by mlrr
Given that this is the 40th anniversary of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), as of April 7, 2011, less than a month before Amtrak officially turns 40, I find it a bit disheartening that none of our manufacturers have taken the opportunity to seize the moment in some unique way.
So far, it seems as if KATO is the only manufacturer to acknowledge this milestone with its first-time release of N scale Viewliners and Amfleet II cars in addition to baggage cars, etc. I began thinking of this when I saw their most recent add in MRR Magazine in which they announced/advertised the release of Amtrak F units and phase I heritage fleet cars as well as a "Rainbow Fleet" set (paying homage to Amtrak's beginnings when it inherited equipment from railroads that had turned passenger operations over to them) in N scale "commemorating" Amtrak's 40th Anniversary.
I acknowledge the fact that some manufacturers have Amtrak products on their way in 2011 or have already been delivered.
Atlas is releasing an MP15 in phase V as well as the Dash 8s in the "Pepsi Can" scheme
and
Walthers is doing another release of the Phase V AMD-103s.
The problem with these is that none of these releases are of any significance with respect to Amtrak's 40th. These models in some way or another have been released before (excluding Atlas' phase V MP15 which was done in a different Amtrak scheme in a prior release, so I'm not sure if that should count or not).
Hopefully I'm speaking too soon but we're almost approaching the half-way mark for 2011 and I have yet to see any sign of a "major" announcement with regard to Amtrak equipment such as Walthers announcing the release of Amtrak Surfliners or California Cars but that doesn't seem to be on the horizon any time soon. Another appropriate thing would have been the announcement of completely re-tooled Amfleets w/ metal plating, etc., or re-tooled Viewliners with Metal plating and interiors, etc.
Some may ask how are these products any different from what I listed above. The difference is that the products listed do not require any significant re-tooling (some may disagree about the AMD-103) as they were done well by the manufacturer. Announcing a new Amtrak product would be preferable but there is room in some areas for improvement in existing models and I think these improvements (if done well) will be well received.
It is worthy of mentioning that most Amtrak equipment has been manufactured (most of the rollingstock has been done by Walthers and very well I might add) and I applaud all the manufactures who have stepped up and made these models available (Especially for Atlas making the AEM7s available, making modern NEC operations possible). I've done my "due diligence" and invested in these products.
I'm giving decal makers some slack as it appears they've needed to play catch up. From what I can tell, it seems as if Amtrak may have been somewhat secretive as to its anniversary schemes up until their debut (they announced the schemes but it doesn't seem like they wanted to leak the appearance to the public prior to their debut). As a result, I understand that decal makers essentially have a late start and I'm unsure as to how realistic it is to get these products available with the remaining months in 2011. I always assumed that its quicker to bring decals to market than actual rollingstock and motive power.
In any case, I hope I've conveyed where my head is with regard to my post. This does not serve as a bashing session. If anything, consider it constructive criticism but nothing with malicious intent.
I give KATO two thumbs up for outright acknowledging our National Passenger Railroad's 40th anniversary through its product releases (even though its in a different scale than mine) and hope that other manufactures have a 2011 surprise up their sleeve while there's still time left.
Perhaps one or some of the manufacturers are waiting until May 1, 2011 to at least make some sort of "big announcement"...?
For those who care, keep your fingers crossed
So far, it seems as if KATO is the only manufacturer to acknowledge this milestone with its first-time release of N scale Viewliners and Amfleet II cars in addition to baggage cars, etc. I began thinking of this when I saw their most recent add in MRR Magazine in which they announced/advertised the release of Amtrak F units and phase I heritage fleet cars as well as a "Rainbow Fleet" set (paying homage to Amtrak's beginnings when it inherited equipment from railroads that had turned passenger operations over to them) in N scale "commemorating" Amtrak's 40th Anniversary.
I acknowledge the fact that some manufacturers have Amtrak products on their way in 2011 or have already been delivered.
Atlas is releasing an MP15 in phase V as well as the Dash 8s in the "Pepsi Can" scheme
and
Walthers is doing another release of the Phase V AMD-103s.
The problem with these is that none of these releases are of any significance with respect to Amtrak's 40th. These models in some way or another have been released before (excluding Atlas' phase V MP15 which was done in a different Amtrak scheme in a prior release, so I'm not sure if that should count or not).
Hopefully I'm speaking too soon but we're almost approaching the half-way mark for 2011 and I have yet to see any sign of a "major" announcement with regard to Amtrak equipment such as Walthers announcing the release of Amtrak Surfliners or California Cars but that doesn't seem to be on the horizon any time soon. Another appropriate thing would have been the announcement of completely re-tooled Amfleets w/ metal plating, etc., or re-tooled Viewliners with Metal plating and interiors, etc.
Some may ask how are these products any different from what I listed above. The difference is that the products listed do not require any significant re-tooling (some may disagree about the AMD-103) as they were done well by the manufacturer. Announcing a new Amtrak product would be preferable but there is room in some areas for improvement in existing models and I think these improvements (if done well) will be well received.
It is worthy of mentioning that most Amtrak equipment has been manufactured (most of the rollingstock has been done by Walthers and very well I might add) and I applaud all the manufactures who have stepped up and made these models available (Especially for Atlas making the AEM7s available, making modern NEC operations possible). I've done my "due diligence" and invested in these products.
I'm giving decal makers some slack as it appears they've needed to play catch up. From what I can tell, it seems as if Amtrak may have been somewhat secretive as to its anniversary schemes up until their debut (they announced the schemes but it doesn't seem like they wanted to leak the appearance to the public prior to their debut). As a result, I understand that decal makers essentially have a late start and I'm unsure as to how realistic it is to get these products available with the remaining months in 2011. I always assumed that its quicker to bring decals to market than actual rollingstock and motive power.
In any case, I hope I've conveyed where my head is with regard to my post. This does not serve as a bashing session. If anything, consider it constructive criticism but nothing with malicious intent.
I give KATO two thumbs up for outright acknowledging our National Passenger Railroad's 40th anniversary through its product releases (even though its in a different scale than mine) and hope that other manufactures have a 2011 surprise up their sleeve while there's still time left.
Perhaps one or some of the manufacturers are waiting until May 1, 2011 to at least make some sort of "big announcement"...?
For those who care, keep your fingers crossed
