Hey everyone. Sorry I've been quiet lately, but we have been slamed with new projects and working through this SDK thing. While I can't say exactly what engines are on the way sans one, East Coast guys will get some choice morstles the next couple of months. I've been asked a number of times about a UP GP9 and it will be on the shelves the end of this year or the first of next. We expect this one to be a very popular release. Lots of work on new body styles as well. The bridge is going strong and I have a few more speciality pieces in the works. We also just installed our own in house laser to add to the kits we are currently producing. Expect some interesting subjects with larger foot pads in a few months! Loren and Rob have their marching orders and lots of good things are on the way. Again, thanks for your continued interest in MTL! Cheers Joe MTL
What ever happened to doing a BNSF SD40-2? Thats a scheme I would buy 4 or 5. It would also be great so see more Western Pacific. You could do 4 schemes on the GP9 and GP35...
Hello Joe, Many thanks for this month's GP-9 in the CN 60s "wet noodle" - I was really waiting for that one! In light of that release, some passenger cars in the CN 60s scheme would be most welcome too! I can only hope that by "choice morsels for the East Coast Guys" you might mean some GP-9s in Penn Central or NYC late cigar band? Norfolk and Western blue, or even black? Still waiting patiently for those E8s - can't have a 60s passenger operation without lots of beaten up and battered E units to go with those Geeps. Kind Regards, John
Thanks Joe! I am ordering the silver WP boxcars today.Im always happy with something from 50s and 60s
I must say that I am a little disappointed and always waiting to see again a steamer from MTL, or may be an electrical loco. I am a little bored about this hudge EMD list GP9, OK, why not. But I see by myself that I dont buy diesels anymore, too much already, but for sure, this is just my personal position.
You want Electrics I got a couple I will sell you. They are Japanese look great and run great but got too many.
Sayonara Garth, if I buy a japanese engine, that should just be to :hammer: No, I think at E33, E44 that was used by some railroads. But there may be some other that should match chassis size restrictions.
Still a problem of market: in the prototype which US electric loco has been widely built such as any diesel? The reply is straightforward: none. How many miles of electrified railroads in north America? At their peak, maybe 1 or 2000, when the total network shows 50000 or more.... As there are far more Zscalers modelling diesel powered operations than electric, the output is very easy to deal with: we are definitely far numerous who are waiting for ALCO Centuries, for U-Boats, for GP38s, for ALCO FAs, for SW1500s, etc, rather than waiting for a GE Little Joe (even if in that case I would probably give in although I'm not modelling the Montana in the 60's). There is already an electric available, the very nice Marklin GG1. But in the prototype GG1s ran only on a few hundred miles (Pennsy's northeast corridor) where all the diesels I spoke of above were encountered roughly on all the US railroad network. Not the same figures indeed, isn't it? BTW I would be interrested to know Marklin's sales figures regarding the GG1 compared to the sales of MTL's GP9 or 35 for example. Mustn't be the same market. And let's not forget that Z scale market(s) is(are) light regarding even N scale figures (not speaking of HO) so the question of ROI is always more important for a Z scale manufacturer than for their counterparts in N or HO. If I had a request to address to Z scale manufacturers, as we begin to be broadly supplied with EMDs, should be thinking about GE U-Boats, ALCO Centuries or this kind of stuff.... About steam one has to know the problem is that a steamer is notably more expensive to develop than a diesel. Things are due to move as AZL plans USRA Light and Heavy Mikados on forecoming years (I don't speak of their expensive brass articulated). But let's not forget that Z scale was so narrowly supplied until ~10 years ago (basically the only available locos were free-lanced Marklin steamers and F7s from MTL and Marklin) that it has been an huge work for the Z scale manufacturers to bring Z scale to its current level. Thank you and congratulation chaps, and please continue the good work.:thumbs_up: Dom
Hi Dom, I do think that their work is good, but I dont think that there is a big relation between the spreading of a loco, and the commercial success Taking the example for Märklin, their most sold engine (BR89) was in reality just build in 10 units ! I think that people is also looking for originality, that's also a way to success. So, I do think that still some empty pages on the full EMD catalog, but ... the market is not only represented by hard-core railroaders. Some even just choose after the color
Armand, indeed I think there have been a change in the Z-scalers' mind for 10 or 15 years: in the beginning, let's say when Marklin was the only Z scale manufacturer (and mostly serving the euro market), I believe Z scale was almost a collector scale. But when wandering on different forums such as this one or Zcentralstation, I've the feeling that now Zscalers are more and more operators (especially those who model US prototype). And I guess that's why they have nothing to do with short series. Marklin's Commodore Vanderbilt steam loco: ~6 samples built in the prototype. I should be interrested to know what the sales figures are for this model. Had Marklin released a USRA Mike, I guess that would have been highly different. But now AZL will invest that market....:mcool: Dom
