What manufacturers in HO, still produce kits?


N

NP2626

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I'm talking about rolling stock here and as the title states: Who are the manufacturers that still produce kits in HO Scale? If this question has already been asked and answered previously here in the Model Railroad Forums, could you please post a link to that thread(s)? I see that Accurail and Bowser are still producing kits, are there others? I see people complaining about the high price of rolling stock and I can't blame them, one bit! In todays dollars, a maybe typical 20 car freight train will cost around $600.00 and that is utterly ridiculous! When I started out in 1988 building my layout, I was typically finding Athearn Blue Box kits for $3.00 and $4.00! When I decided to start building more detailed cars: super detailing Athearn, MDC and other cars; or, buying Branchline and Proto 2000, I was paying $12.00-$16.00 for a kit! Between $30.00 and $40.00 now, is just plain crazy!

So, I'm saying lets unite! You guys stop buying these expensive RTR cars and start supporting the manufacturers still making kits and let the chips fall where they may!

Anyone still producing kits needs to be recognized and supported; so, who are they?
 
I don't know who all is making kits, but I try to buy them from the vendors at train shows. Much more reasonable in price.
I finally built a set of three UP box cars by Acurail I got last year from a vendor for $14! Of course, I did put Kadee's and Intermountain metal wheels on them.
 
Kits are becoming more and more difficult to buy from the manufactures, alot of them have been discontinued all together and they are strictly into the RTR market for the simple fact that they make more money on them.

I know Intermountain still offers undecorated kits, as does ExactRail in undecorated form. I believe that Athearn and Walthers still offer select Rolling Stock in kit form, but again they are undecorated models, and only offered as kit form so that the modeler painting the kit can do so without dis-assembling the model first. These are all HIGH end kits and include many detail parts to make them just like their RTR models, much more involved in them compared to the old Athearn BB kits.

Other then that, I cannot think of any other manufacture that still offers a good quality kit. There is Bowser, but again just like Athearn BB's those are starting to become few and far between and i dont believe they have any plans to keep making their rolling stock in kit form
 
This hobby is not about what the manufacturers want to sell to us; but, what we want to buy. Therefore, if it was true that the modeling public wanted kits and not $30.00-$40.00 RTR stuff, the RTR stuff would not be selling. So, if we want kits, why are people buying RTR?

15 or so years ago, when I opened up an Accurail box for the first time and saw the detailed wood grain molding of one of their single sheathed outside framed box cars, I pretty much dropped Athearn and MDC as a my main supplier of rolling stock kits.
 
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In my new Walthers Catalog, I see Accurail, Bowser, Funaro and Camerlengo, CB&T Shops and American Model Builders all supply kits. Someone said Intermountain is still doing kits. They used to advertize in Walthers, where did they go?

By the way if you really like projects, the American Model Builders Caboose kits are fantastic and build into a model comparible to a brass import.
 
All you see in the LHSs is RTR, because that is what they sell more of. Yes, there are a few of us hardcore model builders around, but most people do not have time, skills, or desire to build, so RTR is the way to go for them.

Most of the guys in the club I belong to are RTR types. I see very few that actually know how to assemble a model and weather it (if weathering is what's desired).

When I asked a few about the NMRA's Master Model Railroader program, a few knew about it, but most were "deer in the headlights".
 
Someone said Intermountain is still doing kits. They used to advertize in Walthers, where did they go?


You have to look at their home website:

http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/ho.htm

There is a link to kits. Also there are loco kits under the loco link.

Someone already mentioned Tichy. You can look at their range on that site.

http://www.intermountain-railway.com/manufacturersho.htm


Here's a site that will suit you to a 'T':

http://www.mrrwarehouse.com/mrr_center.htm


Railyard does impressive stuff:

http://www.railyardmodels.com/home.html


These guys have nice loco kits in S and O, but only car models in HO:

http://www.btsrr.com/home.htm


Note there are two types of kits, cheap mass produced and expensive but very juicy craftsman kits. It seems to me the trend is toward expensive but top notch craftsman kits while the cheap kits disappear to be replaced by RTR.


They distribute a lot of the kits and stuff. Note Bethleham car works is mentioned. They do some great stuff and they have their own website:

http://www.bethlehemcarworks.com/


Then there is Westerfields:

https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/index.php


Another passenger car maker:

http://www.nkpcarco.com/index.html
 
I sent emails to Atlas, Bowser and Walthers, asking about the availability of kits and their continence in the future! I have heard back from Atlas and Bowser, both have assured me that they will continue to produce kits for the for-see-able future and have no intentions of discontinuing them at this time. I asked this question yesterday and received answers yesterday from Atlas and Bowser/English! Walthers has not answered yet.

Thank you PaulB for the links!! Obviously, there still are kits to be had!
 
There are a number of smaller companies that make kits. You will pay more and they are resin but you can get some really cool kits.

Speedwitch Media, Sunshine Models and BGR Group are all companies that I have bought from in the recent past and they make some great kits.

Steve
 
It would appear that as soon as one kit manufactirer turns to all RTR, another manufacturer turns up to replace them with maybe even better kit offerings! This is really good news! Athearn and MDC kits being gone, really should not be missed! I have even found that Red Caboose is still offering some items.

The list of kit manufacturers continues to grow. I like putting together a highly detailed Freight Car like the Branchline Blueprint, Proto 2000, Intermountain; or, Red Caboose on occasions; however, the bulk of my rolling stock inventory is made up of Accurail and Branchline Yard Master type kits.
 
Got a response from Walthers which dictated a further question for their "Customer Service Department". In a nutshell what I understood the perosn to say was they aren't planning any Proto 2000 kit runs at this time. My Walther's question ran deeper than this, as at one time Walther's produced some wonderfull kits under their own label and I was wondering if there were plans for Walthers to produce any kit's any more?
 
These companies all get run by CEO's now with MBA's and the eye is on the last nickel. There is more money in finished rolling stock than in kits. There are diehard model manufacturers still out there (Bless them) but you have to look pretty hard.

The current business practices of the mainline manufacturers is all to shoot fish in a tuna can. They take advance orders with cash up front. They never deliver on time and they compete with their distributors in essentially unethical ways. Long term this approach will fail as the brick and mortar stores fail and a younger generation will not be able to find places to look at and admire differing models. Train shows will be the only venues for that if they last.

I totally support local brick and mortar. Only there can I find things I have never seen and was not even aware existed. I can pretty much guess at the quality of those stores based on where they advertise. If they were ever in Mainline Modeler, I know they are serious. Walmart is not.

I would advise you to look in magazine other than Model Railroader. The advertisers in the ones targeting scratch builders have some very good sources for kits.
 
Pretty much agree with you Pete! If you read over this thread, you should see that Kit manufacturers are alive and well and if you disagree with the direction the CEOs of the Big Hobby Corporations are taking this hobby, here are the venders you should be patronizing! It is as simple as that!

Beyond the fact that Walthers is a distributor for Accurail, CB&T Shops, Bowser and other kit manufacturers, you should be able to find all the kits you need, without paying the $30-$40.00 bucks for RTR! You should also notice that Horizon Hobbies, the owner's of Athearn and MDC Roundhouse have not been included in any of the lists of producers of kits anyone has listed. I do not know if Horizon allows either of these former producers of kits to produce kits anymore, something I think is a crying shame! When I go to Athearn's website, I'm not about to page through umpteen pages of RTR stuff to see if there are any kits available.

Horizon Hobbies is on my "Do not do business with" list. Their phylosphy on what a hobby is about and mine are "never the train shall meet"!
 
I would advise you to look in magazine other than Model Railroader. The advertisers in the ones targeting scratch builders have some very good sources for kits.

What other magazines do you feel warrant my attention?
 
Railroad Model Craftsmen is a good one that is aimed at scratch builders. It has a lot of ads you just don't see in Model Railroader. I would go to Ebay and get in the model railroad magazine section ( yes there is one) and buy a back issue of Mainline modeler which stopped publication in Aug 2006. They really have some great sources and they are pretty much still operative.

Paul B had a fabulous list of kit makers on the first page of this thread. I went to a lot of his sites and there are some real curmudgeons out there. I liked the guy who refuses to do business with BLM because of their business practices.Check Paul's post out, it's very good. Walt, as always had some good ones too.

I also think that train meets are still good places to get older kits and are always worth the $10.00 admission. There is one coming up in Massachusetts at the end of January at the Big E in Springfield that is worth the 200 mile drive to me.

And of course I encourage people to scratch build stuff. I genuinely enjoy it. If you buy decent trucks and couplers, you can really do some nice stuff with styrene or wood.
 
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