I didn't want to derail this thread, but my tangentially-related thread question was deleted and I was instructed to come here, so here goes:
With Atlas not buying the Rail King molds as part of its purchase, one can assume Atlas only wanted the scale models (and only diesel for that matter). Does anyone want to speculate on what will happen to the Rail King molds for engines and rolling stock?
Other than a little cherry picking, I can't see them being acquired and used. Lionel has near or exact equivalents in its traditional line, often multiple.....my entry into Rail King was more out of interest for DCS and less on appearance or wheel arrangement availability. Same for WBB. They've got plenty of semi-scale models and don't appear to be making those anyway recently, so why buy more? Sure, Rail King has more detail, but is that enough to convince WBB to retire its O27 Hudson molds for example and using Rail King bodies? And both Lionel and WBB have enough rolling stock molds to not need Rail King. Maybe some cherry picking here or there, but I can't see the entire Rail King set of molds as appealing to either of these competitors.
Whose left? 3rd Rail seems positioned in high-end, detailed scale engine making, so unless they want to diversify, Rail King doesn't seem like a fit for them.
Menards? If not, unless a newcomer wants to enter the middle of the 3 rail market, I fear Rail King is dead, sad to say. Anyone else have more hopeful opinions.
