Hello, I was wondering if there was any interest in extending the run of Navy rail cars that Micro Trains started. There are just too many ships left off the series. Ships like the Bonhomme Richard, the USS United States, as well as the Intrepid, the Essex and others. Is there any interest?
My navy interest revolves around my daughters service, so I have bought the Constitution car, as that is where we expect her to get commissioned, after she finishes her ROTC program, beyond that, I can't afford the whole set, but will buy ANYTHING that crosses her field of interest. If she ends up on a specific ship, I will buy all cars, with that class/type of ship. Long story short...If more cars come out, they will sell to folks that collect Navy stuff, sooooo I'd love to see what comes out, and hope I want one!
Oh, dear. We were always so appreciative of The Navy to paint those big bird farms (sitting ducks) that wonderful grey colour that was so easy to discern between the green ocean and the blue sky. Sneak up on one of you skimmers and one ping, scare the bejeebers outta ya. I've got a whole bunch of SSN's and SSBN's on my railroad.....all on patrol.....you just can't see them.
Nice to see the response... As a member of a family that has a history of 14 generations of Naval officers, it always struck me that MT sold the Navy short. Next question, do you want to stay with box cars, or should we start mixing up the car types? I have a plan for a jungle stripe caboose to honor the SEAL Teams. What do you want to see?
Personally I think that MTL should do a carrier line. Like the Essex class carriers. These ship played a MAJOR role in WW2. For those of you that aren't historians remember at the beginning of WW2 we only had the Lexington, Saratoga, Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. By then end of WW2 we dominated in carrier superiority. Some of these ships went on to play roles in other parts of our history. So hats off to the Eseex Class. Of these class of carriers NOT 1 ship out of this class was sunk. Yes there was the Bunker Hill and the Franklin both that almost sunk during WW2 but these babies just wouldn't sink. I had a great uncle on the Hancock and my Dad and Uncle were on the Ticonderoga, about 8 years apart. I personally am not a collector and have no interest in collecting items like Battle ship row or the Naval warship series. However, if they would release an Essex class carrier series, I would buy it. I think it would be good to mix it up a little and say have 40ft and 50ft boxcars. But I would be okay with 40ft boxcars. Salute our sailors Ryan
I would have to say that I am a fan of the tall sailing ships, not that the Essex series isn't a good choice too. I am looking at the whole range of fleet ships, including Paddle Wheelers and submarines. Would there be any interest in tank cars or hoppers? What about a few flats with Hellcat, F4 and Dauntiluss loads, the the box cars with opening doors with munitions loads.
OK, as long as wea re on the wants, i just picked p a VO-1000 19 in USN Yellow. I've seen pics that it was run at Earle Naval base. I'd love to put a realistic US Navy themed consist behind it and I'd love it if the Grey Earle Box cars that I've only seen on an unmentionable site (not ebay), were rerun. I have my MTL FT set for the fantasy stuff
I would be interested in a model of a REAL prototype Navy car or two I could switch to my Navy blimp base. A tank car would do. The Navy had some special munitions boxcars: U S N X 8538, 50' PS-1 w 9' opening 1 1/2 door _RailModel Journal_ Dec95 p.30 I read these were the ONLY 50 foot PS-1s built with a door and a half. Unlikely to be offered as a mass-produced model, though I have kitbashed one. But I don't have gooid decals to finish it. Not interested at all in fantasy commemorative collector cars. But if you are interested in tall ships... my Dad shot this one in 1932 at the Port of Houston.
I would LOVE to see more "Squid Trains" !!! I have sent a suggestion to MTL to do a carrier series quite a while ago. Of course, they would have to do mine (Kittyhawk) and the ones I "visited" (Constellation,America,Lincoln, and Nimitz). Of course,there are so many more !!! My GF suggested they should be flat cars and was promptly evicted from the Train Room !!! BTW, she is the one that labeled them "Squid Trains" !!!
Its funny you mention she was evicted from the room. I sent an e mail to MTL when they released the Chehalis Western log train set (which isnt even close to being prototypically accurate) and I got a very vague response. I basically was told that they had no idea what kind of equipment the CW had and they just decided to put a train together for a set. Which leads me to believe once again that manufacturers will built what THEY want to build and can give a rat$ a$$ what is accurate nor what us modelers want.
One would think that MTL would jump on this. They commemorate everything else !!! Well, one exception, so far. Haven't seen an Arbor Day log train yet !!!
Glad you caught my stupid joke !!! But,another set similar to MTL "Navy Set #2" would be cool. Seems more purposeful than set #1. If it's gotta' be something commemorative, than it HAS to be the carriers !!! A "Set #3" could geared towards aircraft parts or submarines. Flat cars with torpedoes sounds kinda' cool !!!
Here is an idea. They have Navy set #2 which are dedicated to carries. Set #3 to subs. Set #4 to destroyers. Set #5 Battleships. So on and so on.................. One ship that I think deserves credit and to my knowledge was skipped in the first set was the USS Missouri. At least to my knowledge it wasnt done.
Or MTL could aslo do battle series. They could do the major ships of certain Battles in WW2 like the Battle of Midway, Battle of Coral Sea, Battle of Leyte Gulf, and so on......
Ya know, the Navy has so many different facets. 1. You've got the old Ironsides ships, then the battle ships of WWI, an entire fleet of WWII ships, and then there are the newer ships like the Enterprise, the Long Beach, the Tarawa, and the Washington. 2. There is the aviation side, the old Hellcats of WWII and a few others. Lets not forget F-4 Phantom, the old A-4 Skyhawk, then F-14 Tomcat and on & on & on. 3. Then there are the units Seal Teams, submarines, cargo outfits and such. There are so many different jobs in the Navy, it would be hard to just pick a few cars. And it would be really expensive for a company to "tool up" to make 20 or 30 of these. So, I guess we'll have to live with the small collection of whats out there... So many people have so many interests, it would insane for a company to make cars that a few would buy for all. I'll buy what I want, and make what I can't buy.
cwwrman, yes , she was evicted from the room. Again !!! When I'm doing something, she LOVES to come in and make some sort of comment or observation. Many could never be printed here !!! She is 52, but, to my benefit, she is ticklish as a two year old !!! I keep her around because she's good with an airbrush !!! You mentioned the manufacturer's attitudes, and I agree. Some time ago, a bunch of us tried to lobby for a Baldwin Center-cab Transfer Loco. The few that knew what we were talking about claimed there would be no market for them. These things are famous for EJ&E, but other roads had them: AT&SF,C&O,Pennsy... Those are some pretty big names, ya' know ??? I think they could sell a few of them.
