Garden Railway Forum

Does anyone have any knowledge of app. how many steam locos are sold in the UK per year?

I have some decisions to make about investment in my future loco manufacturing business so it would good to have a rough idea.

Michael

Blimey.... I don't think you'll find an answer to that one...

Probably not but it doesn't hurt asking.

It's still to early to ask people to register interest so I will just have to make a leap of faith. I am fairly committed already.

Its difficult because I doubt most major players would want to give that sort of info away. Sounds like you may have an interesting project on the go and I look forward to hearing more....
Barry

Could always try to find out some dates and serial numbers on people locos from roundhouse and accucraft - that would be an indication.

Very nice initiative. I hope it will work out for you. What kind of locomotives are you planning to build?

15 locos of whatever you produce (If you're lucky) and then maybe 0 or 1 each year afterwards unless its a new design.  except if you're established with a bigger advertising budget like Roundhouse\Accucraft.

cncmodeller:117355 wrote:15 locos of whatever you produce (If you're lucky) and then maybe 0 or 1 each year afterwards unless its a new design.  except if you're established with a bigger advertising budget like Roundhouse\Accucraft.

That sounds very low unless we are talking about high priced locos which mine will not be.

KNO3:117345 wrote:Very nice initiative. I hope it will work out for you. What kind of locomotives are you planning to build?

First up is the Cracker. Initially I will offer part kits for builders and possibly a RTR loco but unpainted and with no body work. The Cracker lends itself well to playing around with a number of body styles. Further down the line the plan is to make fully RTR Cracker locos available. Target price is around the £250 mark which I think is an attractive price for a gas fired entry-level locomotive.

Some of the components are sourced already and I have the first batch of chassis parts from the laser cutter. Metal for the parts I will be making myself is now in stock.

If I'm only going to sell 15 the first year and then perhaps 1 each following year then it is not worth pursuing though. Maybe I should quit while I'm still not too much out of pocket. I would need to sell closer to 50 per year to make it a sound investment.

15 a year sounds very low doesn't it? But I promise you the market is more lack lustre than the blurb in magazines would have you believe.
Your problem is that a lot of people are not builders and want ready made and the market is incredibly small. Here's a general selling rule of thumb:- one half of one per cent I.e what is it now? 4000 16mm association members? That then equates to 20 possible sales? Look at Accucrafts net worth, the info is available on the internet, the numbers are very modest. Also railway enthusiasts have a particular interest to them so that cuts down the sales. I know what you're thinking 'if I can earn 2k a month from home with only 50 sales a year it will work out"
You won't be the first to try it!

cncmodeller:117363 wrote: I know what you're thinking 'if I can earn 2k a month from home with only 50 sales a year it will work out"
You won't be the first to try it!

Actually that is not my thinking. No way I would be making that much from this. If I have an idea of realistic sales volume I can plan my outgoings accordingly. One thing to keep in mind is that the loco will be priced at a level where it might appeal to toy steam enthusiast so I am not entirely dependent on the whim of 16mm modellers.

Thanks for you input though, I appreciate it and it is something I will keep in mind. As it stands now I haven't invested more than I can recover.

The global market is small which is why there are not many manufacturers and there are always some coming and going. When you look at batch numbers even the larger builders only seem to make 100-200 of each type per batch. I would guess that total world production of all live steam locos in 32mm and 45mm gauges would be well under 10,000 per year. LGB tried to get into the live steam market in the late 90s with their Aster Frank S model and not understanding the small market ordered 3000 to get the unit price down but ended-up flooding the market with many sitting in their warehouse for years and then being sold off at a loss.

Don't let the popularity of 16mm in the UK influence you too much as worldwide the big market is for 45mm gauge, not 32mm for live steam whether for narrow or standard gauge models.

If making small numbers you probably need to go for the higher end more detailed market and take advance orders. There seems to be several UK manufacturers starting up or improving their range to try and take on Accucraft and Roundhouse so that market will probably become quite competitive over the next year or two at this end.

funandtrains:117366 wrote:
If making small numbers you probably need to go for the higher end more detailed market and take advance orders. There seems to be several UK manufacturers starting up or improving their range to try and take on Accucraft and Roundhouse so that market will probably become quite competitive over the next year or two at this end.

Yes, that does seem to be the trend which is why I'm going in the other direction. Budget, entry level. I think a gap is developing there. I could be entirely wrong of course....

Busted Bricks:117368 wrote:

funandtrains:117366 wrote:
If making small numbers you probably need to go for the higher end more detailed market and take advance orders. There seems to be several UK manufacturers starting up or improving their range to try and take on Accucraft and Roundhouse so that market will probably become quite competitive over the next year or two at this end.

Yes, that does seem to be the trend which is why I'm going in the other direction. Budget, entry level. I think a gap is developing there. I could be entirely wrong of course....

Good luck, I look forward to seeing what you propose. If you can get the price down to £300 you will certainly get plenty of buyers if it works well and does not have visible oscillating cylinders.

As mentioned above, I am talking about the Cracker locomotive so the engine is very visible.

Busted Bricks:117371 wrote:As mentioned about, I am talking about the Cracker locomotive so the engine is very visible.

In that case I think your market is limited.

I don't agree on the oscillating cylinders. Those that don't want to see them can fit covers. The cracker is a good idea and i'd encourage you to give it a go. There is very little on the market in the sub-£300 area.

Good luck with it !

Barry

I can only think of the MSS loco (£185) and the Regner Max (£260). both of those are meths fired, mine would be internal gas fired (and have a lubricator and silver soldered boiler). A Cracker is a bit of a novelty item for sure and it may hold less appeal to others than I expected it would.

This design has had at least 2 builders before and was rather a novelty loco with limited numbers sold, no doubt due to the price then being high for what you got. The small size though will appeal to those running quarry lines if you can get the price down.
The reduced cost of computerised manufacture and design does seem to have made closer to scale models more affordable to make and there does seem to be a move in popularity away from more freelance designs.

Really? I have never seen a commercial offering for the Cracker loco. Who made/sold them?