Exactrail, Tangent, Intermountain, Kadee and Atlas still make kits of their cars, the problem is getting your supplier to order them, and for the the importer to get their supplier to properly pick the parts to assemble the cars.
I have found many kits to be missing parts lately and then have to get the said parts from the importer is almost impossible, because the part nos on the instructions and the part itself does not match (especially Athearn).
I still have a bunch of Athearn, Exactrail and Tangent kits to build.
By the way the Kadee kits require no glue to assemble.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
DavidH66 I'm curious why we don't see freight car kits of modern variety anymore?
I'm curious why we don't see freight car kits of modern variety anymore?
"Modern" means recent. Recent means a relatively short time in existence. That translates into fewer eras. A car built in 2010 is only good for 17 years, right now. A car that was built in 1980 will span almost twice that. With greater sales, one might think. For example, Atlas introduced a very nice centerbeam flat in 2009. The prototypes were built in 2006, I think. I didn't get very many. And they haven't sold real well. THERE was a modern freight car. At the time.
Plus, over time, there have been fewer road names. And people tend to have road name loyalties. "Oh, I LOVE the Nickel Plate. I must HAVE the Nickel Plate....."
...I feel like snap together kits could fix some of that. Why aren't those a thing?
Because there is no perceived need. RTR cars are selling briskly, as far as I can see. Not-snap-together kits are doing OK--Accurail is around and producing new models on occasion. And there are "real" kits coming and going in the market.
However, you and some others here MAY perceive a need. And you should consider pooling your money and producing some.
In addition, the "finer" you are making a model, the harder it is to keep it snap-together. Little bitty bits come to mind. Having something snap in is a trickier thing than pin-glue. And it gets trickier when it gets smaller.
So snap-together will have to remain crude. Accurail is sorta crude. Are there people who can't handle an Accurail kit????? Can those same people also build a layout??????
Ed
DavidH66 I'm curious why we don't see freight car kits of modern variety anymore? It seems like now there could be a market for this with more and more modelers modeling modern lines (Say that ten times fast :P) I was wondering howcome no one has jumped on the bandwagon. I mean it seems perfect, we got more and more modern modelers, and with space and budget concerns a quick generic freight car in their favorite pike could be a hotseller.
I'm curious why we don't see freight car kits of modern variety anymore? It seems like now there could be a market for this with more and more modelers modeling modern lines (Say that ten times fast :P) I was wondering howcome no one has jumped on the bandwagon. I mean it seems perfect, we got more and more modern modelers, and with space and budget concerns a quick generic freight car in their favorite pike could be a hotseller.
It isn't a matter of what types of kits modern vs. older, it's a matter of RTR far outsells kits in real life and manufacturers don't want to continue to make something that doesn't sell well and isn't profitable.
If you don't believe me, here from Athearn's wiki straight from them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athearn
October 16, 2009; Athearn announced that it would stop making so-called "blue-box kits" because of increased manufacturing and labor costs. "Effective immediately, we here at Athearn have made the difficult decision to discontinue the production of our Blue Box line of kits. There were several factors that contributed to this extremely challenging decision however, the primary issue revolved around affordability and ensuring that our Blue Box kit pricing remain aligned with what the market can bear. Unfortunately, due to increased manufacturing and labor costs it has been determined that we are no longer able to continue offering kits at competitive price points as compared to our already assembled products." Excerpt from an email from Athearn.
October 16, 2009; Athearn announced that it would stop making so-called "blue-box kits" because of increased manufacturing and labor costs.
"Effective immediately, we here at Athearn have made the difficult decision to discontinue the production of our Blue Box line of kits. There were several factors that contributed to this extremely challenging decision however, the primary issue revolved around affordability and ensuring that our Blue Box kit pricing remain aligned with what the market can bear. Unfortunately, due to increased manufacturing and labor costs it has been determined that we are no longer able to continue offering kits at competitive price points as compared to our already assembled products." Excerpt from an email from Athearn.
Which leads me to point number 2. Why not have kits that require no glue or smaller detail parts to get in the way? Modeler's are looking more for the instant gratification (Not saying this is bad), but I feel that may be attributing to rising costs in the hobby, I feel like snap together kits could fix some of that. Why aren't those a thing?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Scale Trains offers a "modern" boxcar kit at $14:https://scaletrains.com/collections/ho-evans-usre-5100-rbl-8-double-plug-door-boxcar
If that's not modern enough, then you're out of luck (unless something from Accurail or Bowser is available). ST is testing the waters with this kit. If sales support it, they'll make more like them.
As for why no one has "jumped on the bandwagon" is that the bandwagon may have a bunch of modern modelers these days, but few of them want to build car kits. There simply isn't enough of them willing to take the time and effort to learn how to build kits. Which relates to your last point: instant gratification. Today, people want to run trains. They'd rather spend an hour running fully built models than an hour building a kit (not to mention the hours and hours it takes learning how to build kits).
We had to build kits back in the old days because that's practically all there was. We were forced to become kit builders or buy expensive custom made models or el cheapo junk models. The middle ground (where things run well but don't cost a fortune) were Athearn BB, MDC/Roundhouse and a few others over the years.
BTW, a snap together kit has been a "thing" in this hobby for decades. See: Athearn, MDC, Accurail, Bowser, etc. Few of their kits ever needed glue, just a screw driver.
David,
I love kits and just completed five Branchline "Blueprint Series" kits over the past 3 weeks, which provided me about a week's worth of entertainment during that time. Nowadays, most folks, however, would rather pay for a preassembled, detailed (RTR) piece of rolling stock or structure than cut & assemble it by hand. That's their choice.
For the manufacturer, it's more cost-effective and a larger profit-margin to have a kits assembled, painted, and detailed overseas. And a lot of the time it can be done better than modelers can do on their own. That said, I still much prefer kits over RTR and purchase those whenever possible and/or needed.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
My belief is that it is because the freight car manufacturers all hate me.
.
You will see a lot of people blaming young people that do not want to build kits, but that is nonsense. Have you ever assembled a Gundam kit? Young people put those together all the time, and they are amazing. Younger people still love to build things.
I think it is because, although we do not want to admit it, model railroaders are getting very old, and kits are not selling anymore.
I am stuck with what Tichy, F&C, and a few others offer. None of these are modern.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I'm curious why we don't see freight car kits of modern variety anymore? It seems like now there could be a market for this with more and more modelers modeling modern lines (Say that ten times fast :P) I was wondering howcome no one has jumped on the bandwagon. I mean it seems perfect, we got more and more modern modelers, and with space and budget concerns a quick generic freight car in their favorite pike could be a hotseller.Which leads me to point number 2. Why not have kits that require no glue or smaller detail parts to get in the way? Modeler's are looking more for the instant gratification (Not saying this is bad), but I feel that may be attributing to rising costs in the hobby, I feel like snap together kits could fix some of that. Why aren't those a thing?