I've kept my nose out of the discussion so far, as I am doubtful I shall be
buying one of the convention cars, not because of the price but because they
seem to be a prototype which didn't usually get far from the west coast. They
are a quite distinctive car and characteristic of that region. San Juan has
been promising what I suspect is the same prototype in O scale, although all
their primary interest in On3 has kept that on the back burner; estimated
prices for a kit when and if they arrive is around $100. In styrene.
As I've observed recently, if one wants a particular prototype in S scale badly
enough, one pays through the nose for brass (and that is not a slap at the
importers who have risked investments in bringing in S scale brass, merely an
acknowledgment that the smaller market means
there are fewer economies of scale). In the case of the car which Ed is
arranging to produce, it is something not hitherto available in S scale (as
contrasted with some convention cars which are merely repaints of existing
commercial cars, not always strictly accurate to prototype) and the price is
rather less than a comparable brass car would have been. I think the real
question is how much anyone wants this particular car, not what it is going to
cost. Naturally, all of us would have liked it to sell in the $40-50 range,
but that is not possible, given the production
requirements. I was excited when someone mentioned SSA expected to have X29
type boxcars eventually; I will not be surprised if those are easily in the
$40-50 range, but I am prepared to go even a bit higher because I can use a few
of them.
Jace Kahn
General Manager
Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.
> My intent, astute or not, was to compare a specific drop-bottom gondola to
> other S freight cars. Kits are hard to find these days, so the kit
> comparison was made with Jim King's fine kits. BTS's nice kits should have
> been included in the comparison also, but there is only so much time to do
> this sort of stuff.
>
> Comparing the RTR drop-bottom gondola to RTR S freight cars was easier since
> AM, SHS, and DPH all stock and sell RTR S freight cars of various kinds. For
> all firms there is a price range -- some cars are cheaper than others. The
> "deluxe" 40' boxcars from AM are more expensive than the "bare bones" (my
> term) cars like their gondola. Same with SHS, there is a price range since
> not all the cars have exactly the same price. And also with the products
> sold by DPH, there is a price range. I tried hard to pick a reasonable range
> of prices for this comparison.
>
> In the case of DPH, I was able to compare with products from many many
> manufacturers all in one fell swoop. You certainly have a lot of S stuff
> available which is most amazing in this day and age. My hat is off to you
> for supporting S scale/gauge in a major way.
>
> Now why would I want to compare to a wide variety of S freight cars?
> Wellsir, John's original comment was that a certain specific drop-bottom
> gondola was "double anything else". The words "anything else" cover a lot of
> territory as I am sure you will agree. Thus, the comparison I wanted to make
> was with regard to S freight cars in general and not just to one bare bones
> gondola car by one manufacturer.
>
> Right or wrong and astute or not, I meant no harm to DPH, SSA, SHS, AM, SMMW,
> BTS, Lionel or anyone else. I was only attempting to show John that the
> price for our drop-bottom gondola car was within reason since many other S
> freight cars have inched up the price curve quite steadily over the years. I
> have some AM S freight car boxes in my attic from years ago with a dealer
> price tag of $14.95 marked on them. Remember those earlier AM boxes with a
> fully transparent plastic cover? Ah....the days gone bye. Back when
> gasoline was cheap.
>
> In particular, comparing a specific plastic drop-bottom RTR gondola for $91
> to a laser-cut wood caboose kit listing at $90 refutes John's statement that
> the gon is "double anything else". Yes, our price is what it is, but that
> does not make it unreasonable -- at least in the minds of us who are trying
> to sell them. :>)
>
> Take care...Ed L.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
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