What's next?

So we didn't raise the funding. What does that mean?

First off, if you made a contribution, IndieGoGo automatically processes refunds in 5-7 business days.

Second, it means that we can't make these cars. At least right now.

Third, we will be taking everything we've learned and see how to proceed, most likely with a different project. One of the biggest things we learned is that it is far, far more difficult to get the word our across to the modeling community than we anticipated. With the various online forums, Facebook, and Historical Societies, we expected that we'd be able to spread the word faster than we did.

Being a New Haven modeler, I also found the capabilities of the historical societies to get the word out quickly to be much less than expected. Most of them still communicate through their mailing lists and publications, which need a much greater lead time than we could provide this time.

The New Haven Historical and Technical Society has been involved in several projects with Rapido and has done very well. On the forum it was reported that they pre-sold 1,500 of the 8600-series coaches, which are $90 models, and that doesn't include what Rapido has sold on their own. A second run is underway now.

Which led to an obvious observation - we should relaunch with a New Haven model. One that has been high on my list is the BAR and NH XIH insulated box cars in the State of Maine paint schemes. Only a few paint schemes, and the only real variations being the removal of the heaters over time.

Well guess what - Eastern Seaboard Models has posted information and CAD drawings of their first HO scale project on Facebook. They look fantastic (and I also realized I did not have them on our manufacturers page. just added). So that's not going to be the project for our relaunch, but I look forward to adding a couple to my layout.

We'll be at the Valley Forge Prototype Modelers meet and hope to see you there. At this point we're back in market research mode and want to know what you think!

Most likely the relaunch will be different prototypes, but we'll see. We're already looking into several options and we'll keep you posted!