The decreasing amount of Bachmann equipment?

[NP2626]

Looking at On30 equipment here at the Bachmann On-Line store, much of what was available from Bachmann is no longer!  I have sent a message to Bachmann via their CONTACT link, asking this same question; but, they do not seem to respond.  The fact that the inventory seems to be declining, makes me wonder about the future of the scale, as far as Bachmann is concerned?  I may have asked this question previously, if so, I apologize for doing so again.

[Dbarefoot]

As far as I am aware, they make their models in batches, depending on how well the market is doing for the model in particular. They run the batches for a year I think. I may be totally wrong, but that's what I understand is going on.

Rock On!
~Dusten

[ScottyB]

This is brought up frequently. Is there anything in particular you are looking for? Stalking ebay for a little while will bring up most anything Bachmann has ever made in the scale.

Personally, I think 3D printing is the future of this scale, and model railroading in general. There are some neat 3D printed freight kits available on ebay now. I just bought a printer to begin experimenting. Should arrive next week.

Since the passing of the great Lee Riley, I think Bachmann is taking a very cautionary stance with On30. But I hope they reconsider, as there wasn't really a market for On30 before Mr Riley designed the shay. Bachmann created the market! I hope they can recreate it again, but I don't think they have the backing.

On30 isn't dead, but the days of 3 freight cars for $39 are long, long gone. I haven't seen any On30 at any local train shows in quite some time.

After Bachmann tried to reintroduce the gorgeous On30 2-8-0 and canceled due to lack of preorders, I'd bet the farm there will never be any more mass produced locomotives in the scale.

If I didn't have the mountain of On30 equipment I currently have, I'd look at HO for logging. Plenty of releases in that genre recently.

[Yard Master]

Hi all,

Without giving away too much confidential information, here's a peek behind the Bachman curtain...

The first production run of any Bachmann model is made all at once. Depending on how well and how fast it sells, we may choose to reorder the road name/numbers already offered, or add/replace with more roadnames/numbers. But every time we manufacture a model, there is a minimum order quantity for the factory to produce it. So if we sell out of an initial production run, if we only have backorders for a handful more of this item, those alone won't be enough to justify for more production. If an item is a poor seller, chances are it'll be discontinued after we sell out and no longer have any initial inventory of the most recent production run.

In the case of the On30 models, while many of them were successful when they were first sold, over time sales and interest will dwindle to the point that we can't justify a large enough production run to reorder them If we kept offering every On30 item we've ever introduced and kept making them faster than we can sell them, we would have too much unsold inventory. Adding to this issue is the resale market, where sales on our older On30 products can continue to be made, without Bachmann seeing any money from it.

To echo ScottyB, On30 is *not* dead! We do have plans for new products and we *are* reordering select existing products. Just earlier today, we got a new shipment of 18' Flat Cars into our warehouse that will be ready to ship to dealers soon. If you want to see more new products- tell your friends, or tell your local hobby shop, to check out some of our *new* and current On30 products like the East Broad Top set, the Class 10 Trench Engine, Gondola Style Excursion Car, and the upcoming 3 Bay Hopper. The amount of interest and sales we get in the latest products is key to us making sure there is still interest in the scale for Bachmann to continue with new and returning projects.