@Lou1985 posted:As a FYI all the standard gauge/tinplate tooling MTH has was owned by Williams. None of it is old prewar Lionel tooling.
Not so - many many new items were developed by MTH after the Williams tooling was bought by Mike in the late 1970's, and most of that is in China. Two horror stories - Chinese workers stealing tools and selling for scrap when the factory stopped paying them (this happened at least 10 years ago), and the last build (400E and state cars) tools held hostage by the Chinese.
Don't expect to see new standard gauge from either MTH or Lionel anytime soon.
Jim