I'm not going to thank Athearn, Roundhouse or any of the other manufacturers that stopped producing kits. They're not producing anything I want!
As far as them being available at other train shows, take advantage of it, because the one I attended a week ago, there were pretty slim pickings and I don't have any interst in driving any father than I did, to attend a train show!
cedarwoodron Each kit I build is approached as a fresh project, no matter if the steps taken are the same as others I have built before. I research the real thing online and build an image data base, I look further online to see what others far more skilled than I have done with the same thing, be it a box car or a building and then I take my time working on it to give it sufficient attention at a pace that allows for careful consideration of each step. Cedarwoodron
trwroute cedarwoodron Each kit I build is approached as a fresh project, no matter if the steps taken are the same as others I have built before. I research the real thing online and build an image data base, I look further online to see what others far more skilled than I have done with the same thing, be it a box car or a building and then I take my time working on it to give it sufficient attention at a pace that allows for careful consideration of each step. Cedarwoodron Wow! That's pretty impressive. You pay more attention to the details than I do. I normally look for a picture of the prototype (if there is one) and start hacking and cutting away! I tend to just dive in and what happens, happens.
I guess in the end, I’m only slightly less OCD than the people who must model specific cars! I have no problem with people taking their modeling to the “inth” detail, as long as they don’t sit in judgement of those less dedicated the “Inth”!
I once belonged to a club where the simple mention of RTR (except brass) drew the "who stepped in the moose turd" look from just about everone present. I have always seen the hobby as a three part endeavor....Building trains....Building layouts....Playing with trains...and of course there is the collectible field.
Today layouts are being built and trains are still being operated, but most folks now opt to buy trains instead of building them. This is fine for many reasons, mainly being that it allows newbies who may have been intimidated to now enter the hobby with a level of comfort. This also applies to the new crop of ready built structures.
We all have to identify what the hobby means to us and to some, building trains and structures are paramount. I am in this class, but only because i enjoy building everything. I admit that I can not build a piece of rolling stock from a wood kit to look better than a ready built Chinese offering....but I get tremendous pride and feelings of accomplishment in doing so.
My layout now consists of over 800 hand built cars. The only things "unwood" are some of the resin flat kits and most tank and hoppers, but I am now building a fleet of wood hoppers. Tank cars are still an issue. Most passenger cars are from Labelle and Westwood accompanied by several brass imports.
I still have at last count well over 1500 wood kits still in original boxes. I have no idea how I have accumulated this many. I guess it could be a gender issue as the only way possible for this many kits to fill my storage sheds is procreation behind my back. My plan is to eventually build these. When I can no longer desend the stairs to basement layout, I plan on somehow getting to my first floor shop to build these when I become totally decrepit. At 77, I'm just "crepit" now.
HZ
After years of constructing hundreds of wood cars, at an open house, I heard a wonderful comment....As a train of over 50 wood kit and scratch-built cars passed by, an astute visitor said in all seriousness..."Geez, I didn't know that Athearn did all of these" Oh well!!!!"
After about a fifteen year hiatus I returned to the hobby and was very disappointed to see the disappearance of the Athearn, Roundhouse, and Walthers car kits. I always enjoyed assembling the cars and some of the lack of detailing never bothered me. I always figured I could add details later if it ever did start to annoy me. I also liked the fact that I could build a decent sized roster for a reasonable investment. That is not to say that RTR doesn't have a place in the hobby, it certainly does, but building that basic car kit is a wonderful way for new modelers to "get their feet wet" building kits with minimal investment of time and money. The skills learned also translate well to structure kits. I for one would love to see a return of these less expensive car kits.
Mike
After years of constructing hundreds of wood cars, at an open house, I heard a wonderful comment....As a train of over 50 wood kit and scratch-built cars passed by, an astute visitor said in all seriousness..."Geez, I didn't know that Athearn did all of these" Oh well!!!!" HZ
Just like any genre, whether it art, music or some subgenre, there may be a few people who can truly appreciate good quality - for the rest it may be like casting pearls before swine. It isn't good or bad, it just is. Moral of the story is you do what you do because you enjoy it and get some satisfaction; not for the appreciation or praise of others - a few will appreciate good work despite the masses. Hopefully you can pass some of that on to someone who can appeciate it too when you are beyond decrepit!
Water Level Route After about a fifteen year hiatus I returned to the hobby and was very disappointed to see the disappearance of the Athearn, Roundhouse, and Walthers car kits. I always enjoyed assembling the cars and some of the lack of detailing never bothered me. I always figured I could add details later if it ever did start to annoy me. I also liked the fact that I could build a decent sized roster for a reasonable investment. That is not to say that RTR doesn't have a place in the hobby, it certainly does, but building that basic car kit is a wonderful way for new modelers to "get their feet wet" building kits with minimal investment of time and money. The skills learned also translate well to structure kits. I for one would love to see a return of these less expensive car kits.
It's not all bad news. For example, the train show in Timonium MD I attend has quite a few Athearn, Branchline, MDC, McKean/E&C/LBF, Walthers, Front Range, Accurail, Proto 2000, Intermountain etc. kits at vendor tables. Just last couple shows I picked up some Front Range kits. If you can find a sizable train show in your area, you can go stock up on kits and you should be pretty happy, even though most of those companies are no longer producing kits - mainly now just Accurail and Atlas (nee Branchline) producing kits new recently.