As promised, the 2001 NMRA national convention held in St. Louis during August 8-15 was the scene for several significant new product announcements. For additional info, check the 2001 NMRA National Train Show Report.
Athearn has announced a stunning new model of a Ford C series truck tractor and trucks. Check our 2001 NMRA National Train Show Report for photos and lots more details.
Effective in August, Busch has made the following color changes to existing models:
No. 42500 Renault R5, Wine Red and Turkish Blue No. 42761 Volkswagen Beetle w/Oval Rear Window (this was the version first regularly imported to the U.S.), Bordeaux Red and Dark Green No. 44415 Rolls-Royce, Dark Blue and Dark Green No. 45907 MG Midget TC, British Racing Green and Red No. 45707 Ford Escort Convertible, Jade Green and Strato-Silver Metallic
GHQ is shipping their '32 Ford three window coupe hot rod from the "American Grafitti" movie.
IMEX has photos of their upcoming International CO-190 and KB8 posted on their web site.
Walthers is listing several truck tractor kits on their web site for October, 2001 delivery. The Kenworth T-600 conventional (shown above) was on display at the 2001 NMRA National Train Show in St. Louis. Also announced were 20' and 40' all corrugated ocean shipping containers.
Wiking has announced the following new models for August, 2001 delivery.
380 40 31 Fendt Xylon Tractor with Front-Loader. Nice blue-green color. 377 39 31 Fendt Favorit Vario with Forklift Attachment in standard Fendt green. 639 40 36 Mercedes-Benz Atego with Refuse Body in orange. New chrome exhaust stacks are a first for Wiking. These are mostly variations of existing products, but agricultural model fans seem to be doing well with Wiking this year. By the way, Wayne Calder's prayers have been answered: The wheelsets from the wide-tired version of the Fendt 716 Vario Tractor introduced in April have been released as a separate set. It's number 014 02 26. SSDC (same stuff, different color) Department: 022 02 43 EC135 Eurocopter in German "Polizei" livery. Pretty spiffy-looking. 058 02 23 Volkswagen Golf Variant in pearlescent green with gray interior. Look for this car or the Jetta wagon to appear in the U.S. next year. 085 02 22 Opel Astra sedan in dark blue. GM is considering bring the Astra to the U.S. to give it a new small car. May be re-badged (Cavalier?) or sold through Buick again. 104 16 35 Volkswagen Eurovan and Travel Trailer in decorated for German Police. 130 03 23 Audi A6 Avant (Station Wagon) in gray with beige interior. Audi just had their best American sales month ever and over 4,000 A6's were sold. Time to add one to your collection or layout? The Wiking model is quite nice. 696 15 22 Unimog 411 in Bundeswehr bronze-green. I am not sure this is really prototypical (in fact, I'm fairly sure it isn't). When this version of the Unimog was introduced, the Bundeswehr did not exist. Wiking's model in civilian trim sports the original Unimog ox-head logo and should really be referred to as a 401. The 411 was a later model and all of them had the three-pointed star logo. Germany didn't get its own army back until 1956, the year the real 411 was introduced. Until that time, it was restricted to a semi-military border police agency called the Bundesgrenschutz (BGS). The first military customer for the original Unimog U24/U401 was the French Army. There were versions of the 411 used by the Bundeswehr and BGS but they were probably more like the ones produced by Brekina. However, I might be tempted to combine one of these Unimogs with some of the wheels from the new 014 02 26 set and make a nifty off-road truck. 805 04 24 Karmann-Ghia two-tone version is now corn-yellow with black top. 828 02 14 BMW 328 Roadster in honey-gold with brown interior (don't know if BMW ever actually built one in this color. Every example of BMW's legendary pre-war racer I have seen was silver). 880 02 18 Lanz Bulldog Tractor in gray (driver is in gray, too) with red wheels.
380 40 31 Fendt Xylon Tractor with Front-Loader. Nice blue-green color.
377 39 31 Fendt Favorit Vario with Forklift Attachment in standard Fendt green.
639 40 36 Mercedes-Benz Atego with Refuse Body in orange. New chrome exhaust stacks are a first for Wiking.
These are mostly variations of existing products, but agricultural model fans seem to be doing well with Wiking this year. By the way, Wayne Calder's prayers have been answered: The wheelsets from the wide-tired version of the Fendt 716 Vario Tractor introduced in April have been released as a separate set. It's number 014 02 26.
SSDC (same stuff, different color) Department:
022 02 43 EC135 Eurocopter in German "Polizei" livery. Pretty spiffy-looking.
058 02 23 Volkswagen Golf Variant in pearlescent green with gray interior. Look for this car or the Jetta wagon to appear in the U.S. next year.
085 02 22 Opel Astra sedan in dark blue. GM is considering bring the Astra to the U.S. to give it a new small car. May be re-badged (Cavalier?) or sold through Buick again.
104 16 35 Volkswagen Eurovan and Travel Trailer in decorated for German Police.
130 03 23 Audi A6 Avant (Station Wagon) in gray with beige interior. Audi just had their best American sales month ever and over 4,000 A6's were sold. Time to add one to your collection or layout? The Wiking model is quite nice.
696 15 22 Unimog 411 in Bundeswehr bronze-green. I am not sure this is really prototypical (in fact, I'm fairly sure it isn't). When this version of the Unimog was introduced, the Bundeswehr did not exist. Wiking's model in civilian trim sports the original Unimog ox-head logo and should really be referred to as a 401. The 411 was a later model and all of them had the three-pointed star logo. Germany didn't get its own army back until 1956, the year the real 411 was introduced. Until that time, it was restricted to a semi-military border police agency called the Bundesgrenschutz (BGS). The first military customer for the original Unimog U24/U401 was the French Army. There were versions of the 411 used by the Bundeswehr and BGS but they were probably more like the ones produced by Brekina. However, I might be tempted to combine one of these Unimogs with some of the wheels from the new 014 02 26 set and make a nifty off-road truck.
805 04 24 Karmann-Ghia two-tone version is now corn-yellow with black top.
828 02 14 BMW 328 Roadster in honey-gold with brown interior (don't know if BMW ever actually built one in this color. Every example of BMW's legendary pre-war racer I have seen was silver).
880 02 18 Lanz Bulldog Tractor in gray (driver is in gray, too) with red wheels.
Note: Special thanks to Bill Cawton for the Wiking update and additional insight.
