I was on the phone this afternoon with an Athearn Rep and learned that they finally have the RTR tooling released and back in their hands.
This is good news - at least for Athearn -for the moment.
Since Athearn does not yet have a source to manufacture the RTR line of products, when I asked where any RTR might be produced, I was told that until they find a permanent source, they are in talks with the factory that is currently producing the Genesis line, as a possible source.
No Timeframe or announcements of product were available but it was indicated that RTR product would be back in production at some point- albeit in very sparadic form and availability in between Genesis project production.
It was suggested that if the current arrangement (builder) were to become permanent, it would not be until sufficient expansion could be justified or implemented by the current factory in China.
This was inturpreted by me as continued lack of available RTR models current or future release for some considerable time at this point.
Let's hope that nothing else plagues the return of Athearn's RTR lineup. The supply of existing inventories are starting to dwindle and desired locomotives and freight cars are becoming increasingly hard to find.
Be prepared to see increased pricing on all future releases of RTR as Athearn I'm sure, is doing everything possible to minimize the impact of the cost of production shifting from one source to another.
This is good news - at least for Athearn -for the moment.
Since Athearn does not yet have a source to manufacture the RTR line of products, when I asked where any RTR might be produced, I was told that until they find a permanent source, they are in talks with the factory that is currently producing the Genesis line, as a possible source.
No Timeframe or announcements of product were available but it was indicated that RTR product would be back in production at some point- albeit in very sparadic form and availability in between Genesis project production.
It was suggested that if the current arrangement (builder) were to become permanent, it would not be until sufficient expansion could be justified or implemented by the current factory in China.
This was inturpreted by me as continued lack of available RTR models current or future release for some considerable time at this point.
Let's hope that nothing else plagues the return of Athearn's RTR lineup. The supply of existing inventories are starting to dwindle and desired locomotives and freight cars are becoming increasingly hard to find.
Be prepared to see increased pricing on all future releases of RTR as Athearn I'm sure, is doing everything possible to minimize the impact of the cost of production shifting from one source to another.
