Model Railroading > ScaleTrains 2nd Run C39-8's & BSC F68AH Bulkheads are InStock

Just received notice that both the second run of HO Scale C39-8's and the inagural run of BSC F68AH Bulkhead flat cars are now in stock asnd ready to ship. Should be at the house mid-next week.

Russ

Had to look up the bulkhead flatcar, they have a number of schemes representing different eras:

https://www.scaletrains.com/collections/rivet-counter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flat-car

The bulkheads are "in house" but apparently not "in stock"... (as you currently can't order them).  The Savage C39-8s will not be available until late this year due to a paint color issue and bodies having to be redone.

If a company wants to sell cars they have to make enough of them so that they are actually "in stock" (and plenty available) when they arrive.  Any company failing to do that is putting a sales noose around their own neck - and creating strife/complaints/headaches for their sales staff.   (And the cart/checkout system issues and email issues they are having aren't helping the situation either...)  I bet the person(s) making the production number decisions are not the phone sales staff who have to speak to customers trying to buy items they didn't make enough of.

They are good people and I hope they get it all straightened out soon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/19 13:47 by CSX602.

CSX602 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The bulkheads are "in house" but apparently not
> "in stock"... (as you currently can't order
> them).
>
> If a company wants to sell cars they have to make
> enough of them so that they are actually "in
> stock" (and plenty available) when they arrive. 
> Any company failing to do that is putting a sales
> noose around their own neck - and creating
> strife/complaints/headaches for their sales
> staff.   (And the cart/checkout system issues
> and email issues they are having aren't helping
> the situation either...)  They are good people
> and I hope they get it all straightened out soon.

It may be that they won't be made available for new orders until they've accounted for all the pre-orders. I hope that's the case, because I missed the pre-order window for these. And if so, yay, it's pre-tariff!

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It may be that they won't be made available for
> new orders until they've accounted for all the
> pre-orders. I hope that's the case, because I
> missed the pre-order window for these. And if so,
> yay, it's pre-tariff!

Yep.  Patience young padowan.  Same thing happened with the tunnel motors.  After they sorted out the pre-orders, there was a fair selection for those who wanted to order direct.  And, stores will be getting these in as well, so look for them at dealers who sell ScaleTrains.  I have a couple of the brown TT scheme pre-ordered and will be getting them under way. 

I would have like a couple of the yellow TT scheme but evidenty the Trailer Train version has the bulkhead additions that were installed in the early 1990's so even though the paint scheme looks 70's, the configuration is early 90's.  AFAIK, the only bulkhead that is good for pre-1990's is the brown TT version.  Next run (post tarrif) will hopefully have the 70's yellow TT.

That's why I preordered an undecorated kit. I get to do it "my way".

Good info guys, I would have been 'upset' if I bought some and figured it out afterwards.

The 'version' number is only listed on the Undec page.
https://www.scaletrains.com/collections/rivet-counter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flat-car/products/rivet-counter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flatcar-undecorated

TCnR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good info guys, I would have been 'upset' if I
> bought some and figured it out afterwards.
>
> The 'version' number is only listed on the Undec
> page.
> https://www.scaletrains.com/collections/rivet-coun
> ter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flat-car/products/
> rivet-counter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flatcar-
> undecorated

The info on the second version, Trailer Train yellow, mentions 1973+, which is misleading if the buyer wants a 70s version model. Sure, the paint scheme is 1973+, but the bulkheads have extensions added which reportedly happened in the early 1990s, so the model really represents an early 90s bulkhead that still has the 70s paint scheme in-tact.

https://www.scaletrains.com/collections/rivet-counter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flat-car/products/rivet-counter-ho-scale-bsc-f68ah-bulkhead-flatcar-ttpx-yellow

ScaleTrains could have made more clear what era the second version represents. Personally I wish they would have offered a yellow TT 70s version this round as there still are two later paint schemes to cover the more modern modelers. And with an expected price rise for the second run, even more so.

Sure, I could buy an undec to get a yellow 70s version now, but I don't have a booth set up let alone time for painting.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/19 18:30 by SPDRGWfan.

CSX602 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The bulkheads are "in house" but apparently not
> "in stock"... (as you currently can't order
> them).  The Savage C39-8s will not be available
> until late this year due to a paint color issue
> and bodies having to be redone.
>
> If a company wants to sell cars they have to make
> enough of them so that they are actually "in
> stock" (and plenty available) when they arrive. 
> Any company failing to do that is putting a sales
> noose around their own neck - and creating
> strife/complaints/headaches for their sales
> staff.   (And the cart/checkout system issues
> and email issues they are having aren't helping
> the situation either...)  I bet the person(s)
> making the production number decisions are not the
> phone sales staff who have to speak to customers
> trying to buy items they didn't make enough of.
>
> They are good people and I hope they get it all
> straightened out soon.

I place POs for our company and work closely with Sales in the process.  We ordered several hundred extra cars when we placed the PO nearly 8-months ago.  Thankfully, preorders continued to increase after the preorder deadline to the point where most of the additional inventory is reserved for customers.

We normally receive about a 20% cancellation rate so that means several hundred cars will likely free-up over the next couple of weeks.  Unfortunately, a large percentage of these cancelations will come from modelers who do not respond to multiple e-mails and phone calls so the reservations will not free-up until they expire on Friday, August 23rd at 5:00pm EST.

BTW: in the near future, we'll be moving to an all-new web platform with a robust preorder system that will be much more transparent.

Shane


Shane Wilson
President
ScaleTrains.com, Inc.

ScaleTrains Wrote:
> Unfortunately, a large percentage of these
> cancelations will come from modelers who do not
> respond to multiple e-mails and phone calls so the
> reservations will not free-up until they expire on
> Friday, August 23rd at 5:00pm EST.

Shane,
Thanks for the reply...
And meanwhile those cars won't be available to those of us who placed preorders but now want a few more (to add on to our actually kept pre-orders).

The backouts are very unfortunate from many angles, but it is what is going to happen when you get people thinking they have to make pre-orders to get the cars, but then they don't really have the funds to buy them the several months later when the cars arrive.  If there were less pressure to do the preorders (and a higher percentage of expected stock at arrival) then maybe those folks would be honest with themselves and say "I'll wait and see if I have the money when they arrive", and not place preorders they end up having to back out on.  In any business when you are asking for reservations several months in advance then you have to expect a significant number of backouts as the longer the time between announcement and delivery the higher the chance of a financial crisis, or worse, for those who placed reservations.  And the delay in reply is only natural when that customer is thinking "maybe I'll catch a break and have the money by the 23rd".  Most of the orders you guys likely get are a significant amount of money for many people, and I'm sure that escalates the backout rate.  And another factor might be cars ordered are (post-reservation) found out to not actually be correct for the era they were represented (due to paint scheme or details - as James noted above), or they arrive shortly after another popular car from another importer (with that person then being unexpectedly low on funds due to the back-to-back arrivals).

And with 24 SKUs on the bulkheads "several hundred" extras (say 300) could be about an extra case per SKU.  Do you actually think that you are not going to sell a case or two of the cars in the almost a year between announcement and delivery?  With your quality I would be surprised at any car being that slow in selling.   We can understand not ordering a ton more because you don't want to end up like [that other company] with a warehouse full for years (because they don't take preorders) but is having an extra case or two going to be that bad?

Again, thanks for the reply and great products...   I'm sure the frustrations you see on that end are similar to those we see on the consumer end.

In closing I have to ask 2 questions...
Would you rather see a customer pre-order 14 of a car type (say the new coil cars) and back out on 12 of them at delivery (if they don't have funds), or order 2 and, if they have the funds, get 12 more when delivered?   Are you going to blacklist the former or prefer to apologize to the latter if supply isn't enough?



 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/19 21:46 by CSX602.

I almost never pre-order, due to not wanting to keep track of what money is due, when. I want to model, not do bookkeeping. 

I have never missed out on items, though I came close once and had to pay full MSRP. 



 

Got my pre order invoice for my C39-8 NS friday and sent money for it .
 

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

CSX602 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ScaleTrains Wrote:
> > Unfortunately, a large percentage of these
> > cancelations will come from modelers who do not
> > respond to multiple e-mails and phone calls so
> the
> > reservations will not free-up until they expire
> on
> > Friday, August 23rd at 5:00pm EST.
>
> Shane,
> Thanks for the reply...
> And meanwhile those cars won't be available to
> those of us who placed preorders but now want a
> few more (to add on to our actually kept
> pre-orders).
>
> The backouts are very unfortunate from many
> angles, but it is what is going to happen when you
> get people thinking they have to make pre-orders
> to get the cars, but then they don't really have
> the funds to buy them the several months later
> when the cars arrive.  If there were less
> pressure to do the preorders (and a higher
> percentage of expected stock at arrival) then
> maybe those folks would be honest with themselves
> and say "I'll wait and see if I have the money
> when they arrive", and not place preorders they
> end up having to back out on.  In any business
> when you are asking for reservations several
> months in advance then you have to expect a
> significant number of backouts as the longer the
> time between announcement and delivery the higher
> the chance of a financial crisis, or worse, for
> those who placed reservations.  And the delay in
> reply is only natural when that customer is
> thinking "maybe I'll catch a break and have the
> money by the 23rd".  Most of the orders you guys
> likely get are a significant amount of money for
> many people, and I'm sure that escalates the
> backout rate.  And another factor might be cars
> ordered are (post-reservation) found out to not
> actually be correct for the era they were
> represented (due to paint scheme or details - as
> James noted above), or they arrive shortly after
> another popular car from another importer (with
> that person then being unexpectedly low on funds
> due to the back-to-back arrivals).
>
> And with 24 SKUs on the bulkheads "several
> hundred" extras (say 300) could be about an extra
> case per SKU.  Do you actually think that you are
> not going to sell a case or two of the cars in the
> almost a year between announcement and delivery? 
> With your quality I would be surprised at any car
> being that slow in selling.   We can understand
> not ordering a ton more because you don't want to
> end up like with a warehouse full for years
> (because they don't take preorders) but is having
> an extra case or two going to be that bad?
>
> Again, thanks for the reply and great
> products...   I'm sure the frustrations you see
> on that end are similar to those we see on the
> consumer end.
>
> In closing I have to ask 2 questions...
> Would you rather see a customer pre-order 14 of a
> car type (say the new coil cars) and back out on
> 12 of them at delivery (if they don't have funds),
> or order 2 and, if they have the funds, get 12
> more when delivered?   Are you going to
> blacklist the former or prefer to apologize to the
> latter if supply isn't enough?


Our factory PO of "several hundred" extras was closer to 1,000.  In addition, we're expecting up to 1,000 pieces to be canceled.  This is a cost of doing business and we are working on long-term remedies to reduce the percentage substantially but are not ready to share this yet.

On a side note, some people believe model train manufacturers sell tens of thousands of freight cars per production run.  A healthy quantity is 3K to 5K units so ordering upwards of 1,000 extra pieces is financially risky.

We would rather sell out and rerun the best selling products with new road numbers than have months or years of supply on the shelf like the first two production runs of HO Tank Cars, HO & N Carbon Black Hoppers, HO & N Containers, and HO UP Water Tenders.  We've had overstock inventory tie-up hundreds of thousands of dollars for extended periods of time.  This is money we could have utilized to pay our employees and expenses, attend train shows, invest in new tooling, etc.

On another side note, if a product is not mostly sold-out within the first 30-days after the initial delivery, it will likely languish on the shelf for months/years unless a discount is offered to sell it.

We can debate purchasing philosophies but that's probably best left to a private conversation. If you'd like to chat further, please e-mail us at Sales@ScaleTrains.com with your name, contact info, and best time and day of the week for me to call you.

Shane


Shane Wilson
President
ScaleTrains.com, Inc.

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would have like a couple of the yellow TT scheme
> but evidenty the Trailer Train version has the
> bulkhead additions that were installed in the
> early 1990's so even though the paint scheme looks
> 70's, the configuration is early 90's.  AFAIK,
> the only bulkhead that is good for pre-1990's is
> the brown TT version.  Next run (post tarrif)
> will hopefully have the 70's yellow TT.

Oops, I just ordered some without having seen this, and their promotional material states the car is configured for 1973+. How removeable are those additions likely to be?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/19 09:21 by toledopatch.

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oops, I just ordered some without having seen
> this, and their promotional material states the
> car is configured for 1973+. How removeable are
> those additions likely to be?

I don't plan to buy the bulkheads with the extensions because they are too late for me.  I don't know how difficult they will be to remove.  I am assuming they are glued on and then the assembly painted.

The 1973+ would apply to the paint scheme, and not the bulkhead as configured with the extensions, which were apparently added in the early 1990's from feedback on these bulkheads.



 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/19 15:07 by SPDRGWfan.

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> toledopatch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Oops, I just ordered some without having seen
> > this, and their promotional material states the
> > car is configured for 1973+. How removeable are
> > those additions likely to be?
>
> I don't plan to buy the bulkheads with the
> extensions because they are too late for me.  I
> don't know how difficult they will be to remove. 
> I am assuming they are glued on and then the
> assembly painted.
>
> The 1973+ would apply to the paint scheme, and not
> the bulkhead as configured with the extensions,
> which were apparently added in the early 1990's
> from feedback on these bulkheads.


Any idea how 'early' in the 1990s that modification was typically made?

I was also curious so I started looking at my ORERs from 1980s and 1990s...

The only TTPX bulkhead flats showing ~60' inside spacing in the July 1993 ORER were TTPX 81360-81559 (with 60'8" inside spacing) and they existed back to at least 1984.   All the cars in the 80000-81359 series showed the (as-built) 62'0" inside spacing between bulkheads in that July 1993 ORER.  Trailer Train had been renamed TTX in 1991.

The July 1997 ORER has some converted cars (160 cars listed showing 60'6" inside spacing) so the rebuilds started at some point between 1993 and 1997.   

CSX602 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was also curious so I started looking at my
> ORERs from 1980s and 1990s...
>
> The only TTPX bulkhead flats showing ~60' inside
> spacing in the July 1993 ORER were TTPX
> 81360-81559 (with 60'8" inside spacing) and they
> existed back to at least 1984.   All the cars in
> the 80000-81359 series showed the (as-built) 62'0"
> inside spacing between bulkheads in that July 1993
> ORER.  Trailer Train had been renamed TTX in
> 1991.
>
> The July 1997 ORER has some converted cars (160
> cars listed showing 60'6" inside spacing) so the
> rebuilds started at some point between 1993 and
> 1997. 

Thanks for that study. I guess I'll either have to cancel my order or re-sell the product at some point.
 

CSX602 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was also curious so I started looking at my
> ORERs from 1980s and 1990s...
>
> The only TTPX bulkhead flats showing ~60' inside
> spacing in the July 1993 ORER were TTPX
> 81360-81559 (with 60'8" inside spacing) and they
> existed back to at least 1984.   All the cars in
> the 80000-81359 series showed the (as-built) 62'0"
> inside spacing between bulkheads in that July 1993
> ORER.  Trailer Train had been renamed TTX in
> 1991.
>
> The July 1997 ORER has some converted cars (160
> cars listed showing 60'6" inside spacing) so the
> rebuilds started at some point between 1993 and
> 1997.   

I checked my Jan 1994, and they are not in their either. 

To throw a wrench into the "when were the extensions added" conundrum, a photo has surfaced that shows a yellow Trailer Train bulkhead flat dated 1979.  So it appears there were a few/some so modified in the 1970's or late 1970's.

http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=ttpx81127&o=ttx&fbclid=IwAR3TaRgQI9LisQYaB_MPMrvv96-h-tIAl3cMgmi7_Z1zRoWsEIH-wU5HzI4

So it appears there were a few/some so modified in the 1970's or late 1970's. 

I checked RailCarPhoto's and found four photo's taken after 2000 showing the F68AH bulkheads flat cars without the bulkhead extensions.

https://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=97107

I expect ScaleTrains will offer yellow TT and TTX version without extensions in a future run.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/19 09:27 by SPDRGWfan.