Anyone know who may still be stocking these? Roundhouse's website has them as discontinued. My limited web search has not turned up anything.
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
Hello,
in June of this year this hobby shop still had one or two. Here is the web site http://www.parisjunctionhobbies.com/trains.html . Can not remember what they were charging for them and have not been there since.
Hope it helps
Frank
"If you need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."
This is the wonderful new way we do business in this hobby. Everything is made on a 'limited run' basis, guaranteeing that it sells out in 3 days. Each time Roundhouse runs the model, they have different road numbers. Each road number has a unique SKU. The SKU is used once and discontinued. The next batch will have new SKUs.
When Roundhouse runs the model again (and they will) they will tell you when to order. You order from your hobby shop; they order from a distributor; they order from Roundhouse. Roundhouse gets orders for 2,387 models and makes 2000 (guaranteeing a sellout). Some distributors get all they order; some get shorted. Some hobby shops get all they order; some get shorted. Some modellers get their orders; some dont. Everybody points fingers and blames the other guy. Roundhouse sells out in 3 days, never has to sit on excess inventory, and someone else gets the blame.
Its a brave new world out there. Roundhouse will run the model again soon. They have too much money tied up in it, not to.
tatans wrote:O.K. What does "critter" mean or stand for? can't find it in the Oxford dictionary, is it short for criterion?
IIRC "critter" is a catchall for small two axle industrial locos of no obvious heritage. An example would be the 'Hustler' from Athearn's BB series.
Matt
To find the word "critter" you have to consult an American English dictionary instead of a British one (Oxford).
"crit-ter (krit'er) n. Informal. Any living creature, esp. a domestic animal (Var. of CREATURE.)
BillD53A,You forgot one little point. If they didn't make these limited runs, you wouldn't have a critter from Roundhouse in the first place. You'd have the Athearn Hustler with it's rubber band drive, and maybe some Tyco or Life-Like toy trains instead. Is that what you want?
Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
Matt had the closest definition as it relates to model railroading. They are small, two axle diesel (or gas) electric locomotives which may or may not have a prototype. In the case of the Roundhouse critter, the prototype is an EMD Model 40.
I have semi-permanently double headed mine to eliminate stalling on insulated frogs. Here they are hard at work switching the local freight terminal.
Tom
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
Did you check on eBay for their availability. Everthing should be available on eBay - for a price.
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
Railphotog wrote: Did you check on eBay for their availability. Everthing should be available on eBay - for a price.
I've been looking for some time. Just haven't found one yet...
I'll just have to keep on looking.
Paul3 wrote: BillD53A,You forgot one little point. If they didn't make these limited runs, you wouldn't have a critter from Roundhouse in the first place. You'd have the Athearn Hustler with it's rubber band drive, and maybe some Tyco or Life-Like toy trains instead. Is that what you want?Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
There is no rule that says model trains must be made in limited runs or not at all.
tatans wrote:AHA ! CREATURE= critter, why not just creature? thanks.
It eventually began to be used in reference to small locomotives.
Midnight Railroader wrote: tatans wrote:AHA ! CREATURE= critter, why not just creature? thanks.Most people (non-railroaders) who use the term "critter" apply it to mean a small animal, like a possum. The term is most commonly found in the south, although it can be heard just about anywhere these days.It eventually began to be used in reference to small locomotives.
We've got critters in Maine also - squirrels, racoons, porcupines, etc. Except we call them crittas
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
G Paine wrote: We've got critters in Maine also - squirrels, racoons, porcupines, etc. Except we call them crittas
Same in florida, except we call it roadkill when we see them.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Considering how loooong ago these models were released, I would not whine about it. They have been OOP for many years now, and there are still many out there. Try eBay, or call some local hobby shops.
Phil
BillD53A,Yes, the Model 40 was pre-Horizon. But it was well after limited runs. Remember MDC's assembled Shays in RTR? That was before the Model 40 be a couple years, and were also limited run. Modern limited runs started with LLP2K's BL-2 some 20 years ago, followed closely by the Spectrum 70tonner, et al. MDC was rather late to the game, but they did go to limited runs for their RTR items before the Horizon purchase.
Midnight Railroader,I never said "not at all" as we'd obviously still have some train models. However, it would be only the most popular engines in the most popular schemes if they were released on a constant basis. Or, if they were batch produced (a kind of limited run), you'd have very few new items released.
Just compare the 1980's to the last 10 years. How many new loco models were released by Athearn back then? IIRC, Athearn made the GP35, GP38-2, GP40-2, GP50, SD40-2 and SD40T-2. That's just 6 new loco models in 10 years of the non-limited run era. It was shocking when a new model actually came out.
These days, folks are disappointed when there isn't something new out every month from Athearn.
Personally, I prefer this era of model railroading where at least the stuff I want has been made even if I can't get it right this second. Compared to the era when new stuff was hardly ever available (and none of it for my railroad), even tho' what was made was available everywhere.