WTB Rail Pro Products ?

[LVRR1856]

Hi All,
Still in research mode for my layout build.
Rail Pro certainly has my attention over DCC. I love the system from what I see demonstrated on you tube.

I have over 100 DC locos, 60% dcc ready (8 pin), but having a hard time kneeling to the RP alter.

When I search for vendors I only see limited stock, I see notes on some vendors sites that say -could take 6 months to get RP products,
William Ballinger warehouse is closing in US, I live 10 miles from Yankee Dabbler, they don't have any decent stock of modules.
Some other vendors have scattered assortment and limited on modules ?

Is there a problem with Rail Pro ? Is there a fear that they are checking out ?
Is there a better go-to vendor that has good stock ? or can at least order it ?

Videos on YT are 7 to 10 years old. Not much new, all have the older HC-1s & 2s, don't see any demos with the HC-3.

I don't see any ads in MR or MRC mags.

Again - I really like the system, but don't want to invest in something that is getting ready to tank out.

[Smoke]

RailPro is a solid system with a loyal following, but it’s true that Ring Engineering keeps a relatively low profile. They don’t advertise heavily in magazines or attend trade shows, so the overall visibility is much lower compared to the big DCC brands. That said, from what I understand, Ring discontinued EOT production specifically to focus more on RailPro — and there’s no indication that the system is going anywhere.

I used to do all my RailPro ordering through Bill (who also graciously hosts this forum), but now that Scale Sound Systems has become a RailPro vendor (https://www.scalesoundsystems.com/railpro?page=2), I’ll start ordering from JT. I recently added an LM-3S-21 module to a speaker order and received everything promptly — no delays.

My hobby time is pretty limited these days, so I can’t speak in detail to how current vendor stock compares to past years. But I’ve had no issues getting what I need recently.

If you’d like to try out the system with a minimal upfront investment, consider purchasing a CL-1 and a module — you can then operate a locomotive directly from your computer using the HC Simulator.

There’s a helpful community here and on the RailPro Facebook group with plenty of users who are happy to share advice on installs, wiring, and sound setup.

[William Brillinger]

My Warehouse closing has nothing to do with RP's popularity, the 3rd party location we used went out of business because of the tariff situation. Railpro cannot be imported into Canada where I live and work, so I had a 3rd party place just across the border handling the storage and shipping. I've been recommending Scale Sounds Systems as a supplier because they have pricing that was similar to mine. RailPro has been very popular with the Large Scale crowd lately, and they still advertise in MRH, which as far as I know, is the only publication they ever advertised in. Ring has no Minimum order for dealers but order fulfillment can take 2 to 5 weeks depending on their production schedule. There is no reason your local dealer should have to wait 6 months.

[LVRR1856]

Thanks for your replies - certainly encouraging. I can see that it is very popular among the large scale users, hence the lack of visibility in smaller scale mags. Makes sense. Also I can understand low stocking of a product that isn't as popular as dcc, again makes sense from a business view.

I will try Scale Sound Systems - searches did not land me to them when searching RP. Sounds like (no pun) a win win for speaker needs and RP stuff.

Excellent - thanks again Smoke and William for the information, I think I have one leg over the fence .... LOL, can't wait to try it. (Got to build something first) ....