Modeling Committee

[NW Modeling List]

Thanks Bill for your comments. The modeling committee has been working with a number of manufacturers and importers in the last couple of years to get both brass and plastic N&W and VGN models produced. Not everyone can afford brass and there are some models that lend themselves to plastic more than brass. The VGN G3 and G4 gons are a case in point. Yes, we could have pushed Yoder to produce a HO brass VGN model but who could afford more than a couple.  The committee felt that a plastic model would be more affordable as we know that modelers would want at least a dozen or more.  Injection molding dies would cost about $100,000.00. Who has this kind of money to take a rick that sales would be at least several 100,000 units. We haven't given up on the G3/4 but with only two railroads using simuliar gons sales would be a real push.  Even with a correct model on the market for the three N&W S2 10-6 pullmans the committee has not been able to get a
 commitment, or even a reply, from Walthers as to whether they would produce an N&W version. Our opening offer to Walthers was for the N&WHS to purchase three hundred N&W versions of the pullman floor plan 4140 model to get the ball rolling. If anyone out there has a good contact within Walthers to get these models produced please contact me.  
        As for Division point here is the list of N&W and VGN models that we have supplied data for in the last several years: VGN PA 4-6-2, VGN steel coaches, RPO Baggage, Club Car, N&W Y2 2-8-8-2, VGN and N&W FM H-16-44s, N&W heavyweight passenger cars. In all cases we were told that these were rush projects and data was need asap. How many of these models have you seen to date.  I could go on with several more importers but I believe you can understand that the process of getting a model built is stressful and uncertain.  Harold Davenport - modeling committee N&WHS   

--- On Fri, 2/13/09, NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

From: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Modeling Committee
To: nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org
Date: Friday, February 13, 2009, 10:22 AM


Spring must be coming; it's time to take another whack at the Modeling Committee. Give the guys a break! Where does one think the DP heavyweight project came from? Harold Davenport and others have been working with, and on DP for years on several N&W/VGN projects. That the projects don't reach the market, or reach the market with flaws doesn't diminish the hard, persistent work that has gone into providing the data. As I said a couple of years ago, there are limits to what can be accomplished with commercial firms that have their own interests and concerns. We can provide data, but they do what they do, when they want to do it.

Re the Yoder gons: we published his beautiful CAD drawings for those cars in the Arrow and solicited interest in an HO version; we got zero interest...zero, not one indication of interest. Rich had said he would consider it if he had enough interest; we didn't respond so he moved on. And as a sidelight, the data for the O scale versions was provided by members of the Society and from our Archives. The result is the most accurate G3/G4 ever produced. (Of course, now F&C produces a much improved HO resin kit version of the cars in a one-piece body at a fraction of the cost of an HO brass version. Steve and Sharon responded to persistent requests from NWHS members to update their resin kit. One suspects they used data from the Yoder car to do that.) 

Re VGN hoppers: the Commissary offers a set of Bowser H3 hoppers in the as-built lettering, the data for which was provided by Harold Davenport and is spot on, and Bowser markets the same hopper in the later lettering. Projects undertaken by Bob Bowers for the Commissary have to be as commecially viable, or more so, than for commercial firms. The money he has at his disposal is limited and precious. He has been at his job for many years and he has as good a feel for what members will actually buy, as opposed to what they say they want, as anyone in the Society. He does a great job with what he has available.

At the recent show in Springfield, Broadway was asked what happened to the CF caboose to go with the locos; "not enough interest" was the response. They were asked to reconsider.

Russ Goodwin has great contacts within the major manufacturers and has worked hard to interest them in N&W/NS projects. But again, the manufacturers have their own agendas. The late Jim Gillum worked tirelessly on model projects; Jim Brewer produced beautiful resin kits of two N&W cars. And no one has worked harder on the subject of accuracy than Jim Nichols. I am sure there are others who have worked behind the scenes to get stuff done. My point is that the NWHS modeling community has accomplished quite a bit; that it has not satisfied every desire, or responded to every fleeting idea should not diminish the efforts of a number of dedicated members.

Now, how about an HU hopper!! Been trying for years, in plastic, resin and brass, alas.... 

Bill McClure________________________________________
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