The Railroad Telegraph
Off the wire March 24, 2003
© 2003 D & S HOBBIES
Now, the NEWS....(All products are HO unless stated otherwise)
D & S HOBBIES
RAILROAD TELEGRAPH
WELCOME TO THE RAILROAD TELEGRAPH!!!!! We have upgraded our web site to be able to make the data and listings available in a more timely manner. The RAILROAD TELEGRAPH will be updated as soon as new information is received. Our In-Stock listing will be more current and will contain illustrations for most items listed. We have also added a Shopping Cart to make it easier to order online. Please remember to bookmark this site . If you have requested to be notified when the RAILROAD TELEGRAPH is updated, we will send you an e-mail notification every time a new edition is posted.We now feature illustrations of products we have in stock! Where practical, we are taking pictures of all new products that we receive. We have over 3000 illustrations in our on-line catalog. When you see a catalog description that is underlined, click on the description to view the illustration.
When reading the RAILROAD TELEGRAPH, you can click on any underlined listing to view the illustration. The images are stored as JPG files of 7K to 40K each. Please allow extra time for the illustrations to download. Our goal is to eventually have an illustration for each product that we stock, where practical. We will be adding additional illustrations as time permits.
All new listings will show up as red text. This will enable easy scanning of "What's new" listings.
Previous Editions of THE RAILROAD TELEGRAPH
D & S HOBBIES SHOPPING CART
We have implemented a Shopping Cart feature to our web site. This feature permits you to add the items you desire to a Shopping Cart, review your order at any time and checkout when you are done browsing.
This feature uses cookies to keep track of your order. There has been some discussion on the news groups as to the desirability of permitting cookies. We do NOT use the cookie function for anything more than tracking your current order when using the shopping cart. The cookie is set to expire within 24 hours. The use of a cookie permits the implementation of the Shopping Cart feature.
D & S HOBBIES SEARCH ENGINE
We are pleased to announce the availability of our Search Engine. This may be accessed on the Navigation Bar on the left by clicking on "SEARCH!". You may search by string in the item description, scale, department and / or manufacturer.
For example, if you want to see all Pennsylvania Railroad items that we have in stock, enter PRR in the description and click on SEARCH. All items containing "PRR" in the description will be listed. If you are only interested in HO, enter HO for scale, PRR for description and click on SEARCH. Only HO PRR items will be displayed. We hope that you find this new feature useful!
SPECIAL OFFERS - SHOPPING CART ORDERS ONLY!
We added Special Pricing to many items. Check out our Atlas, Kato, Bachmann/Spectrum and Proto-2000 listings. These items are highlighted in our listings with part numbers and prices in red (the highlighting does NOT show up in the Search function....yet, but the Special Pricing does). These specials are for a limited time and may be withdrawn at any time. Check back frequently to get first choice of our Internet Specials! Quantities are limited.
The Special Pricing WILL be shown on the Shopping Cart price. The pricing shown at checkout will be the effective price. In the event a special is discontinued, the price on your Shopping Cart order will be honored.
The Special Prices are valid for Internet Orders when using our Shopping Cart ONLY. The pricing is NOT valid on mail or phone orders or in the shop.
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS
We now offer substantial savings on new products when you reserve them in advance. This service is available only on the Internet and is NOT available in the shop. In order to take advantage of the Advance Reservation, you must place your order prior to the release of the model. You must provide your name, address, home phone number and credit card info with your order. When the model is received, your credit card will be charged and the model will be shipped to you by UPS. Current shipping charges will be applied to each shipment made. Our prices will be higher once the manufacturer has shipped the locomotives. Again, these prices are for web orders only and NOT available in the shop. A 25% nonrefundable deposit is required for each locomotive or car ordered at the Advance Reservation price.
The Advanced Reservation Price is available until the model is released by the manufacturer or when our allocation is sold out.
OFF THE WIRE......March 24, 2003
During the last four months, we have been upgrading our servers to give you better performance. Our sister company, Fluid Web Creations, procures, feeds and maintains the Internet Servers at our location. We have replaced every server over the last several months with newer, faster servers. Does this mean that you will see a difference? The answer is a definite maybe. If you have access through a high speed connection (T1, DSL or Cable Modem) illustrations and other services that require large data transfers will be faster. If you are using dial up services (56K or slower modem), you probably will not see any improvement, but any delay is NOT on our end. This is because you are limited by the speed of your modem connection.
If you are looking for a host for your web site, please consider hosting with us. Contact dj@fluidwebcreations.com for more information on hosting with Fluid Web Creations.
MINIMUM ORDER POLICY - UPDATE
Our MINIMUM order for Internet Orders is now $20.00. This excludes the shipping charges.
CREDIT CARD POLICY - UPDATE
Due to changes in our contract with Visa, Master Card, American Express and Discover, we now REQUIRE that your shipping address match your Credit Card billing address that is on record with the Credit Card Authorization Center. This protects us all against credit card fraud. Yes, we have had several orders attempting to use stolen credit cards.
Effective immediately, we will ONLY ship to the verified address for your credit card. Our shipping charges of $7.99 per order is based on shipping to a UPS street address within the Continental United States. We ship daily, Tuesday through Friday, by UPS. Orders received by 1:30 PM are usually shipped the same day.
If your address is to a Post Office Box, we will ship by U.S. Postal Service but the shipping charge is a MINIMUM of $15.00 and shipment may be delayed up to five days. Mailing packages at the Post Office requires at least a half hour per trip. Insurance, which is NOT optional, is also extra for ALL mail shipments.
We have had customers that feel this policy is an inconvenience to them. Depending on who issues your credit card, you MAY be able to contact your issuer and specify a second, verified address for receiving packages. The only VERIFIED address that we can accept is the one approved by the credit card authorization center.
There are some Credit Card Providers that will NOT verify your shipping address. In this case, we are VERY sorry but we cannot process your order . This is usually not a big problem for domestic credit cards but certain countries do not have address verification.
BETHLEHEM CAR WORKS - HO
We have received the Assembled READING combines. These are assembled, painted and complete with trucks with metal wheelsets and Kadee couplers. SIX different numbers are available for the Reading . The price is $59.95 each.
MICRO-TRAINS - N
All Micro-Trains Freight Cars are on SALE for up to 25% off. The sale prices are shown on ourweb site and will be valid until April10th. Supplies are limited and are subject to prior sale. Please check our Micro-Trains listing for cars that are in stock.
STEWART MODELS - HO
The VO-660 in both Phase II and Phase III was displayed at the East Coast Hobby Show. These are manufactured for Stewart in Korea by Ajin. Stewart does the painting and lettering. Supplies are limited on these models. The PRR models are scheduled to ship from Stewart on 03/24/03.
Stewart also had samples of their PRR G39 Ore car. These feature a die cast metal body with plastic detail parts.
ATHEARN - N
Athearn displayed samples of several F59 locos and Bombardier Commuter Cars at the East coast Hobby Show.
ATHEARN - HO
Athearn had pre-production samples of their newly announced SD50 and SD70MAC Genesis locomotives at the East Coast Hobby Show.
Both shells looked FANTASTIC. We were not able to get close up pictures that do these shells justice. The pictures DO NOT show the detail that is molded in. The SD50 was custom decorated in Conrail. The SD70MAC was in gray plastic. Molding on both models is comperable to the Genesis SD70 Spartan Cab loco. The SD50 has been under development for several years and will be out later this year. The SD70MAC MAY be available by the end of the year.
Athearn acknowledged that the RTR line and Genesis line is starting to blur. New tooling (based on the SD50 and SD70MAC) is produced to the same quality and detail standards. The difference is in the drive train that is used. The RTR line uses the improved, regular Athearn drive while the Genesis line uses a Genesis drive.
Athearn also had a sample of the next Genesis Freight Car. A SSW/Cotton Belt sample was on display.
We have received the CSX SD70M in the new "Dark Future" paint scheme. We have also received the BNSF SD75M in the Premium Heritage paint scheme. There are three different road numbers for each paint scheme. Each individual unit is painted to match it's prototype. There are differences (some subtle, some obvious) between the paint schemes for CSX and the paint schemes for BNSF.
The latest Genesis F Unit is the C&O Phase II F-7. The C&O units include an individual A Unit and two different A/B sets. All units are powered. Athearn has already sold out of this set.
All future Genesis production will be based on the firm orders that Athearn has received prior to their production run. There should still be more than enough to go around but the supply will probably disappear much faster than previous runs.
BROADWAY LIMITED IMPORTS - HO
Broadway Limited Imports had their PRR GG-1's and N&W A 2-6-6-4's on display at the East Coast Hobby Show.
The N&W A is awsome looking. BLI provided a test unit to one of the modular layouts at the show. The unit was pulling a 117 car coal train. The setup was flat but each car was at least three ounces.
The PRR GG-1 was displayed in the Tuscan Red and Brunswick Green five stripe paint scheme. These locos include a metal, die cast carbody. The colors looked faded to my eye. I don't know if these were the production colors or preproduction samples.
ATLAS - HO
Atlas had samples of their CNJ H1544 and Reading GP7 the East Coast Hobby Show.
Atlas did not announce any new locomotives. They did announce that new road names would be available on their SD35's in HO and a 10,000 gallon tank car in HO.
RUMORS, or, WE HAVE HEARD, or, THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY........
At least one manufacturer of model railroad supplies has recently revised their trade discount. The effect will probably be that discount prices for new models will go up and the quantity of models available may go down. Time will tell.
HO Lightweight Pullman Standard Passenger cars in both corrugated and smooth side variations are being considered for future production.
The two window SD60M and a GP60 will be available from Proto-2000 later this year. Can a Santa Fe GP60M and GP60B in Super Fleet colors also be coming?
Proto-2000 will be offering an HO model of the Alco S-1 Switcher. This will probably (our opinion) be followed by the S-3 (since only the sideframes were different) and then theS-2/S-4.
More Budd Passenger Cars are still being considered in HO (guess who?).
DETAILS.....
Our hours are:
We will be closed on Mondays and Sundays.
You can also call us to supply CUSTOMER PROFILE information to us. We will request your name, address, City, State, Zip
Code, Country (for foreign orders), home phone number, shipping preference and
credit card information. You may then place orders over the Internet WITHOUT
having to list your credit card information. Simply send E-Mail or order
identifying yourself and request that we process your order using the
information that is on file.
SHIPPING CHARGES: Please remember that shipping within the continental US is $7.99 per order for UPS. Shipping by US Mail or to other destinations is the actual shipping and insurance costs. There is a $15 minimum for all shipments outside of the continental US.
NOTE FOR OUR INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS: All shipping costs are billed to your credit card. We ship by International Air Parcel Post, only. There have been too many problems with International Surface Parcel Post. Please make sure that you include your E-Mail address so we can contact you if we have any questions. Orders received without a valid e-mail address will NOT be processed. Actual shipping charges will be added to your order. Please note that the MINIMUM shipping and handling charge for International orders is $15.00.
SPECIAL NOTE: There has been some confusion recently about our web site. Our home page lists the Manufacturers that we stock. If you double click on any of the manufacturers, you will receive a listing of models that were in stock as of the date listed. The phone number listed in this web site is OURS, not the manufacturers. Also, comments or mail is sent to us, NOT the manufacturer.
