Two words come to mind with respect to Model Power to MRC: "Fire sale." The story told-- and I don't doubt it-- was that Model Power could no longer get financing, and therefore, The End. The Life-Like to Walthers deal was, if I recall correctly, Life-Like wanting to get out of what had become a side business for them. Walthers changed a whole lot of the Life-Like business model-- no more inventory dumping, for example. Life-Like went back to making foam containers. Roundhouse/MDC to Athearn was, in my estimation, a family wanting out, or realizing that they couldn't be successful going forward. Horizon bought Athearn in my opinion to (1) ensure a supply of trains (2) restrict that distribution to itself, i.e. choke off competitors (see "Walthers"). Of those three, only the first, Model Power to MRC, was recent enough to be included in "post-Great Recession" discussions. Consolidation comes about in both healthy and unhealthy markets. To be fair, there have been plenty of business that have ended over the history of Model Railroading, just like in the history of, well, history. Varney, AHM, Ulrich, Mantua, Tyco, Train-Miniature (both of them), American Flyer/Gilbert, Ideal Models, Megow, and others that don't come to mind right now. And that's just here in the Lower 48.
George... thanks for chiming in on the consolidation and buyouts by wholesale distributors (Walthers/Horizon)... that is where I was going as well. Walthers is a distributor... they are mostly HO oriented... LifeLike made lots of HO stuff. If LifeLike was in any way interested in bailing out of the hobby to concentrate on the other more profitable operations... Walthers would seize the opportunity to acquire them on whatever good terms they could get. Obviously, Walthers could care less about N scale... they hardly do anything other than re-issue existing tooled products. They made 'one' new model... the 0-8-0... which was a less than adequate model in N scale; and, that was years ago. My guess is that was something on the LifeLike R&D table which was based on the Y2b Mallet individual driver chassis... and Walthers just went with it... as is... no further testing or fine tuning. Athearn bought MDC/Roundhouse when they decided to get into N scale... since MDC had some good operating steamers and a line of old time reefers and boxcars it was a good way for them to get in with existing product lines. The MDC 'family' wanting out of the business also would have made a good deal possible for Athearn. I feel that once Athearn got into the N scale field with their Challenger and Big Boy models... and the apparent lack of LARGE market interest in N scale... they decided to 'hop onto the Horizon bandwagon' to share the 'pain' of their new acquisitions. Unlike Walthers... Athearn was on track to do some very nice things in N scale. Their Mack B trucks, some new releases of N scale rolling stock and their continued support of the Challenger & Big Boy models is at least honorable (in comparison to Walthers). The likelihood is that their was much less profitability in N scale than they had expected... Horizon can at least help them carry the burden. MRC is a company with many outlets in several hobbies... not just model railroading. Model Power has a line of successful Die Cast vehicles and aircraft which fits well with MRC other products. We know MRC for their power supply models (TECH this or that). They were one of the early adopters of DCC/Sound; albeit, inferior to others in the same field... and they were 'late' into the DCC era... well behind Digitrax, Lenz, etc... As George mentions... this was another opportunity purchase where a multi-faceted hobby company (MRC) gets more than just a bunch of N scale models... they get all that Model Power produces.
In the early 80's I had a large N scale layout with over 11 scale miles of mainline. Unfortunately, most of the locomotives available at the time we garbage. Out of 20 some locomotives I had only 2 would be what I would call decent running locomotives. Also back then there were a limited number of road names available with few if not none that were for the area I wanted to model. I ended up ripping out the layout and moves to HO scale. What I see now in N scale is amazing. Excellent smooth running locomotives available in numerous road names. If locomotives like todays were available in the 80's I would probably still be in N scale.
I remember the MRC 2-8-8-2 and 2-8-4, the Atlas 4-6-2, 2-8-2 and the 0-4-0 from the late 1970's along with Atlas FA-1, I still have the Atlas 4-6-2, 2-8-2 and FA-1. None will run. I next look in my storage box and find the Atlas RS-11 and RS-3, these will still run, full blast or not at all and that is if the track is really clean and the loco wheels are really clean, oh yes, no fly wheels, turn the power off and watch the engine STOP NOW. I have the Kato F3/7 from the 1990's, most still run and run great, slow start, run all day and pull like crazy (2-3 engines pull 100+ MTL 40' box cars). I usually run Atlas GP-7/9 from China both DCC ready and not DCC ready. Also, the Atlas U25B DC and the Atlas GP-30/35 all versions, Japan, China, China DCC. The newer engines are really nice and run well. Only problem is availability, you muxt buy it when you see it do not wait and think about it. Same with cars, buildings everything. It has been pointed out in other answers why. I am just answering for the engines and how they run. enjoy, later Craig
Pre 2005... great for inexpensive RTR locomotives from LifeLike due to the overproduction typical of the 1990 thru early 2000's. By the same token... that was apparently an undoing for LifeLike... which found there money tied up in inventory they could not sell at a profitable level. The 'fire-sale' we heard of was necessary for them to just get back some of their invested money... not to make a profit. Lets face it... their price points for the fine running split frame GP-20, SW9/1200, FA-1/FB-1, FA-2/FB-2, BL2, PA/PB, C-Liner and the elusive Erie Built... was $50 - $65 per engine. That was a reasonable price for a quality model in the early 2000's. YET... they made too many... once the initial buyers got their models... the rest were sitting on the shelf at distributors and LHS. I remember on the Atlas Forum in 2002... someone mentioned LifeLike as if they were Kato clones. I didn't believe them... but... at the time I figured to check out the models. I bought a couple of the LL BL2' for $20 each... I was stunned how well they ran and looked!! BUT wait... it got better (or worse for LifeLike). Soon after... the FA-1 sets / FA-2 sets & C-Liner sets were available for $39.00 a SET. THEN... the GP-20 were available for $15.00 each as were the SW9/1200 and later the SW8/900. Their was so much over-production that deals for several models continued for 2 to 3 years. Culminating in late 2002... modelers all expected these fire sales to continue indefinitely... so when the Erie Built was delivered... they were MADE TO ORDER... and disappeared immediately. The last Made To Order from LifeLike was the Y2b Mallet... and they sold out pretty quick too. It seems that they either over-produced or under-produced... Now Walthers 'rarely' produces...
Full pilots on locomotives. Two locomotives of the same type and manufacture that actually run in the same direction. Think the above is a given? Back in the late ‘60s I had two Postage Stamp “F” somethingorothers and one ran clockwise around the oval while the other ran counter-clockwise. And the fact that they were “Somethingorothers” and not an identifiable make/model of locomotive says boatloads. Perhaps trainloads would be more appropriate. Wheels on rolling stock that are actually round, no flat spots and are parallel with each other. If you don’t know of what I spea. . .write about, consider yourself lucky. And when was the last time you opened a locomotive box that had been sitting around for a year or so and the vacu-formed cradle had a puddle of. . .well calling it lubricant would be a stretch but I’m sure that was what it was originally intended for.
Well maybe wrong about the the relationship to cars....... I have forgone the purchase of a car so I can buy trains instead! But for me, I started in N scale about 1994 with a bunch of Atlas GP units and Kato SD-40's. Was happy with everything then and never have been too disappointed except with maybe the Atlas Beer Can cars. Yes couplers have changed, but I still have to convert all the Accumates and McHenry couplers to Micro-Trains anyway, so they aren't any more better than rapidos to me. Rolling stock has gotten a lot better with more selections and in some cases more details and road names. But in truth all of the extra details come at the price of fragility. A case in point were the under frame details of the Fox Valley models. They were so delicate and some actually interfered with the the trucks. Locomotives have gotten better and worse based on accounts where DCC ready has reduced pulling power. All in all, N scale has been pretty good and improving since I started.
I have never seen that as a problem, as I have had to build all my own engines and buildings. Freight cars I can make work, even though I have patched several. I have many choices. It's nice, if I'm building an SD40M-2, I can start with any road Kato SD45. It is a good time to be in N Scale.
This is not a new problem. Go back to 1995. When I started in N then, I wanted to center around a California RR, so at that time it would mostly mean: SP, UP and Santa Fe. This was the time of the improved Atlas GP7, LL SD7, etc. I/M 12 car packs of those roads (kits only!) flew off the shelves. I quickly found you HAD to pre-order to obtain most anything from the those 3 roads. The LHS would purposely over-order on pre-orders and still get shorted. Many phone calls followed to hit up the smaller wholesalers, in a time when more than a couple existed. Northeastern-based pre-Conrail-era N scalers have reported similar experiences so I don't consider this situation a special case. Now engines in those roads were re-run years later, but who knew at the time? Lack of availability certainly did completely discourage others just starting out in N. N scale manufacturing is not in dire straits today, it appears to be following a very conservative track, just like other businesses. And today, what business do you know that has everything that they normally carry (listed in catalogs, on shelf tags or as display items) available nearly all the time? That's not on 24/48/72 hour/infinity call from a supplier, either.
I would have to say that the three biggest advancements in N scale trains in the past decade are: - Body-mounted couplers - Metal wheels - DCC sound We have manufacturers like BLMA, Fox Valley, ExactRail and Wheels of Time upping the game.
I was in an n-scale club in the early 1970s, I recall hearing from someone about a locomotive they purchased running exactly opposite direction of all their other locomotives. Do not call the maker. In retrospect, it sounds like a simple wiring polarity issue in the locomotive.
It's either that or somebody put the motor in upside down. The same thing will happen these days. Doug
There has been a big change for the better and the proof would be in the hands of those that were lucky enough to get one of the new TrainWorx Semi trucks. One only needs to tilt forward the cab of the cab-over and count the fan blades on the engine. Mike
Given an infinitely high budget or price point, we can achieve whatever amazing level of detail you'd like. Almost $50 for an N scale tractor-trailer model - yikes.
My point exactly, We have come a long way and Atlas locomotives used to be $14.00 and flex track was .89 a stick. Yugo or Rolls Royce or something in between. We at least have a choice now. Mike
Are you seeing a lot of demand for that Trainworx tractor-trailer model? Were I the accountant on the job - such as you referred to in another tread - I would have nixed the idea of making a truck model that would sell for the typical price of a pair of Micro-Trains railroad cars.
The first sets sold out the same day they came in and day after that the scalpers on Ebay were getting $145.00 each for them. Since you and I do not manufacture any products we have little real advice to share with anyone on how someone should or should not run their business. IMHO Mike
Wow. Clearly there's an unfulfilled niche in the market I would never have guessed existed - not at that retail price and certainly not at one 3 times greater.
Don't forget that LifeLike suffered a fire at its foam products warehouse in Baltimore. That event probably had more to do with sale of the model RR line to Walthers than anything else. The model RR line was not the major product made by LifeLike. In addition I am not so sure that LifeLike lost money on their "fire-sales". We'll never know for sure.
