I think these days manufacturers are not adding things to it they take things off where ever they can or exchange materials from metal to plastic, reduce the amount of metal used in a loco, so in real terms they are not enhancing models rather find ways of compromising designs by saving materials.
Suppose the only one stuck to its guns is HAG whereas they have not compromised on materials rather enhanced the loco with other modern gadgets such as electronic components.
Roco has started to reduce the metal amount in their loco frames for no good reasons except to save money on materials and at the same time has reduced the amount of rubber tyres from 4 to 2.
What we always wished from Märklin was to a have a drive train over all axles (what is happening now with their new DC motors all axles are driven)
although electric locos from Roco all axles are driven (except AC models) rubber tyres are now only fitted to one bogie leaving the other driven bogie without rubber tyres which in my opinion kills the purpose of having both bogies powered.
I also think since the introduction of torque regulated motors, manufacturers have woken up we can reduce the weight of the loco or the motor itself (Märklin models = identical BR 216 diesel loco).

the sale of models these days is not what's inside rather what the loco looks like, same with cars we hardly hear what a car has these days (spare tyre) but we are told it has a mobile phone connection.

John

Australia has introduced and banned plastic supermarket bags but all spring water is still wrapped in plastic. the Government also initiated cutting sugar by 20 % in soft drinks,

John

Biodegradable means that the chemical substance will be deluted and comes back in seawater as a chemical soup,very hard to trace.
The medicine is worse than the disease i would say.

And,to put the record straight,it was me who mentioned the plastic bags in the first place.

The manufacturers are providing what the market will pay for while maximizing profit. To that end, little used features that are more expensive to implement and not legally required, get dropped.

For model trains, it is easier to produce very detail rich body's out of plastic injection molding, vs hand assembling metal with railings, and some fine detail isn't producible as a metal casting/stamping at all, or not in a cost effective way. So as the buyer market wants greater detail, its easy to jump to cheaper/lighter plastic to solve that. Less rubber tires also means better electrical contact with the track (reduced power pickup issues), so consider that.

For cars, the loss of the full sized spare pertains to added weight and space taken up by a full sized spare, in a world where the vast majority of the vehicles sold drive in 1st world urban/semi-urban environments, where people can call on car-clubs and road-side assistance to help/tow if they have a flat. The need for a full-size spare is drastically reduced to a very small subset of vehicle purchasers, and the reduced weight adds fuel economy improvements, and provides more cargo space. Business decision. One of my cars came without a spare tire or jack of any kind, just a bottle of tire sealant and an 12 v powered inflation pump. A spare with jack is produced as an accessory for delivery in nations where a legal mandate for a spare exists - so I purchased that kit, and added it to my car, as a belt-and-suspenders solution, even though I have roadside assisstance (as I recall sitting for 5 hours in a downpour on a cross USA drive waiting for the tow-truck to show up).


For biodegradable bags - I know of them. The idea is that in the landfills they would degrade. Whether they work their way into the ground water in some state and then back up in pumps I cannot speak to. But in Seattle and some surrounding areas, they have banned or are charging extra for bags because while the US plastic shopping bags (much flimsier than Euro plastic shopping bags) are used by folks to pick up their dog poop, or line small waste bins, the very small and light nature of the bags resulted in many of them being blown around the area and ending up being a trash-pickup problem (sloppy people not throwing them into the trash as intended). The side effect is rather than just banning or adding fees to plastic bags, they did it to ALL store bags, including paper bags - which could be produced from recycled paper and are naturally biodegradable. A poor policy decision in my mind, but the US hasn't until recently started in some of these pockets, begun moving to bring your own bag shopping. Grocery shopping in Germany in the 1970's and 80's was all about bringing your own bags or pay money at the til to buy plastic (more substantial and larger) bags.

Jim, thanks for your reply, your post is definitely looking at the trend Märklin seems to go. I think it is fair to say for the common modeler, products are getting better in details and most modelers are happy for what they getting without going into any particular or deeper analyses and therefore declaring their model is fine. Of course there is always the true supporter who doesn't mind how much he or she pays for a loco so long the company stays alive and there have been more wonderful models recently.
I think it is also fair to say when insider or special editions come onto the market they are snapped up in no time and one could say its a win win situation for both the company and the modeler.
In cases whereas materials have been compromised, prices haven't and again its up to the individual buyer whether he or she can live with it and can afford it.
In my case having a rather bigger layout it is only natural one tries to re-create a prototypical passenger or freight train configuration and this means you need a loco or 2 to do the job.
and as it current stands I don't have any problems with any manufacturer not being able to use their locos for this purpose but lately I found weight has been compromised, maybe not detrimental but I think its getting close to it.

John

Problem with model rail is it is a diminishing hobby with fewer younger people taking an interest. In years gone by most kids would have been given a model railway but these days is a tablet or mobile phone. I wonder how many on here are under the age of 40. The result is there will be fewer manufacturers and increased prices with a cut back on manufacturing costs.
As some now even want to use phones to run a layout it may be that in the future layouts will just be on phones using pics of locos and software to design your track. However at least in my life time I will still have Marklin and I can enjoy running and driving trains even if it costs more and there are differences to the materials used in my Locos etc.
In the UK I doubt that Hornby will be with us much longer unless they can scale back and forget Airfix and just produce a few locos and use another manufacturers track.

Talking about age, I'm going to be 74 in August (young as ever) and having learnt a few things in life not to spend every dollar on a nice loco to increase my collection, I'm more cautious now because money isn't flowing free into my pocket anymore, secondly as we've all noticed its getting harder to purchase locos these days., funny enough I'm still searching for bargains but at the same time telling myself just save your money for something else before hitting the button "pay now".
Roco has some legendary ÖBB steam locos and also Märklin (Rh 50, Rh 42), which I remember seeing en route "Semmering" from Mürzzuschlag while holidaying as a kid (about 5-6 years old) the room I had looked over to the railway line and I'm sure they had double headers as well. but with Roco models you would need 2 locos to pull a descent freight train and this takes me well beyond my budget., with other words I can't afford it.
My other observation has been while a loco is running how much of any detail can you notice ? while you have your eyes 5 cm away from a model one can inspect all the details but being 2,3 or 5 meters away the detail is not an important issue anymore. when we've displayed our layout I also noticed never did anybody say: Oh this loco has a lot of details.

As mentioned before having very few new models (steam) my older Märklin loco collection consists mainly of the robust BR 44's, Br 50's, BR 41, BR 23's, BR 24, BR 01's, they don't have any brake pads and a bit rougher in its detail but at least they do their job and have done so for the last 50+ years.
a BR 44 in very good condition may cost me just under € 120.00 + postage, getting it converted another € 20.00 (5 pole high efficiency motor), adding a sound decoder € 185.00 with an adapter plate and doing my own led lighting which brings it to a total of € 325.00., buying a Märklin loco (39045) Rh 42, would cost € 340.00 with sound, I've just asked myself is it worth it ?, well it is for me when one considers I buy the sound decoder wholesale + I add more gadget Aux functions to the loco, such as ball bearings, gear lights, fire box light, cab light and if applicable red marker lights.

John

I am not sure I agree - but we may be wandering far from the topic. My recent experience of model rail shows is that they are good with youngsters with step stools and layouts for the kids to control - although I accept that quite often we are in "old boys terriotory"


I have a gransdon two years old and he is already into his trains with a brio set and other freestanding trains. He loves to visit my layout and grunt - Grandad trains - although he is yet to discuss the merits of ESU versus Marklin! We recently took him to the famous Bluebell Railway in Sussex and I was surprised and very pleased to see in the excelllent shop a good display and stock of Marklin My world kit. I always have in the back of my mind his first start up set will be the fire service set however it has been pointed out to me that with german language graphics and sounds on the decoder I may have to think again.

Good point David.

When I put my macro lens on my camera and take closeup photos, all of that detail is very pretty. But out on the layout most of that detailing is hard to see on HO scale models. I have several cases of older and simpler models of the same prototype running with newer and highly detailed models. When they are running on the layout they really do not look very different at all.

What really matters to me is pulling power (really getting back to the thread topic), high quality sound and smooth operation. Functional features like telex couplers are important in operation for me and I like models with cab lighting and running gear lighting. As manufacturers add detail to increase sales they often make very pretty models when in reality simper ones would be cheaper and work just as well. Unfortunately the competition between MRR companies for diminishing sales seems to be driving them to offer ever more complex models.

That is a big part of the attraction of converting older locos to newer electronics, which is a win-win when you already own the older models and have the time to do the upgrades yourself. Besides it is fun and I enjoy seeing my older locos out there running with my fancy new toys and easily holding their own. I also like being able to handle those older models without fear of breaking some of the very delicate parts most newer locos have.

Hi,

That's not a new phenomena. Same POCHER - car. The first one is made ~1960. The second one is made in the later 1960s. Early ones run much better.





Regards

Markus

I suspect part of the Lego story is that it's brick patents expired and so they now have to compete with the cheaper Chinese product that the consumer seeking the cheapest toy for the dollar. So Lego focused on licensed components tied to film and story intellectual property and gaming but that no doubt cuts profit margins too.

Strange, I haven't seen any difference at all in the Lego sets I've bought recently. Could it be that different markets source their bricks differently?