Currently Available N Scale Trolleys & Trams

[brill27mcb]

The quick shutdown of the Shapeways 3D printing website has driven me, over the past few days, to understand and document the major impact it has had on N scale / N-gauge trolley and tram modeling. The sudden loss of the availability of dozens of 3D printed, American-based trolley designs is really dramatic. As a result, I have put together a list of currently available trolley and tram models in N, both ready-to-run (or drop-in motorized chassis) and resin-printed shells. I punted on listing the many current Tomytec models, since places like Hobby Search Japan already provide a very complete, timely and enduring reference work. I also made a list of most of the imperiled models that were on Shapeways. These include just trolleys and trams, not rapid transit or electric railroads.

 

These lists are now here:  http://www.trainweb.org/n-trolleys/available.htm

 

You can see from the Shapeways list how dozens of models, particularly of American prototypes, have vanished from the market overnight.

 

It's also readily apparent that so many of the models people design depend on the various Tomytec motorized chassis in order to be powered.

 

I can report that Volkmar of Interurban Models is planning to gradually adapt his former Shapeways designs so that he can add them to his more recent self-printed resin models. Alexander, the man behind the prolific Boxcar Models, is also exploring his options to continue to offer his shells in some way. Since Volkmar is in France and Alexander is in Britain, shipping and other costs could now become an additional factor for buyers. We will see what the future holds.

 

Rich K.

Edited July 17 by brill27mcb

[cteno4]

Hopefully many of those shapeways sources can find other small print firms to make them available again. They may have to do the shipping themselves and loose the built in store front though. I think the 3d print industry will go thru a similar thing digital 2d printing did where all the services and shops at first tried to do it all and keep up with ever advancing technology and plummeting equipment prices and collapsed into an industry of niche shops doing specific types of printing that is just beyond what the normal consumer could do at home or do it in bulk economically. In the end I think it will be better than a big company trying to do it all. The storefront model I think also hurt them when there were printing problems as mostly thus was design errors and not print errors. They tried to combat this some with some standards and such but it’s so dicy to know until something prints how well it will hold up. Shipping prices also went on sharp increases when they were trying to grow and that hurt them. Many times a small less that $10 print could cost $10 to ship domestically. That’s going to hit all new stuff as well though, but was just an additional hit and their free shipping promotions probably cost them some bucks (they did one just before closing and those look not to have shipped).

 

there is a new site out there, Craft Cloud, that helps line up folks with potential smaller print shops for jobs. A miniaturist friend has been scrambling to get all her shapeways sources resourced in various ways to keep her supply chain going for sales and class kits.
 

it’s going to take some changes though, she has found a range of responses from her previous 3d sources that used shapeways mainly, from here’s the file you can just print your own to others that are fearful of letting out their files to others even good customers on a per unit royalty. She is seeing if some of the smaller shops will let the 3d person upload files but she not have access but she pays for printing and shipping and it is shipped to her. I’m sure some shops will do drop shipping so you could order it from the 3d file source and pay then then they do the order with the print shop and ship directly to you. It’s going to be a little crazy for a bit I expect. I’ll pass on what my friend find with her resourcing of printouts.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

Still a pretty good list compared to what it was when I started. I think then it was Modemo and Bachmann and maybe one Kato four wheeler.  Ther were other models on Shapeways like various Tatra trams. Sorry I don't have a list.

Edited July 17 by bill937ca