A breath taken and back to the publishing empire; well getting the next book done anyway which has been on hold for a period of time. So back to the typing and the Welsh narrow gauge. This is technically book five; four has yet to be revealed, and it's suddenly quite exciting with a rush of new narrow gauge 009 stock and locomotives planned in the upcoming months from Peco and Kato. Obviously these will naturally fall just beyond my publishing schedule, but it does show that there is a definite interest, and 009 seems to be the buzz at the moment with not unsubstantial amounts of money being invested in new tooling. Does this indicate that the 4mm manufacturers feel that they have cooked the standard gauge market and that 'smaller' prototypes that can hover around £100 are the big sellers?
That seems likely, as new 009 rtr keeps appearing. And you can see the appeal. Smaller layouts, tighter radii, but running which is light-years away from that which was achievable 30 years ago. Got to be a good thing for the hobby.
ReplyDeleteWatching the big boys invest in 009 seems sensible business-wise as it's a dovetail move rather that than a wholesale move to another scale for those such as Bachmann/Hornby. 009 'fits' with the best selling 00 that their customers already have rather than say moving into 3mm or S.
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