A "beginner" level GP7/9/18/20. Something that can be mass produced to keep costs down but of decent enough quality that experts would not hesitate to upgrade a fleet of them.
Something that was posted a few pages back......'60's and '70's era American vehicles, both cars and trucks. The vehicles that Atlas has already released are very good, I'd like to see more. After being in HO-scale for so many years, and enjoying the wide variety of vehicles that are available I was surprised that the selection in N-scale is so limited. Alloy Forms makes a few trucks and commercial vehicles from that era but my metal kit building and painting skills leave much to be desired. Preiser, Kibri, and Wiking all have assembled plastic models of European cars and trucks, some of which can be used on American layouts, but what they offer in N is far short of what they offer in HO. Classic Metal Works vehicles are great items but most of what they offer is from the '40s through the '60s. Nothing, in my mind, ruins the look of a layout more than the wrong era vehicles on the street. You have GP's and SD's pulling trains through town but on the streets and at the grade crossings there are vehicles that are no newer than the 1940's or 1950's. I know I'm probably ranting too much about this but it has been my only gripe about N-scale since I switched from HO back in 1995.
Try Shapeways. I picked up some mid 70s cars from a vendor there. There's also some 60s cars as well.
A Minnesota ore car such as those used by the DMIR the current BL&E prototype model has been around since the '70s and only reflects an eastern road. any new ore car be it DMIR or GN based would look closer to the cars that actually loaded ships and made all rail movements. I know I'd feel compelled to buy 20 just to get a decent size train
Hey Paul…. How about some B units Geeps etc, that would make an old man very happy and thanks for the little buggers in N scale with sound already…looking forward to buying at least 3 GP 30's…. (and would buy a B unit of same if it were available….LOL) Thanks and keep up the great job you are doing...
It is funny that you mention "entry level" GPs. A number of years back, there was discussion on this board as well as on other forums about the "entry level F-unit". There were a few nominations, but people did not agree and eventually the discussion faded. The old Model Power FP-7 was not a bad candidate. It came in train set and "hobbyist" versions. The trainset version was wired backwards. The "hobbyist" version was not bad, and, for the street prices certainly a good candidate. The old B-mann SPECTRUM Fs were allright for the "entry level". The street prices were pretty good. The newer DCC versions are better runners, but the street prices are not the best for consideration as "entry level". B-mann does sell a train set with a non DCC F-7, but I do not know which one it is. There was also a PLUS version that had gears that cracked as soon as you took them out of the box and applied power. Both versions of the LL FAs were also considered, even though they were not EMD F-units. The plastic frame versions were excellent pullers, ran well for their construction methods and were well detailed, considering what they were. MT considered them good enough to manufacture a conversion kit specifically for them, which served to plug the gaping hole in the pilot that accommodated the front coupler mounted to a swivelling front truck. The flaw was the flexing wires soldered to pivotting trucks. LL addressed this with the metal frames. The street prices on these were not bad, in the end. N scale would do well to have some "entry level" power similar to the old "Blue Box" Athearns in HO scale of the 1970s, -80s and -90s. In the early 1970s, the Blue Box Athearn GP-9 or F-7 listed for about eleven dollars. The Federal Minimum Wage at the time was $1,60 the hour. The current Federal Minimum Wage is $7,25 the hour, a little more than 4,5 times that of 1972. Thus, the ideal cost for the "entry level F-unit/GP" would be $49,50 or, let us state fifty bananas. Could Atlas, or any manufacturer, for that matter, produce an acceptable GP or F unit, list it for fifty bananas and turn a profit on it? The old Athearn Blue Box power was pretty good. I would be considering something on the order of the last version of LL GP-20, B-mann SPECTRUM F-7 or the MP "hobbyist" FP-7 as a comparison. Could it be done for fifty dollars? (I am using the Minimum Wage figure as those were the jobs that I got in high school, when I first became interested in model railroading. Similar jobs are mostly what are available to those in high school to-day. For those who have better jobs, still, you want to keep down the cost, as one thing that the prospective adult hobbyist might be considering is "How much will I be out if I decide that this is not for me?" If he is going to be out one hundred dollars for the locomotive, alone, he might balk. If he is going to be out half that, he might try it.)
Cupola Cabooses with "glass" in the windows, EV Cabooses for more of the railroads that you made engines for, Low Nose Jeeps, a GP50.
Speaking of the early LL GP-18's and their plastic frames, maybe Atlas needs to buy ALL of the former LL locomotive molds from Walthers (since they appear to have little or no interest in selling N scale locos) and establish a "new" line of basic and affordable locomotives.
Well, it would be a nice idea, but I see it as a way for some smaller company to jump start their N scale presence. I could be wrong, as Atlas did buy BLMA to add to their quality freight car line. I think the questions would be if those LL shells could easily be fit to an Atlas mechanism. It would take that to make those affordable. In general, I think the Trainman line is already superior to most of those old LL engines, although I gave them credit for really coming up in quality. They should have sold based on quality, but the nameplate held them back, and perhaps interoperability with other brands. Would the same loco with an Atlas nameplate sell? IMHO, saving old molds may not be any cheaper than starting new, sort of like saving layout pieces is sometimes more trouble than it is worth when moving......
