# 25 percent in-cress in Chinese trains



## Bob in Mich (Mar 8, 2008)

Will our trains go up 25 percent? Talking to our local hobby shop said that the distributor that he uses told him to expect it to go up. all model railroad things were made in China


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## fredlub (Feb 7, 2010)

Märklin, PIKO, LGB: not made in China!


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Also:
USA Trains American series, and everything made by HLW: Not made in China.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Roundhouse live steam...not made in China, tons of used stuff coming on the market..not subject to the increase no matter where its made


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

last May 2019
https://www.toyassociation.org/Pres...ercent-tariffs-on-toy-imports-from-china.aspx

Then last June, same thing

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201906/19/WS5d09dfc0a3103dbf1432920d.html

It was 15% or 25% (?) and then this site 13 Dec....deferred to date??

https://www.globaltoynews.com/tariffs/

so stay tuned...

Jerry


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Glad I've got enough stuff to keep me busy. Bought Accucraft cars back in the day when the NG cars could be had for about $80! My how things have changed.

Ross Schlabach


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

fredlub said:


> Märklin, PIKO, LGB: not made in China!


I'm pretty sure the "all metal" 1:32 locomotives of lately, by Märklin, are made in Korea or China. In any case, tariffs work their way into everything in a globalized production system. There are virtually no products that are produced with parts and labor from one country alone.

Trade wars are not possible to win, and only leave loosers, no winners. (Even if products would be genuinely the produce of a single country.)

Sweden is extremely oriented towards foreign trade. We certainly do not compete with low wages or tariffs. It's about ideas and knowlidge.

So I often wonder why college and university studies aren't free of charge in the USA, like in a lot of other countries. It would give such a huge pay-off! The USA is already great. Why not turn it completely insanely invincibly great?!?

Oops, guess I steamed a bit off the track...


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"Oops, guess I steamed a bit off the track.."

That is OK, Pauli. After all, steam traction engines do that all the time!

Best, David Meashey


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## JoelB (Jan 3, 2008)

> Oops, guess I steamed a bit off the track...


Yes, indeed! While certainly well-intentioned, this is one of those topics that inevitably becomes political, so this is not the best place to have that discussion.

I haven't seen any sudden price increases in, for example, Aster/Accucraft products in recent months, so if model trains are on the list, the tariffs haven't taken effect.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

I dont think we will see sudden upticks but more like each run will cost a bit more than the last, which we have seen over the years with most all products in model trains. Just looking at what brand new HO freight cars sell for is shocking enough. A single autorack car is well over $50 for each car, talk about expensive if one would like to build a unit train of several of these. Hopefully there will be no sudden price hikes in the future. Mike


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

Every time I se HO scale stuff prices, I just figure WE GET MORE! for our bucks in large scale. ;-D


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

There are a couple of points I'll make about the recent tariffs on Chinese goods. I'll separate the fact from the speculation portion.


So here is the fact part:

If an item costs $2,000 to the end-user and there is a 25% tariff, what is the increase in cost? Does the cost go up to $2,500?

The answer _should be_ "no." 

The tariff is based on the cost to import the item and not the retail price, so how much of the increase gets passed onto the consumer is unclear. Let's say the importer intends to pass on 100% of the increase. If the item costs the importer hypothetically $1,500, then the actual increase in cost is $375,so the end-user should pay $2,375.

Here's the speculation part . . .

I expect that the markup on Chinese toys varies hugely, but on Gauge 1 items perhaps the markup is small. I doubt any importer who reads this will tell us what his markup is and that's fine, of course.

But a $2,500 laptop coming in from China probably costs under $1,000 so a 25% markup would cause the $2,500 laptop to sell for - at most - $2,750. Many times the importer shares in some of the cost increase to stay competitive and the actual selling price may only go up a small amount if anything at all.

More speculation, or rather an opinion . . .

These tariffs are not meant to become a permanent fixture. China has been notoriously uncooperative when it comes to playing fair in the world markets with currency manipulation, subsidies and other game-playing, including intellectual property theft, so these tariffs are aimed at changing Chinese behavior.

What's the incentive for China to change its behavior? Can't China just wait for a Democrat to come into office? 

If the tariffs stay on long enough, then many of the goods that were once bought from the Chinese will be imported from places that will take their place. Here I am thinking not only Korea, but Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and many other places eager to win business. As long as Chinese goods stay cheap, there is little incentive for alternate supply chains to develop, but give these other places an opportunity and they will jump in.

When it comes to small-volume items like Gauge 1 trains, I suppose that potential alternatives are few - compared with something like textiles. 

Still, we can hope that tariffs that affect Gauge 1 trains are temporary.

Cheers,

Joe


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## Mark_s (Jun 24, 2013)

Pauli said:


> tariffs work their way into everything in a globalized production system. There are virtually no products that are produced with parts and labor from one country alone.


As an american manufacturer who, as much as possible, uses american made components in our american made power controllers (Bridgewerks), I can second Pauli's observation.

Our cases, which are fabricated for us by a manufacturer in Washington have gone up in cost because of commodity sheet metal price increases that came as a side effect of tariffs on metal imports. Our transformers, which are made in California have seen price increases as well. Some parts, which are now only available as made in China since there are no longer any US manufacturers are seeing the tariffs hit them too, so we have seen significant component price increases over the past 18 months as a result of the changes in trade policy.


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

StackTalk said:


> There are a couple of points I'll make about the recent tariffs on Chinese goods. I'll separate the fact from the speculation portion.
> 
> 
> More speculation, or rather an opinion . . .
> ...


I should just bite my tongue and say nothing.....

Consumer goods are not really the issue here - just caught in the cross-fire. For years we've gorged on cheap imports which are nothing to do with currency manipulation but a simple consequence of much cheaper labor costs. Even today, the average annual cost of a worker in China is less than a US company pays for healthcare alone. As a thought experiment, imagine your reaction on your next visit to Harbor Freight if they only sold US sourced tools. That $25 drill is now $100.

The real issue is that as China has developed their economy, they haven't stayed in their 'box' and been content to be just the supplier of low cost consumer goods. They have taken IP wherever they can find it, developed a world class supply chain and are now producing high value capital goods such as telecommunications infrastructure and aircraft while they protect their own market with asymmetric tariffs. 

The challenge for the US administration is the only real leverage we have is to attack the whole supply chain hence stuff getting caught in the cross-fire. The bigger challenge is that we think in 4 year election cycles, whereas they think much longer term. 

I think we will get a deal which the administration will hail as a 'huge. best ever' win simply because they have to do something before the 2020 election. But like USMCA, it will be mainly cosmetic.

BTW, it's ironic that the Republicans have historically been the party of free trade, while Democrats have been the protectionists so I doubt that China, as long term thinkers, are hoping a Democrat is elected in 2020.

Meanwhile back to trains


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

zephyra said:


> I should just bite my tongue and say nothing.....


I doubt that 100% of the readers here will agree, but I don't mind a bit of off-topic discussion now and then to liven the place up. Traffic is overall slow here. Besides, the thread title seems to invite discussion and so long as it is polite and respectful, why not?



> Consumer goods are not really the issue here - just caught in the cross-fire. For years we've gorged on cheap imports which are nothing to do with currency manipulation but a simple consequence of much cheaper labor costs. Even today, the average annual cost of a worker in China is less than a US company pays for healthcare alone. As a thought experiment, imagine your reaction on your next visit to Harbor Freight if they only sold US sourced tools. That $25 drill is now $100.


If you were to alter the first sentence to read: "Consumer goods are not really the only issue here - just caught in the crossfire," we'd be in agreement.

I buy from Shenzhen as well.



> The real issue is that as China has developed their economy, they haven't stayed in their 'box' and been content to be just the supplier of low cost consumer goods. They have taken IP wherever they can find it, developed a world class supply chain and are now producing high value capital goods such as telecommunications infrastructure and aircraft while they protect their own market with asymmetric tariffs.


The asymmetrical tariffs coupled with currency manipulation should not be ignored. We must find effective ways to address these and I'd argue that previous U.S. administrations have emboldened China by doing very little - perhaps nothing - to combat such 'China First' policies.

And as consumers, of course we want low-cost goods, low-cost fuels and cheap everything. We are perhaps a bit spoiled, but we are paying to satiate our appetite in other ways.



> The challenge for the US administration is the only real leverage we have is to attack the whole supply chain hence stuff getting caught in the cross-fire. The bigger challenge is that we think in 4 year election cycles, whereas they think much longer term.


Again, we mostly agree. My hope is that, by the time the present administration is gone, a willingness to deviate from so-called normalized approaches will have become more acceptable . . . and that such a willingness to try new - or to retry older and previously discarded approaches - will result in successfully obtaining fairer trade practices by China.

In any case, it's pretty clear that what we have been doing to try and get China to alter its trade policies has been ineffective.



> I think we will get a deal which the administration will hail as a 'huge. best ever' win simply because they have to do something before the 2020 election. But like USMCA, it will be mainly cosmetic.


You are probably right as far as the marketing of any deal goes, though I do think the changes are more than cosmetic. The USMCA is - or will be - better than NAFTA for the U.S. Shouldn't we embrace incremental improvement over no improvement?



> BTW, it's ironic that the Republicans have historically been the party of free trade, while Democrats have been the protectionists so I doubt that China, as long term thinkers, are hoping a Democrat is elected in 2020.


 I doubt that any Democrat administration would have allowed itself to entertain using tariffs as a tool to try and pressure the Chinese to alter their trade policies.

Long-term, if the supply chains do begin to shift away from China to other countries, it will be a loss to China. The Chinese know this of course and won't sit idly by while such a thing develops. Just maybe, our seemingly short-term approach will lead to the development of a longer-term success?

Time will tell.



> Meanwhile back to trains


 Sure


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

A friendly reminder that political discussions should be kept off the forums. A discussion of trade is okay(ish) within reason. Tossing in political party philosophy treads very dangerous ground. If you wish to argue politics with strangers to no avail, please use Facebook.  

Later,

K


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

East Broad Top said:


> A friendly reminder that political discussions should be kept off the forums. A discussion of trade is okay(ish) within reason. Tossing in political party philosophy treads very dangerous ground. If you wish to argue politics with strangers to no avail, please use Facebook.
> 
> Later,
> 
> K


Thank you !


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

ditto!


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg:
We agree on something? What's the world coming to ?


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## Bob in Mich (Mar 8, 2008)

I did not start this post to be Political in any way, My only thought was once the Manufactures had the 25 percent increase and whoever took it off that the Manufactures would leave it on(price increase) Because it is what the market would bear


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

StackTalk said:


> There are a couple of points I'll make about the recent tariffs on Chinese goods. I'll separate the fact from the speculation portion.
> 
> 
> So here is the fact part:
> ...


This isn't how it works for the few retailers I know personally.
They tell me they typically need a markup of at least 30% over cost to stay in business.
So taking your example, if an item costs them $1500 and the selling price is $2000, then the mark-up is 1.333
If their costs now increase by 25% for whatever reason, tariff or just an increase by the manufacturer or supplier, they still need to make the same mark-up - so now the equation becomes:
$1500 x 1.25 = $1875 x 1.333 = $2500.-

In fact, if it is an ongoing business, ie they are not having a 'going out of business sale' - even though they may have bought the item before the tariffs were implemented, they still need to charge the new price to maintain the required profit margin to stay in business.

The overriding factor becomes the competition and their pricing - but if the sales and margin aren't adequate, the business just fails.
And we have seen enough of that in Large Scale and model trains in general.

The brunt of the tariffs is born by the consumer - that's you and me.
And the retaliatory tariffs by China (or any other country) causes hardship for the producers of export products.
With a trade war, there are just losers all the way around and that is becoming more obvious every day.

Then, going back to the example, what happens when the 25% tariffs are now lifted at some future date?
Store A bought the product at $1500.- + 25% and needs to sell it for $2000.- to get the required 33% margin.
Store B bought it the day after the 25% tariff were dropped and now buys the product for $1500.-
Store B can sell it for $2000.- and make the required 33% profit
Store A, to stay competitive, also has to sell the product for $2000.-, but store A paid $1875.- for it, so the margin is just 6.7%


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## fredlub (Feb 7, 2010)

Pauli said:


> I'm pretty sure the "all metal" 1:32 locomotives of lately, by Märklin, are made in Korea or China.


Just to set things straight; these are not made in Asia but in Europe, so I think you were misinformed.
Regards
Fred


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

krs said:


> This isn't how it works for the few retailers I know personally.
> They tell me they typically need a markup of at least 30% over cost to stay in business.
> So taking your example, if an item costs them $1500 and the selling price is $2000, then the mark-up is 1.333
> If their costs now increase by 25% for whatever reason, tariff or just an increase by the manufacturer or supplier, they still need to make the same mark-up - so now the equation becomes:
> ...




MODERATOR:

Please LOCK the thread.

It's only feeding misinformation that fundamentally feeds, even if unintended, prejudices and preconceived ideas


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

Chris:

Could help me understand what "misinformation" is being presented. I find much of this discussion rather interesting. 

No one has ever accused me of being sensitive so I'd like to know what I may have missed.

Thanks, Mark


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

Bob in Mich said:


> I did not start this post to be Political in any way, My only thought was once the Manufactures had the 25 percent increase and whoever took it off that the Manufactures would leave it on(price increase) Because it is what the market would bear



I did not respond to be "political" either Bob. I find the topic interesting.

So far, the dialog has been polite and respectful and if it were not so, I'd understand why the thread may disappear or be locked.

It strikes me that there are people here who are very sensitive or averse to anything even slightly off-topic. I am happy to respect the wishes of "the management." 

I'd be pleased to continue a dialog with krs, but I don't want to offend anyone.


~ Joe


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Inappropriate, political talk:


The brunt of the tariffs is born by the consumer - that's you and me.
And the retaliatory tariffs by China (or any other country) causes hardship for the producers of export products.
With a trade war, there are just losers all the way around and that is becoming more obvious every day.


Take it to a political forum please. There you can complain about tariffs, our government, the Chinese, whatever you want.


Just because it is interesting does not make it appropriate, really.


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

fredlub said:


> Just to set things straight; these are not made in Asia but in Europe, so I think you were misinformed.
> Regards
> Fred


All the major German 1:32 producers have all gone over to all metal locomotives. (Either zink and brass parts mixed, or all brass.) Märklin was the last, and so even a Märklin employee directly consented to me, that Märklin has taken a severe blow on their market share. I would say they have all but lost it completely.

These locomotives (and wagons - though sometimes a mixed metal and plastic product), are manually soldered together, from a large number of parts. This type of production is not well suited to German wages, and is instead done in Korea. (By two factories I believe, that service all the German brands. ;-) ) 

It may well be, that final assembly is done in Germany, but the producers make no secret of the fact that for example, they are waiting for a prototype delivery from "the far East", to be presented at this and that public show.

If the German sound decoders, really are produced in Germany, I have no idea. (But that I think can be done entirely by robots?)

This type of manual assembly production does not give any economies of scale, and thus has eradicated one of Märklins previous strongpoints - being a mass producer, mostly based on plastic injection. (Though a lot of that has also moved - to China.) 

The development also hurts Märklins decisive strongpoint - that of a sales, marketing and distribution company, with a strong brandname. This is particularly true in the 1:32 market, with it's smaller market to begin with. Adding to the hurt to Märklin, is of course the web, wich levels the playing field considerably.

Add to that, an army of Märklin employees with little engagement in hobby trains. It's just a factory job to them, and the board of directors are recruited from any other business sector. Situation similar to Scully the sugary-water salesman taking charge of Apple.

As a marketeer, I can clearly see and understand all the obvious standard marketing moves Märklin has done in 1:32. But not actually understanding the product, they have performed poorly. Whereas Märklins competitors all have employees passionate about their products.

When I asked the Märklin representative specialized in 1:32, if they had considered releasing battery operated RC models, he became all puzzled. -"Why would you want that?" I explained that tracks get dirty outdoors, making digital track based communication, as well as power, problematic. The man had obviously never attended an outdoor track, since even this was all news to him.

For those of you looking for (mostly German) wagons and coaches, these links may be of interest, especially the first two;

KM1 https://www.km-1.de/index.html

Kiss https://www.kiss-modellbahnen.de/

Dingler http://www.dingler.de/

MAM / Modelle aus Metall Worth checking out once in a while, right now these coaches are nice
https://mam-modellbau.de/en/bavarian-fast-train-car/

ASOA they are apparently waiting for the producer Spur 1 Russia to "reorganize". I hope they do, because they offered some very nice brass models and parts.
https://www.asoa.de/spur1zubehoer.htm

( MBW Are building a selection, I believe. https://mbw-modellbahnen.de/epages/...ed810781/Categories/"Spur 1"/Spur_1_Dampfloks )


What the original topic was, I seem to have embroided a lot... ;-D Hope you enjoy anyway. (No politics this time.)


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Pauli said:


> When I asked the Märklin representative specialized in 1:32, if they had considered releasing battery operated RC models, he became all puzzled. -"Why would you want that?" I explained that tracks get dirty outdoors, making digital track based communication, as well as power, problematic. The man had obviously never attended an outdoor track, since even this was all news to him.


 I can understand that.

Marklin gauge 1, KM-1, Kiss (gauge 1), Dingler - all make metal models for a totally different market segment - much higher priced than what a typical Garden Railroader will run and in my mind not even suited for Garden Railroading - locos and rolling stock are much more detailed but not robust enough and the track and wheel flanges are more prototypical but will derail much easier when run outdoors.
Pretty much all Gauge 1 meets I have seen are held indoors.

So "Battery operated RC models" would be considered 'toys'...and that is not what they are selling.


As to manufacturing location, which seems to be the broader topic of this thread, of the current well known Large Scale manufacturers. I think only Bachmann manufactures in China (makes sense since they are owned by Kader last time I checked). USA Trains has essentially nothing introduced of the part of their product line that was made in China, Piko has their own factory in China which besides making their smaller scales also makes parts for G-scale which is then assembled in Germany.

The rest of the Large Scale products afaik are not made in China - part of the problem I think is that the sales numbers of G scale continue to drop making it less and less interesting for Chinese manufacturers to be in that business.


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## fredlub (Feb 7, 2010)

krs said:


> I can understand that.
> 
> Marklin gauge 1, KM-1, Kiss (gauge 1), Dingler - all make metal models for a totally different market segment - much higher priced than what a typical Garden Railroader will run and in my mind not even suited for Garden Railroading - locos and rolling stock are much more detailed but not robust enough and the track and wheel flanges are more prototypical but will derail much easier when run outdoors.
> Pretty much all Gauge 1 meets I have seen are held indoors.


I completely agree; I know only one person running KM1 and Kiss in the garden (and that is me):




Regards
Fred


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Well, I hope this doesn't happen to you


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## zubi (May 14, 2009)

Does anyone know who and where makes High-End metal models for LGB/Maerklin? Best wishes from Warsaw, Zubi


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

zubi said:


> Does anyone know who and where makes High-End metal models for LGB/Maerklin? Best wishes from Warsaw, Zubi


Coincidentally, I was watching this youtube video last...






Robert


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

zubi said:


> Does anyone know who and where makes High-End metal models for LGB/Maerklin? Best wishes from Warsaw, Zubi



To get current information, I just called my contact at Marklin.
Turns out both the High-End metal models for LGB and for Marklin are manufactured in the same factory in China.


Attached is the outside packaging of the High-End metal RhB Rotary Snowplow by LGB item 26605.


The packaging of these items sold in the US should actually show the country of manufacture on the individual product packaging.
In Germany that is not a legal requirement but I think in the US it is.


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

fredlub said:


> I completely agree; I know only one person running KM1 and Kiss in the garden (and that is me)
> Regards
> Fred


I just spent a couple of hours on your website. What a wonderful collection!

If one runs 1:32 live steam, I think one has little options but running fairly expensive wagons and coaches. At the very minimum Märklin, but J & M coaches and the like, are not uncommon. And live steam locomotives are similarly priced to electric.

Few can match your collection, but you are not alone in running electric models outdoor. This scenic layout is really nice;






This man apparently invited som friends with trains to an electric bonanza. ;-D






Interestingly, his method of layout construction is very similar to what I tried in the following pictures. This layout collapsed under 50 cm of snow though. Just sticking reebar into the ground, doesn't work. 

I think I have figured like him, a method of being able to adjust the "deck". Also I have decided the next one will have at least 20cm margin from roadbed to the edge of the raised "deck", because a not so funny trainwreck. Though not caused by me, but from an uncontrolled other persons train hitting my Aster P8 to the side in a switch, making it take a plunge onto a marble floor.

The depicted trainwreck caused no damage whatsoever.  The cause was a screwcoupling hanging down, and catching a screw in the roadbed, I have similar accident, wich did cause a break in the fastening point to a wagon. And a second incident, on the same layout. So I started inspecting all track fasteners before runs. The new owner of the layout however, has done a good overhaul.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/u8KH342xmPNhPexT9

(I can't get the images to show in this posting? You have to follow the link for now.)

This USA company / alliance http://bluerailtrains.com/latest-news/ makes a bluetooth on board locomotive receiver that directly controls any DCC decoder. It even allows editing of CV:s! It is run from a smartphone app. (It can use either battery or track power.)


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## fredlub (Feb 7, 2010)

Pauli said:


> The depicted trainwreck caused no damage whatsoever.  The cause was a screwcoupling hanging down, and catching a screw in the roadbed, I have similar accident, wich did cause a break in the fastening point to a wagon. And a second incident, on the same layout. So I started inspecting all track fasteners before runs. The new owner of the layout however, has done a good overhaul.
> 
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/u8KH342xmPNhPexT9


That accident looked very bad . But happily no damage!
Regards
Fred


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> all make metal models for a totally different market segment - much higher priced than what a typical Garden Railroader will run and in my mind not even suited for Garden Railroading - locos and rolling stock are much more detailed but not robust enough and the track and wheel flanges are more prototypical but will derail much easier when run outdoors.


I'm pretty sure that's what the Gauge-1 crowd said when Accucraft introduced it's first live steam models. They were much better detailed than Aster, and "everyone" said they would get damaged when handled, etc., etc. 

Better wheel flanges mean you need better track, so they don't derail!


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

Pete Thornton said:


> I'm pretty sure that's what the Gauge-1 crowd said when Accucraft introduced it's first live steam models. They were much better detailed than Aster, and "everyone" said they would get damaged when handled, etc., etc.
> 
> Better wheel flanges mean you need better track, so they don't derail!


I think 'fredlube' can support this. All 1:32 models in Europe have "The Standard NEM" wheel profile and thus wheel flanges. But the high-end producers will also offer optional "Fine Scale" wheel profiles instead. This will however exclude use of standard switches. And yes, smaller wheel flanges, requires more even trackwork. 

Sometimes in German forums, NEM wheel flanges are disdainfully nomed "pizza cutters". And the most extreme people, have introduced an even more extreme flange and rail profile, exactly prototypical. This makes fore track requirements most will not put the effort into. Apart from the fact, all track and switchwork has to be built by oneself.

What I do with NEM wheels, I paint the front perimeter of the wheel, witch is typically delivered in shiny metal fashion. This makes the wheels look as if the flanges are much smaller. And on locomotives, this did occur on prototypes in Germany. As for wagons - well I don't think anyone ever ahas seen the wheel front peremetr in a shiny state... ;-D (I also always paint the back of the wheels, and the axle. It does make a difference in appearance!

Also, I add the most visible parts of the brake system, and I paint all the silly unrealistic all black wooden steps and floor planking, to look realistic. It's very cheap, but adds a lot of realism in looks.

I was offered a 5 coach set of M & L CIWL coaches last spring. However, I find all metal cosches and wagons way too heavy for satisfactory operation. So did the other two Aster operators in Stockholm Livesteamers think.

I prefer the mixed metal and plastic construction type, for weight reasons. Fragile parts could also be made out of rather stiff rubber, like SIKU farming 1:32 models do. That however, no trainmodel manufacturer has so far done.

Fine detail on locomotives are very sturdy in my experience, if properly soldered. This is not the case with the boiler detailing on my Aster P8, which is annoying.

I think Aster "missed the train" like Märklin. Stuck in old habits.


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