I resumed my interest in electric trains in 1987. I had had American Flyer as a young boy but in 1987 Lionel was the only show in town. Until Jerry Williams sold his tinplate business to a young friend and neighbor named Mike Wolf. His formation of MTH subsequently changed the hobby in the most profound way since Joshua Lionel Cowan at the turn of the last century. Initially working with Richard Kughn when he purchased Lionel the two came up with beautiful new steam engines from a manufacturer in South Korea that we all came to know and respect as Samhongsa. When the relationship deteriorated in the early nineties Mike was faced with a dilemma. How do I keep Samhongsa busy. The answer came in 1994 at York when Mike rolled out his first O gauge locomotive, the Dash 8. From 1994 to the early 2000's Mike produced three Railking and three Premier catalogs a year with a dizzying assortment of new tooling with engines and cars and accessories that heretofore we could only dream of. The Turbine series, the die cast Challengers, the big boys, and my favorite engine, the Erie Triplex. When Bill Benson made his brass steamers with Pittman motors from America, Mike Wolf followed suit. When Lionel came out with TMCC, Mike answered with DCS. One could argue that Lionel has had better sound in their steamers compared to MTH, but no one would argue who has the best smoke units. And, the current diesel sounds from MTH are second to none. As the demographics of our hobby changes, each company has had to make concessions eg. infrequent new tooling and reliance on fantasy schemes and well known entertainment brands. But, through it all Mike Wolf has remained at the helm with great help from his two supporting generals, Rich Foster and Andy Edelman. To my mind Mike Wolf is second only to Joshua Cowan regarding contributions to our beloved hobby.
|
|
