Athearn Good News / Bad News????

via Trainorders.com

Just got a call from my Horizon rep and found out that the retail prices on products will most likely hold where they are but the discount to dealers will be lowered by 8%. That is a big hit for the hobby stores. First Walthers with their 10% hit to dealers, now Horizon on Athearn products.

Bottom line good news for the model railroader bad news for the local hobby shop.

Athearn Good News / Bad News????

It’s bad news for everyone concerned with the hobby.  The prices are killing Model Railroading.  What’s bad news for the retailer is bad news for all of us, because it’s the retailers who grow the hobby.

Important Update: ExactRail Dealer Network

An email from ExactRail.  I’m expecting others to follow suit and I’m not happy about what this means for the hobby.  The Hobby Shop plays a critical role promoting our hobby. I can’t imagine a business model that works without them.

Important Update

As of May 1, 2012, ExactRail will no longer offer a dealer discount and will discontinue our dealer network. Cost of production has increased considerably for ExactRail over the last two years. We have absorbed most of these increases through our margins, however this is not a supportable model for our business. Our conclusion is that we can keep prices reasonable by serving you directly. We believe we can both benefit from having direct interaction.

The future of ExactRail is bright with many exciting and innovative new products coming soon. Over the past year we have been busier than ever in new product development, the quality and authenticity of our products will exceed anything that ExactRail has released to date. You have a lot to look forward to from ExactRail.

Keep an eye on ExactRail.com and our Facebook page for some exciting upcoming announcements!

Happy Railroading,

The ExactRail Team

Important Update: ExactRail Dealer Network

Welcome to French and European Model Trains

Check it out….  saw their ad in Rail Road Model Craftsman

Welcome to French and European Model Trains

The SNCF steam is really impressive.

Update: and some nice video of French trains....

MTH SD70ACe ExactRail BLMA Trinity '64 Reefer Union Pacific Produce Train

A lot of BLMA Trinity reefers! All spanking clean.... I've seen this often on the UP West Line but never ever once without plenty of graffiti on 'em. All that white surface just too tempting.

Johnsonville Tower by Railway Heritage Models

They had an ad in the latest Railroad Model Craftsman for this kit.

It'll be in HO and N versions and their site is: http://www.thenarch.com

Indiana Harbor Belt GP40-2 by Atlas at Lombard Hobbies

Test running one of the Atlas GP40-2's in the IHB scheme with sound (it's loud).

It's http://www.lombardhobby.com by the way. They're fussy about that. Not lombardhobbies...



Also, a couple of shots of a Santa Fe step-up coach I bought. Walther's has outdone themselves here. The pictures don't do the piece justice.

Lombard Hobbies Feb 14, 2012 Checking out new Athearan RTR

Checking out some of the new Atheran RTR SW1500's at Lombard Hobbies.  Here's Illinois Terminal 1510,

And in Indiana Harbor Belt,

Here's some of the specials: Athearn Genesis SD70ACe's in UP Heritage schemes,

And some video....

Ashmore Hotel - Kit (Plastic) -- Walthers Model Railroading

Walthers just announced this: Ashmore Hotel - Kit (Plastic) -- 8-5/8 x 4-7/16 x x 13-7/8" 21.9 x 11.2 x 35.3cm (933-3764) -- Walthers Model Railroading

Reminds me of the Hotel Gayon at Pulaski and Washington Blvd in Chicago, Nice feature is the kit comes with three different facades for different eras. That means you'll have to buy three kits and then swap them out depending on what era's trains your operating.  Maybe a fourth kit to modify for the boarded up era.

...and a fifth for the coming renewal?

Test running an Intermountain CN ES44DC units at Lombard Hobbies

Testing out my Adroid Phone Camera over at Lombard Hobbies. John was testing running one of the new Intermountain units for a customer. Results below...

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO California Zephyrs are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

That’s a lot of Zephyr cars.  Nice stuff, great product, but how about a C&NW 400 instead?

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO California Zephyrs are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO Paragon2 PRR M1a/b's are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

Glad to see this back.  It was a wonderful model.

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: HO Paragon2 PRR M1a/b's are coming Summer 2012! Don't miss them, PREORDER today!

Finding Minnesota: Model Railroad Museum

Lombard Hobbies Jan 9, 2012

Trying out my new iPhone camera at Lombard Hobbies.

That P&LE unit is pretty sharp.

Fox Valley Models Hiawatha at Logan

Proof for those who doubted that little Atlantic could pull the train.

"How to Paint a Steam Locomotive" demo video

They make it look easy....

Check Out The Details And See It In Action: The HO GG-1 Electric |

Over at Mike’s Train House.  I didn’t realize they were doing them.  Check Out The Details And See It In Action: The HO GG-1 Electric

Great time for Eastern and New England modelers with Con Cor doing a Reading Crusader, a New Haven Blue Comet, and PPR MU Cars.  Now how about some IC electrics for us Chicagoans?

Video below….

Bachman Trains' FAs

Saw these over at Lombard Hobbies last night and they looked great. Told they run great too. The Canadian National units looked especially good. A complicated paint scheme done very crisply.

Eddie's Rail Fan Page: The original Snackville Junction restaurant. Located on South Western Avenue near west 115th street. Chicago Illinois. January 1976.

Eddie's Rail Fan Page: The original Snackville Junction restaurant. Located on South Western Avenue near west 115th street. Chicago Illinois. January 1976.

I remember my folks bringing me to Snackville as a kid. I had a cheese sawndwich as I remember.

Trainfest 2011: Athearn HorizonHobbyTrains.com

Accurail's Trainfest Specials

A picture at left of one of the new Accurail steel reefers done up in Milwaukee colors for Trainfest I clipped off the Accurail site. I don't know much about the prototype this car based on. The Atlas site has a little chat on it.

I'll probably buy a few of these Milw cars and some of the PFE ones when they come out. I remember long lines of the PFE cars on the C&NW through Oak Park in the 60s.