Railpro market share (And New Forum Discussion)

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Originally posted by boydw7 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 3, 2015

Does anyone know what share of the model train control market Ring Railpro holds? If Yahoo groups are any indication we have 31 members in the Railpro group and the top five DCC products users totally almost 25000 in Yahoo groups. Just wondering about how many people are using Railpro. Boyd

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Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 3, 2015

Yahoo groups are not an indication...

This group is not well known, and not very old, so it's numbers do not tell the story yet.
What kind if market penetration does RP have? It's hard to say, but I did hear the other day that NCE figured DCC only accounted for about 60% of control systems in use.

- Bill

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Originally posted by TS on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 3, 2015

As Bill said, I wouldn't go on Yahoo group size, This group has 31
members but of those about 6 of us actually partake in discussion so
that makes the other 20+ members either users keeping abreast of things
in silence, non users keeping abreast of things in silence, potential
users finding out more in silence or (hopefully not) potential
spammers. Every Yahoo group is like this.

The only thing I can positively say about market share is that if Ring
had only sold 31 systems after all this time, he probably would have
given up ages ago.

Perhaps what we need to do is to get Tim Ring to put a notice and link
on his website pointing out that there is a user forum here, like what
Sergent Engineering did or perhaps he can include a reference and link
in one of his emails that he sometimes sends out.

Cheers,

Tim
Land of OZ

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Originally posted by boydw7 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

Thanks Bill,
Just getting back into the hobby after decades of being somewhere else. This month's purchase will be lumber and track. Next month, hopefully Railpro. I've seen review of Railpro in MRH and discussion in its forum but it seems like Model Railroader doesn't even know know Railpro exists. Boyd

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Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

I suggested a user group to Tim Ring about a year ago. Sadly, he did not seem interested.

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Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

As a small business owner, I can see where his mind was going. I imagine he was envisioning another thing to manage and being involved in such a group can certainly sap time away from projects.

For clarification though: Tim is very open to feedback from users.

I think he just can't put his time into a "support forum".

If we can present my proposal to him with 30 to 40 names attached to it, he might see the value in directing people to this group where he doesn't have to "run it".

- Bill

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Originally posted by TS on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

That is sad Bill. One would think when one has a marginal product
in the world of control you would want potential customers to know
there is a community so they don't think they'll be "the only ones"
and go with something they know they can get community support for
very easily.

Tim

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Originally posted by kpack05 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

Like Bill said, Tim wasn't interested in running a forum.  It takes too much time and when you're a small outfit your time is best spent on more productive things. 

Now that we have a good sized group going though I do think it would be helpful for him to put the information on the webpage and direct users/potential users here. 

Tim is great at answering questions and working with users.  But as the user base continues to grow that may become more difficult to do due to the time involved.  That's where a group like this comes into play.  Most questions can be handled by peers who are very familiar with the system. 

Going back to the original question regarding market share, Railpro is a small portion of the overall market.  I don't know of any exact numbers, but it's still a relatively unknown/new system.  It's been around for several years but flew under the radar until just recently.  Now it's starting to get more coverage through questions on forums, Youtube videos, etc.  I've been trying to do what I can to spread the word and explain what Railpro is and what it does.  If we are active on forums and such we can help people understand Railpro and what it can do for them.

Though its market share is small compared to other systems it is definitely growing.  It will only continue to increase as Railpro's features become better and better.

-Kevin

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Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

I found this today: https://www.facebook.com/Ring-Engineering-Inc-224128710984003

An active facebook page would be helpful in spreading the word about RP.

- Bill

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Originally posted by gregzygadlo on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

I have been one who is in this group, but quiet as I have not yet bought a railpro system.  From my readings I like the fact that there would be no programming track needed.

Just been looking how hard it will be to put  into the engines I have the railpro decoder as I have been buying all DC locomotives as if I'm going railpro doesn't make sense to buy the DCC ones.

I couldn't offer any feedback on the proposal as I'm not a railrpo user just yet, but actively watch what is being said as future knowledge.

Still working on how I want my layout in terms of tack and once that is done I can look at purchasing my railpro system.

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Originally posted by Shawn Hogan on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

Unless Tim feels like it would be one too many things to keep track of on top of developing products and software for Ring Engineering. Wouldn't blame him for that.

Bill, would there be a way to advertise the existence of this group? Say, run an ad in MRH or any other hobby publication? I have no idea how much advertising costs but maybe we could "pass a hat"??

I think the simplest solution would be adding a link to the group on the Rail Pro/Ring Engineering website. That's how I have subscribed to other yahoo groups that I have an interest in.

Just my 2 cents, Shawn

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Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

Advertising the RailPro User Group...

I'd say it the best way to advertise the group at this time would be to mention it in other groups you belong to.

But before we get into that, I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have this group on a more trafficked platform?

I used to love yahoo groups, but these days facebook seems more conducive to sharing information, photos, and video.

Would anybody be opposed to moving the group to Facebook?
I would consider having a separate group there, but I would rather not cause splinters.

I think on facebook we could grow the group a little easier.

As to other advertising, I advertise on MRH and in MRH and I find it to be good value. MRH is also very pro RailPro.
I will consider using one of my ads to increase awareness of the group.

- Bill

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Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

Hi Greg,

Installing RailPro in a DC locomotive is fairly simple. Installing it in a DCC ready loco is even easier.
Definitely, don't buy DCC locos if you intend to install RailPro, as that's just wasting money.

- Bill

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Originally posted by jacob.damron on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

Bill:

I started this group here on yahoo! as that seems to be where most model railroaders hang out. That said, I really don't care for yahoo! or these email lists. I prefer a vBulletin style forum instead but that's just my opinion. I reluctantly still have a FaceBook account for a few professional contacts and family members. Suffice it say I don't have any emotional attachment to yahoo! and if the group wants to move to another venue then it's fine by me.

Jacob Damron
Ft. Worth, TX

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Originally posted by picturemaker22 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Oct 4, 2015

I do not use Facebook and I likely never will. If this group is moved to Facebook, then very sadly, I'm gone. I have no love for Yahoo Groups either, they used to be good at one time but all that has changed. Having said that, I would be very sorry to see this group discontinued, it has turned out to be a great place to talk about RailPro with a lot of really nice people.

I am going to start a few threads on several forums I belong to and see if I can get the word out to people about RailPro. Obviously not everyone reads MRH and that's the only place I have seen Ring Engineering advertisements.

Mel.