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Does anyone know anything about what's going on at Athearn's Carson plant?
I have been buying allot of items that they are getting rid of to move.
Victor
They laidoff 30+ employess from that facility and closing it up as they can no longer afford to stay here in the states. Like everyone, they discovered that manufacturing is sooooo much cheaper in China. There is a deailed article out about it that I read on another site, I'll see if I can remember where and post it here.
As far as I remember, Carson will be a warehouse, and that's it. Horizon makes everything in China... Funny that they say they cannot afford to make stuff in the states, yet kits are the only thing made there, and they still sold under $10-$15...
Grandson of an ALCO Builder
that pisses me off....they make the stuff over there because it is cheaper yet they dont really pass on the savings to the consumers....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....alright off the "soap box" rant...........
that pisses me off....they make the stuff over there because it is cheaper yet they dont really pass on the savings to the consumers....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....alright off the "soap box" rant...........
Well all things considered, if some American was installing those grabs on RTR cars they're cost twice as much, which is 4x as much as the kits...
that pisses me off....they make the stuff over there because it is cheaper yet they dont really pass on the savings to the consumers....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....alright off the "soap box" rant...........
I just worry whats going to happen when suddenly the USA and China (insert any other country of your choice here) no longer get along and we can't get stuff made over there anymore and we no longer have the factories or workers with know how to make any products?? None of these geniuses who have the country in such a pitiful financial state ever thought of that did they?? Nope they just thought of next quarter profits and their next bonus.
<rant off>
With the exception of the few Athearn BB freight cars still being made in Carson, all production has been in China for a long time. The last time a locomotive was made in the USA was 2001. The BB freight car line has been falling off in sales every year as more and more people bought the RTR line (made in China). Since many modelers only want to buy RTR stuff now, production in China is about the only alternative unless you want to pay $50 for a box car. The model train business is just as competitive as any other and, if Atlas or Bachmann can produce equal, or nearly equal, quality products in China at a lower cost than they can be produced here, that's what will happen, and Athearn will be at a competitive disadvantage.
Right now, we control the Chinese economy, not the other way around. 14% of the total Chinese GDP comes for items produced specifically for sale in WalMart. I have no idea what other percentage of their economy is also controlled by our demand but it is substantial. They have two choices - produce models and sell them to us or produce nothing. There is no significant domestic market for most of the things China produces for us, including model trains, Christmas trees and Easter bunnies. Our problem is not production in China, it's our lack of building things here to export to China. Anyone want to guess how many non-governmental US made vehicles you see on the streets of Bejing?
As the famous saying goes "We have met the enemy and it is us".
buy American- remember the slogan? to bad it never really cought on
In the end American greed and lazyness can be blamed for alot of things. When one would rather buy a RTR kit made in China for $15 rather than a BB for $8, it just shows you where we were and what we have now become. Is a RTR kit really better? I dont think so. All it does is allow you to take it out of the box and place directly on the layout..Wow people pay $7 more to be lazy and have it now. I understand why Athern is moving but it was in many ways the end user that forced them into it.
Just my perspective.
Trent
But.. BB is teh shiz.
Pop culture aside. I find something I've made myself to be more valuable than something I pulled out of a box in one piece. Maybe I'm just old school. I've got two BB hoppers vs. 15 assorted LifeLike cars.
BB run smoother and just feel more solid. (I know, it's a bad example anyway.. )
But.. BB is teh shiz.
Pop culture aside. I find something I've made myself to be more valuable than something I pulled out of a box in one piece. Maybe I'm just old school. I've got two BB hoppers vs. 15 assorted LifeLike cars.
BB run smoother and just feel more solid. (I know, it's a bad example anyway.. )
thats how I feel too.
I buy a BB freight car and assemble it with the package of wheels and a package of kadee #5s that i buy in bulk
after I assemble the car I know the car well and have inspected it for defects. in the end i save about $3-$4 per car. if I own 55 cars thats about a $200 savings or one more quality dcc w/sound loco!!!
China doesn't have to take the US by force. They're doing it one company at a time. After a while we'll all have to move there to get jobs.
Guys, anyone remember Heathkit? They aren't in business any more because not enough people wanted to build their own radios either. The same phenomena is occurring in model railroading. Those of us who like kits can do one of two things - buy a whole bunch of BB's from Athearn right now so maybe they will reconsider or live with the fact that kits will be produced by smaller companies at higher prices. The trend in model railroading, and most things in general, is instant gratification. We can argue all we want that it's good or bad but it doesn't matter, it's a fact of life. Like it or not, RTR stuff has probably gotten more people in model railroading than anything done with kits in the last 30 years. The more model railroaders we have, the better off we'll all be, since more volume will equal lower prices.
The real issue with China is that it hasn't opened its markets to US products while the the US Government is allowing almost unlimited importing from China. We have the economic leverage to change that if someone in Washington has the political will to do so. As long as we can export to China, all our jobs won't move there - it will be a fair exchange. Right now, it's not a level playing field.
I too, don't like that we give a lot to China, but will say that comparing my Blue Box kits from the late 1980s to the Blue Box kits now, and the ready to run line, the quality of detail has increased greatly. The crispness of the paint on a 1980s Southern 50' box and a current Blue Box Southern 50' box is night and day.
One thing that has bothered me about Blue Box kits is that it is usually (or has been) one car and one road number. When I got back into the hobby this year, I picked up a UP 50' gondola BB kit. I'd have bought all 4 on the shelf if I didn't have to renumber the other 3. I like to buy cars in pairs, since it is usually unlikely that one train only has one example of that car and road name.
Grandson of an ALCO Builder
Hopefully there's no lead in the paint LOL or any other bad stuff...
China doesn't have to take the US by force. They're doing it one company at a time. After a while we'll all have to move there to get jobs.
I thought that was Mexico, not China.
Larry
well I guess its a change over to accurail now. Still made in the U.S.of A
I to love my old BB kits, but these days I usualy hunt the trays of used freight cars for old BB cars, nicely built wood kits and other older brands, espicaly anything logging related or Monon. While I have a one pair of RTR locos, Genesis Monon F3's, most of my stuff needed tweaking and fine tuning before running out on the club layout. I hope to start my new Monon home layout soon. Mike
I have not been real pleased with athearn the last few years, and I grew up with there kits. I have been putting there kits together since I was about seven. And kept building them up till about 2003. After which they seemed to not care anymore about there bb kits. I liked them cause they were afordable and easy to build and modify. To me building kits is as much fun if not more than watching them run around the track. Yes most of there engines werent the best detailed but they were so inexpensive I felt ok modifying, cutting and kitbashing them into other models. Sometimes they turned out well and sometimes not. I loved the fact they had a huge selection that was avaliable most of the time. I also liked that they ran them in batches and made another batch when most of a curent batch were gone instead of making a limited number like atlas, kato and even athearn now. Now most of the things they have are priced out of range for the beginer and weekend modeler. I rather have a less detailed and lower price model that I can upgrade over time than a high priced rtr super detailed model. I now mostly look for old nos bb kits and used ones now to mess with.
I have not been real pleased with athearn the last few years, and I grew up with there kits. I have been putting there kits together since I was about seven. And kept building them up till about 2003. After which they seemed to not care anymore about there bb kits. I liked them cause they were afordable and easy to build and modify. To me building kits is as much fun if not more than watching them run around the track. Yes most of there engines werent the best detailed but they were so inexpensive I felt ok modifying, cutting and kitbashing them into other models. Sometimes they turned out well and sometimes not. I loved the fact they had a huge selection that was avaliable most of the time. I also liked that they ran them in batches and made another batch when most of a curent batch were gone instead of making a limited number like atlas, kato and even athearn now. Now most of the things they have are priced out of range for the beginer and weekend modeler. I rather have a less detailed and lower price model that I can upgrade over time than a high priced rtr super detailed model. I now mostly look for old nos bb kits and used ones now to mess with.
I agree completely. Half the fun of model railroading is creating and modifying the stuff that's out there for YOUR use.
While I do agree to some extent with the "instant gratification" mentality, cuz we all have done it, instant gratification taken to extremes leads to social degeneration.
I mean, how many people actually buy a ready made layout? I'm sure a few have, but then they do modify it to some extent.
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