@GG1 4877 posted:I've tried to refrain from posting to this thread, but I apparently did not succeed. Being involved with a company that manufactures out of China this thread is filled with misinformation, lack of business knowledge, and a touch of xenophobia. No one is forcing anyone to purchase trains or for that matter, cell phones, appliances, electronics in general, computers ......
Probably caught me on a bad day but we go through this issue every 3 to 6 months and no one seems to learn anything. Can't we simply enjoy our trains?
That’s what frustrates me as well. Each time this topic comes up, it’s clear that all those with opinions based on favoring U.S. model train production have made no effort to study business or manufacturing practices.
I’m talking about readily available information, including here on this forum, not Bachelor of Arts studies.
Here’s my Cliff Notes summary. American production of O gauge locomotives is never coming back. For those who say they are willing to pay more, up to 50 percent, think! That projection would be based on current production runs transplanted to the U.S.
In reality, due to the number of buyers who would abandon new purchases, the amortization of tooling costs over a smaller market base would easily more than double the price of any model, based on today’s price structure, for all-new production.
No Legacy diesel would cost less than $1,000. No Legacy steam locomotive would cost less than $2,000. A Legacy Big Boy would approach $4,000. Prices could be even higher if tooling costs rise, as they invariably have over the years for domestic production.
At that price structure, the hobby would consist of only a few elitists. The number of models made and the variety of new equipment available would be similar to the production Third Rail currently employs. That’s assuming the current manufacturers are even interested in serving such a small marketplace.
