I know several people looking at possibly getting into On30 and all asking where they can find the Davenport gas mechanical 'critter' as they can't find them except for crazy prices on ePay.
(http://www.micromark.com/RS/SR/Product/71033_R.gif)
I was never under the impression that they were poor sellers and several companies still make conversion kits for them.
So, does anyone know why they're no longer being made? You'd think with the 'shorty' freight cars, there must be a market for a diesel to match?
That gif is distracting.
Same thing in G scale. They stopped making them, but fortunately I have 4 of them.
Chuck
On30 products are made in relatively (to other scales) small batches. A product may be out for a while, then disappear until reproduced (if ever.) The good sellers go fast, and in On30 that tends to be the smaller motive power. The Gas-Mechanical was introduced in 2004 or 2005 I believe, so they were around for a while.
I'm sure if Bachmann sees a market to reintroduce the Gas-Mechanical, they will. But I wouldn't hold your breath. A quick Google search turns up nothing. FWIW, I'd try calling Star Hobby in Maryland. They have a lot of On30 at great prices, but don't advertise and have a useless website. When I saw them in November, they had a lot of out-of-production On30 on hand. They are popular on the train show circuit and I've had good experiences with them. If they don't have them... well... eBay it is.
Scott
It's not a matter of what store has a few here and there, I was wondering why they made what seems to be a very popular item, then stopping production in the apparent face of customer demand for no reason that I can see...
Consider that modern off-shore manufacturing of specialized items (like model RR stuff) runs large batches of a specific product. They do not operate a continuous production line like car manufacturing. There is a minimum batch size required to have any possibility of recovering the costs and (hopefully) making a profit. Those same batches are mass shipped in containers, with a lot of items required to keep the shipping and handling costs low.
In order to have a price point that's low enough that we will be able to afford to purchase the item, the manufacturer, distributor and dealer must all purchase and handle lots of one product in a reasonably short time frame. Otherwise the product deteriorates while the interest cost on the money invested continue.
All this takes large investments up front with no guarantee as to how many will be sold over any given time period. Bachmann, along with numerous manufacturers are to be applauded for taking that risk. The total numbers of a single product in stock at the beginning of a product's life are really large in what is very limited niche market.
In this case, Bachmann did not "stop production." It is just that the batch (or batches) they manufactured have sold out. Whether and when they might make more is really a marketing decision. I can guarantee that they will not make a new run until and unless they are convinced they can again sell the entire run.
You claim that lots of people are wanting a specific product (the 0n30 Davenport), and perhaps that is true. Conversely, I have recently read several on-line posts, along with talking to a couple of acquaintances who tried 0n30, but are not happy and are moving on. The prevailing direction is probably somewhere in between. BTW, I am currently looking at starting an 0n30 layout, and my first purchase was a Bachmann Davenport. I really do agree that it is a great looking little locomotive!
If someone wants to take the risk on any single model railroad product or product line, contact Bachmann's marketing department, arrange a bulk purchase, and sell them yourself, thus taking the ensuing business risk. If correct, that will make lots of modelers happy and make lots of money.
If wrong, there will be several garage-fulls of slowly deteriorating models!!
Happy RRing,
Jerry
Jaystrains in Florida has a few in stock and he even does trades. :D
Royce
Quote from: JerryB on January 25, 2016, 08:49:51 PM
You claim that lots of people are wanting a specific product (the 0n30 Davenport), and perhaps that is true. Conversely, I have recently read several on-line posts, along with talking to a couple of acquaintances who tried 0n30, but are not happy and are moving on.
All I know is among the two local hobby shops that sell On30, each owner has told me they constantly get asked if they have any Davenports for sale and how disappointed those potential customers are when told no.
Every local guy I know getting into On30 (and there are a lot of them, oddly) has bought one if they can find one, regardless of the price.
See how much they're going for on eBay, as well.
There are a bunch of conversion kits for these and I wonder if those are selling if you can't find the locos to put them on.
To me, it's a moot point as I model a RR that didn't have any diesels until over 20 years after my layout takes place.
I have one of those and took it over to a friend's HO layout to see how it ran:
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn148/J_S_Bach/Trains%20model/102_5311_zpse0b92bfd.jpg) (http://s303.photobucket.com/user/J_S_Bach/media/Trains%20model/102_5311_zpse0b92bfd.jpg.html)
We were both impressed.
The 2-6-0 did even better:
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn148/J_S_Bach/Trains%20model/102_5318_zps1790b509.jpg) (http://s303.photobucket.com/user/J_S_Bach/media/Trains%20model/102_5318_zps1790b509.jpg.html)
Well, except for a slight problem when we went to spin it:
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn148/J_S_Bach/Trains%20model/102_5322_zpscbc5d554.jpg) (http://s303.photobucket.com/user/J_S_Bach/media/Trains%20model/102_5322_zpscbc5d554.jpg.html)
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn148/J_S_Bach/oops_zpsc0619513.gif) (http://s303.photobucket.com/user/J_S_Bach/media/oops_zpsc0619513.gif.html)