Read it and weep


I feel your pain ! I have been up against similar problems in the past with HO code 70. Hurry up and wait.
 
Here we are almost june 2013....and we've been waiting for atlas N scale sectional track, flex track, and turnouts since summer 2012. I have amassed a bunch of peco to use. I just wonder why atlas gave up on their market share?
 
I'm not ready to start the actual building of my CB&Q layout but I have been making a lot of purchases toward that goal, both track and scenery items. I've managed to get six #7 left hand, one #7 right hand and two #10 left hand Atlas Code 55 switches and fifty pieces of flex track, all during this shortage. I've been patiently waiting and watching, I guess a little while longer won't hurt. At least, not much. That's what I keep telling myself, all the while fighting back the tears!:rolleyes::)
 
railfan said:
I just wonder why atlas gave up on their market share?
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It wasn't Atlas' choice. Atlas' old contract manufacturer dropped them and Atlas had to scramble for a new supplier. That has taken longer than they expected.

There, you don't need to wonder any more.
 
GenSet said:
It wasn't Atlas' choice. Atlas' old contract manufacturer dropped them and Atlas had to scramble for a new supplier. That has taken longer than they expected.

There, you don't need to wonder any more.
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& thats why bowser started coming back to the states ,

when you deal outside of the united states well ,no control :rolleyes:
 
blackz28 said:
thats why bowser started coming back to the states
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Xenophobia aside, it's not a trend. Much of Bowser's locomotive production remains offshore.

MicroEngineering makes track here and it still often goes out of stock. Production in the US is no panacea and would cost much more.

Them's the facts, dude.
 
GenSet said:
It wasn't Atlas' choice. Atlas' old contract manufacturer dropped them and Atlas had to scramble for a new supplier. That has taken longer than they expected.

There, you don't need to wonder any more.
Click to expand...
Thanks and I appreciate the information. Do you know whether the old supplier that dropped atlas is now selling that product to someone else?......or they just went out of business?

Business (and life) can be like a chess game and if you're not thinking ahead and making alternative plans B and C.....then this kind of thing happens alot.
 
Burlington Bob said:
I'm not ready to start the actual building of my CB&Q layout but I have been making a lot of purchases toward that goal, both track and scenery items. I've managed to get six #7 left hand, one #7 right hand and two #10 left hand Atlas Code 55 switches and fifty pieces of flex track, all during this shortage. I've been patiently waiting and watching, I guess a little while longer won't hurt. At least, not much. That's what I keep telling myself, all the while fighting back the tears!:rolleyes::)
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I also feel your pain Bob! Atlas code 55 has been a unique product.....some say the best looking N scale track and with a variety of curves, crossings and turnouts.
 
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The look of the Atlas Code 55, to me, is way better than Peco with its wide tie spacing. I am not in an urgent situation where I need track NOW. I can wait until November but I would rather not have to. I've been spreading my purchases out so that it is easier on the budget but I would like to begin buying more turnouts.

I'm pretty much set (for the time being) with locos and I can concentrate more on buildings than rolling stock. I've got my DCC system and my locos are all decoder equipped. I've gotten quite a bit of scenery materials and I've even got one of the famous Harbor Freight electric fly swatters to make a static grass applicator. I just wish that I could buy a turnout if and when I want too!

Oh well, my rant is over and I feel a little bit better.:p
 
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railfan said:
Do you know whether the old supplier that dropped atlas is now selling that product to someone else?
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It is a proprietary Atlas product, so the original factory cannot sell it to anyone else -- Atlas owns the molds.

The whole story is complicated, but as I understand it basically Kader (who operates as Bachmann in the US and Europe) stopped doing contract work for other brands and the ripple effect of that decision created problems for many suppliers as products had to be moved to new factories. Starting new product lines at new factories took a long time for atlas and other model railroad suppliers.
 
Manufacturing is the same weather its fiberoptics or
soup cans or the titanic ;)
 
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Not for nothing, but chronic delays in delivery, product shortages, and quality issues are very common in the model railroad/hobby industry, just like with everything else that was outsourced.

Atlas was one of the first to outsource, and had a long standing relationship with their supplier. Suddenly, the supplier was gone, and Atlas was left without a product to sell - and absolutely no control over their own destiny. Several years later, they still have not recovered.

Joe
 
GenSet said:
"Several" years? Maybe a year or two at the most. The manufacturing shake-up happened pretty recently.
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If, like the OP, your RR was on hold awaiting material, even a few months is an eternity;). Its been a while, and their delivery schedule has really been disrupted. Athearn, especially their RTR line, has similar issues, as well as quality issues that Atlas didn't have.

Joe
 
blackz28 said:
& thats why bowser started coming back to the states ,

when you deal outside of the united states well ,no control :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You apparently have no experience in manufacturing, I do, so I will attempt to explain it to you. Even with vendors inside of the states, you have no control over what can happen to them. Any company worth it's salt will always try to maintain multiple sources in case something happens to one of them. Obviously many in the model railroad industry were taking a chance with the single large supplier in China, now they are struggling until they begin find a plant and begin production again.

Just because something is within the boundaries of the US means nothing, because hardly anyone maintains an inventory of consumables. This started decades ago with terms as kaizen, kanban, just in time and lean manufacturing in an attempt to stay productive and competitive.
Inventory cost money, but they will be happy to order it or build it for you, but there is an 8-12 week lead time.

If Atlas was 100% in the US, the items you want would be substantially more expense, and as cheap as model railroaders are, would refuse to pay such a 'outrageous" price.

So we will wait for containers to plod across the big pond, some not yet realizing that we have become Europe, and have to look elsewhere for our goods.
 
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