It looks like Atlas O is serious about the O scale market. http://www.atlaso.com/Trainman/atotrainman.htm From what I've read, all new tooling, regardless of the similarity of their 1970's equipment. Greg
Greg- Is the list on that page, the extent of this line so far? It would be so easy to have the bug bite me on this stuff. Good thing I can't afford it. Have never lost my love for that scale of my youth. Boxcab E50
Ken, That is the first offerings. They could easily add some cars to the list as time goes on. There are some holes in car types offered and a couple of the old cars aren't offered yet. Atlas is the second company to offer the RSD4/5, with Weaver being the first, in plastic that is. It is tough to stay in S, and this doesn’t' help. The only saving grace is I already have enough of those cars and they aren't that common in the time frame I wish to model. At one time Atlas said they weren't going to duplicate their offerings but this is all duplication. Oh well we shall see. Greg
It would certainly help, if there were discount (large reductions) price suppliers such as we know in N scale. As for S Scale, I've essentially set the idea aside. Too many bills here. Although we hope to be caught up later this year. I honestly just can't see the future in that size. Excepting what I find here, and communications with you, it seems to be a closed society. Stuck in the 1950's. With a lot of hot air. The old fashioned clique. And old fashioned ideas. Layouts still stuck in the double track main, folded loop with a yard theme. The magazine efforts are notable. But he just can't seem to attract content. Meanwhile, the hi-railers have pretty much dominated what continues to be a toy-like venue. Look at the explosive growth in On30! Which has outstripped S in almost the blink of an eye! Even HOn30 is growing at a decent pace. S seems like a 6 cylinder '60 Ford Falcon, in a heads up drag race with a '67 Vette 427 Tri-Power.... Boxcab E50
You should read the stuff on the Oscale Yahoo list. The trial has been held the verdict decided and sentence pronounced without a crime yet, so to speak. I question the choice of equipment, but that is because they've already done them in the past. Why not some new cars with the same goals. S scale is grinding itself to a stand still and as you say, stuck in the 50's. Money speaks and the high rail side of S is the big spender. As it is, my spending in S scale side is about over. I've accumulated enough engines to run a modest sized layout. My cars will end up being kit bashed or kits or scratch built. HO holds no real interest to me other than to run on somebody else’s layout. On30 is fun but have enough already in that size to run a small switching layout. Now to get some time to actually build a layout. Greg
Hi Greg- What needs to happen, either in O or S, is for there to be an "Athearn" style manufacturer. Such as what we saw back in the 1970's and 1980's. Yes. I know. The old lament. With equipment prices for both S, and O as they are, not even considering availability, this stuff is just not available to the masses. Not like the affordability of N, and HO. As far as I can see, nobody is even looking at this specific marketing aspect. I mentioned the wildfire growth of On30, as they've been smart enough to be much better in pricing. And the growth has quickly come. First, you must grow the customer base. Then, more customers= more potential sales= more possible profit! As S is now, no customers= going nowhere. Boxcab E50
That is one thing this new Atlas line is going to offer. Availability over limited run items. I think you are right on the mark with your ideas of marketing. The closest thing we have in S is American Models, but price isn't the strong point. I remember when Bachmann brought out the On30 freight cars. First offering was real cheap, and they were hard to get. Second offering was higher in price but they were out there and you could see how nice they were. Third run the price dropped a bit and they have remained at an acceptable level IMO. The new Atlas line will definitely lure the failing eye sight crowd, which will more than likely want that period of equipment. Heck I could even decide that I need to back date my era and join the crowd. Greg
