Why Roundhouse battery locos are so pricey?

Has Roundhouse ever made a dud locomotive? Either Live Steam or battery powered?
You only get what you pay for in this World. Quality components and quality workmanship costs money.
Considering what you get for the money I believe Roundhouse locomotives give very good value for money.
 
So do the Roundhouse locos come equipped with a transmitter ?
 
yes
 
Tony Walsham said:
Has Roundhouse ever made a dud locomotive? Either Live Steam or battery powered?
You only get what you pay for in this World. Quality components and quality workmanship costs money.
Considering what you get for the money I believe Roundhouse locomotives give very good value for money.
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I quite agree with you Tony, quality is key in both components and workmanship. I don't know about any others but none of the Roundhouse locomotives as ever been a dud.
 
The folks assembling the Roundhouse stuff will be the highest skilled because they assemble live steam batches too so you still have to pay them the same rate for a diesel
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I think this is a probable explanation. The battery locomotives are simple to construct. AFAIK, the control eletronics is 3rd party. At end of day it is still just a motor with some gears to drive wheels.

Roundhouse might have priced these locos in line with their live steam locos to discourage people from buying battery locos and entice people to live steam locos instead (which is their main business). :)
 
Not sure they would have gone through all the effort of investing in four new models and their respective supply chains with the end goal of not shifting them? After all they've been making steam locos for decades now, the electric models are quite recent.

It might only be an electric but the chassis is just as precisely cut and assembled, the body work still goes through all the same processes to prepare it for assembly.
 
No I dont think so, you will find that many users of live steam locos will have at least one battery diesel, I have had around a dozen or so live steam locos during my association with Garden railways and 5 Battery diesels.
It would be totally silly for a manufacturer to price items too high to discourage purchasers from buying and attempt to force them to buy a higher priced item.

Roundhouse are a long established manufacturer of Garden railway locos and I think that by now they have a grasp of good marketing practices.

I would also think that if a prospective purchaser considered a Battery loco to be too expensive tey would be unlikely to want to spend even more on a live steam loco

I wonder have you actually purchased a Roundhouse product|?
 
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I wonder have you actually purchased a Roundhouse product|?
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No I have not. I was struggling to justify the purchase due to high price tag. As I have now converted an LGB loco to RC battery (as in my other thread) I am unlikely to purchase in near future.

However, one day I might buy their live steam loco.
 
It is a bit like comparing cars.
If you are like me you buy the best car you can afford.
I would like a new Jag but I willingly settled for a turbo diesel Ford Mondeo station wagon. The Mondeo is more useful although the engine is the same as the diesel Jag so I suppose I can say I at least have a bit of Jag under me.:p
Electric model trains vary in quality and price from El Cheapo (usually plastic) to best quality such as Roundhouse with other brass loco makers somewhere in between.
We are all governed by what we can afford.
 
Tony Walsham said:
I would like a new Jag but I willingly settled for a turbo diesel Ford Mondeo station wagon.
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Yeah, loved my 2 older Mondeo estates, really practical - but the latest version just didn't inspire me so I got a Kia Sorento. The Kia has just as much load space in the back for my exhibition layout or drum kit, and a higher driving position which I fancied this time round.

A mate drives a Jag, I always tease him it's just a Mondeo with a suit on!
 
Probably because a lot of more expensive cars are not based, in their entirety or not at all, on the very well developed platforms/drive trains/suspension packages that most cheaper modern mass market cars are from their parent companies, E.g. VAG = VW, Skoda, SEAT, Audi, Porsche, Lamborgihni, Buggatti, Rolls Royce.

Roundhouse use well engineered and tried and tested "platforms", "motors", running gear and components. Hence they tend to be reliable. They are also a lot simpler than a car. A lot of Accucraft live steamers (and their electric relatives) use common chassis and running gear, dependent on wheel arrangement, to reduce costs and enhance reliability. Max.
 
Reliability is based on dealer repairs. if you take your Jag (or whatever) back for a fault on a component that a lesser car does not even have - its unreliable Actually going from A to B does not really enter in to it.
So take that to an extreme - we should all live in mud huts because not much goes wrong with them!.

And on the other hand, as has already been explained here, Roundhouse diesels are built to be tow trucks for failed steamers - not many other stuff could do that - just not heavy enough.
 
Not to mention, usually there's less to go wrong on cheaper cars, especially when looking from an electrical point of view. My old Citroen Saxo is the most reliable car I've ever owned or worked on, but that was about as complex as my dad's flat cap.
 
Roundhouse use well engineered and tried and tested "platforms" said:
I have eight Roundhouse diesels I am probably biased, however I consider eight years before repair work needed carrying out to be very reasonable. The work was done within a week and the repair costs were extremely good and well below my expectations.
Roundhouse not only build a superb product they also provide superb after sales service.
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well, I like the diesels,
and
they have a unique style and design to them
and
undoubtedly RH quality

like a car design, painting, good wine or other aesthetic choice,
the price is simply what you pay for these locos-not to disregard the other reasons
stated above

otherwise, buy several LGB locos and a battery car to retrieve a steamer
 
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