Hi Guys,
While a couple of you have mentioned Jim King, no one has yet mentioned
that he gave
up production in other scales because his S scale sales have been so good. Why
is it that a
manufacturer of rolling stock can be so happy with the S scale market, but a
manufacturer
of structure kits can't sell enough? I think there are several factors at work
here.
When a modeler looks at the concept for their layout they have an idea of
the rolling
stock they might need. If I were planning to model the southeastern watermelon
industry
I'd buy a slew of Jim King's boxcars, or if my plans showed a need for an SP
2-8-2 I'd get
one from River Raisin pronto because they might never be available again. With
rolling
stock there is also interchange. I'm not modeling the watermelon industry, but
I still
bought one ACL boxcar. On the other hand we look at structures and figure
something
will be there when we get to that point in our layout building. No need to
plunk down the
loot today. There might even be something better available later.
Additionally, very few of
us have need for an exact structure. If you do, you are probably going to have
to scratch
build it anyway. The manufacturer who had made Harrisburg's passenger station
would
have sold three, and Bill Lane and I don't really need one! So most structures
are going to
be generic for most modelers.
Many people have told Barry his warehouse is too his big. Most of us have
room for one
more freight car, but if your layout is well under way you may not have space
for a large
structure. If your layout is in the early construction phase then the logic
above applies to
you. Personally I think the warehouse has a nice footprint for a medium sized
industry. I
suspect that most people who say it's too big are talking about the price tag
without
saying so directly. To solve these two problems on my own layout, I have
designed a
location where I can add a siding that will have the warehouse set out where
all four sides
can be seen, although I'm going to call it a furniture factory. I have also
started a savings
plan that will have matured by the St. Louis convention allowing the purchase.
If there
aren't any available by then, something else will be.
Jamie Bothwell
Bethlehem, PA
PS Pine Canyon didn't leave because of poor sales, although he tried once.
Does anyone
know the story behind Trainstuff LLC? They didn't just leave S. They quit all
scales.
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