Good to see you Ken, I agree with Bill here as far as the "pre-order stuff" is concerned. There was a time when a supplier, whether it be locos, boxcars, tools, scenery, books or whatever. Studied the market made the product and it sold on an open market. Nowadays, The practice has done a complete 180 degree flip, and I fear, and believe we will see this trend continue, if not become standard in the future. My concerns arise on many levels here. The current approach gives ALL of the burden of financing to the folks that pre-pay, and essentially none to the afore mentioned supplier. If Irv Athearn took this approach, BB Athearn locos would be selling to 200.00 each now. This is a very dangerous, slippery slope, and one that could be the beginning of the end of the entry into the hobby, from the beginners at best. If a supplier has no faith his product is worthy of selling on an open market. Why should any of us (consumers) feel the need finance the endeavor? I guess I just dont get the advantage of doing business this way, for the consumer. I mean if this is a standard practice, we would need to buy our car or house, fridge, camera or whatever in advance, and just deal with what we get. I am not sure, the public is willing to go this route. I understand that any reputable supplier would not jeopordize a reputation but, I mean. But really? In the age of no inventory or just in time delivery, seriously, how much do we need to sacrifice? I guess my concern is. Whats wrong with looking at a product before you buy it? Just a thought out loud. Tom Holley
I think the author should have waited until the book was shipped, before any credit cards would be charged. That's how most model railroad pre-orders are handled. TG
Well, I guess the incentive for paying in advance is that you get a better price. In the case of RAM, the pre-publication price is $47.95 and $54.95 thereafter. Obviously the advance orders help pay off the cost of printing and holding the inventory, which, if the publisher guesses wrong and prints too many, can be a burden. That said, standard practice is to charge your credit card at the time the order ships--unless, of course, you are buying an Amtrak ticket. GS
Well, has anyone received their Rails Around Missouri book...The one we paid for in January??!! Supposedly to be released in May. Tom
I have not seen mine yet, but I did get a teaser, sneak peep, from another site. I am sure its only a short time away. The pre-order thing really bothers me now. I am not worried about this book, but its starting a bad trend. William Jackson
The author, Michael Kelly, lives in Ballwin (St. Louis area) and has invited contributors to a release party to be held on Friday, May 10. I would expect the book should arrive to those who ordered it shortly after that. George
Tom, The last update from the author ( last week sometime ) had a May 15th release date, so I would expect it in the next two weeks. Paul
Got my (complimentary contributor's) copy today (May 9). It looks good. Those who purchased a copy will, I think, be pleased. GS
Don't have mine yet, but got an email from my dealer that there are two different covers, the originally announced cover with a KCS loco, and a second one with a group of Frisco red and white locos, and which version did I want. Naturally, I went with the Frisco cover.
Got mine today. Nice big book, bigger than the Morning Sun or Four Ways West books, lots of photos. Good color, very clear printing. A lttle more post Amtrak (1970) stuff than I would have liked (But then I'm a die-hard passenger train buff), lots of Mandarin and white Frisco diesels... Tom G.
After a good look this is a really great book. It hits my era perfect. I worked for Frisco, BN, BNSF and KCS so man it hits me right on target. Thanks for the excellent work. William Jackson
I received my copy Thursday. Been too busy looking at it to reply to the list! What a great book, well worth the wait. All color and lots of Frisco. Photos from the High Line too. Almost twice as many pages as a Morning Sun book for a little less money makes it very nicely priced too. This book is one of the favorites in my library. Dale Rush Blair Line LLC
It was a privilege to live close enough to the author to make the launch party as a contributor. It was not a large group, so it was fun to meet everyone: family, friends and fellow-contributors. One forehead-slapping moment was when one of them introduced himself as Joe Collias. While it was great to get a signed copy of Rails Around Missouri, clairvoyance (and bringing a stack of books from the collection) might have led to an even more amazing outcome ;-) George
Great book, got mine Saturday at the Kirkwood Station on "Nationl Train Day". Michael Kelly was there selling his book and signing them. It's just great to see so many railroad pictures from places in Missouri that are no more. It would be nice to see more books like this from other states and different ere's. Mike.P
I would have to agree this one will be a favorite in my library, I was very happy to see many photo's from some obscure branch lines, something you don't usually see. Priced as it is and with the quantity and quality it has I can see them giving Morning Sun a run for their money. The author did a great job and I would be interested in future work depending on the subject. Brad Slone