Michael, everything looks great! I was just bustin' your chops on the builder's plate.

Interestingly, I had that problem before the upgrade, but not after. I guess we swapped places! Just a guess, but it probably has something to do with your cookie settings on your computer.

The Carolwood store will eventually migrate to this new site. I'll ask Michael to put a link to the new site from the old one so that people can find it.

As for deadlines, the ordering cut-off will be about a month before Accucraft goes into production. They haven't given me that date, so I can't tell you. I suspect that it will be around September, but that's just a guess.

Once we place the order with Accucraft, though, that will be it. If someone wants one of these after then, they'll probably have to find them on the secondary market. So, if your "I want" buzzer is going off pretty strong, I suggest not waiting until the last minute to place a deposit. While the FWRR trains and hand car are not limited edition, the odds of Accucraft making any more in the next few years are remote. (As evidenced by the fact that it's been almost six years since they made the FWRR coaches.)

The other reason to not delay is that is if we don't meet Accucraft's minimum order quantities, then they won't build these products.

Are you feeling lighter, now?

Oh, that's not chop busting at all. I welcome any feedback before it goes into production. These hand cars are all machined by hand, so there's no reason for them to not be accurate.

Well, I'll see whats left after my next couple of checks.

By the way is the hand car going to have electrically isolated wheels?

May one ask if there's a minimum number that need to be ordered before productions starts and may one also assume that there will be a substantial time involved from the order date until the FW items are shipped?

Interesting question about the wheels, Jazz. I'll have to check on that. I must admit that I thought the hand car would be more of a mantle piece than sitting on live rail.

Yes, Pop, one may ask. There is a minimum order quantity of 100 pieces of everything. It's just not worth Accucraft's time to produce less. I feel pretty good that we'll see at least 100 locomotives ordered. The jury is out on the coaches: while people ordered over 300 of them last time, the price was a lot less. (Apparently, Accucraft mistakenly priced those well below their cost last time; these prices are more in line with what should have been charged back then.)

I've seen no other 1:20.3 Kalamazoo hand car on the market. So, I suspect that we'll hit 100 units from people who just want a nice hand car in addition to people who appreciate the fact that Walt owned one.

For any of you that remember the other items that Accucraft has produced for us over the years, you know that there can be a substantial lead time between when we order them and when we receive them. But the quality of their precision brass factory is truly exceptional, so it's worth the wait.

Having said that, if we aren't close to 100 units of any item by, say, August, Accucraft will probably have to cancel that product. So I wouldn't put off placing your deposit (or telling your railroading friends), or the product you want might not happen.

So, with me being in the "fine" financial position I'm presently in (again) and if I were to be able to send in the deposit, will I be required to pay the rest when the magic number of 100 is met or will it not be due until product shipping time? And would I be correct in assuming that the non-refundable deposit would be returned should the 100 not be met? It seems to me that with the last engine one of our better heeled benefactors ended up buying more so the minimum was met or maybe that was some other project I'm getting confused with.

I did have a live steam version but sold it a while back to get ready for this version but have since wasted that $$ on food and other unexciting bills.

<---- This expression seems to fit me the best and most of the time at that!

what are some of the cosmetic changes that were done to the electric engine as opposed to the live steam? I felt the steam one was pretty darn close considering i have access to the real one thanks to a very good friend. were there any changes to the coaches?

The deposits on the coaches are refundable because I have my doubts that we will reach 100 units and I didn't want anyone to hesitate ordering coaches because of the risk of not reaching the MOQ.

The deposits on the engine and hand car are not refundable because once we place the order, the Society is on the hook for it. I don't see any problem at this point reaching the 100 units for those items. Although there are no guarantees, given that the live steam version has fetched over $1,200 on the secondary market, if someone ordered an engine and then decided they didn't want it they might be better off selling it upon delivery rather than canceling their order.

I made many major changes to the electric version. Some of these were huge, like the cab and backhead detail, and some were fairly minute, like moving the sand lines. The live steam engine was pretty accurate, but the electric version is hyper accurate.

I made a few changes to the coaches but nothing huge. One of the biggest differences is that the lighting is track powered, not battery powered as with the steam version.