Reply to "Maybe O Gauge Manufactures should Sell Kits for their Engines to make Affordable"

I think with the assembly line practices in the factory the cost of the labor for a MTH or Lionel locomotive is quite small. The folks in China don’t make big bucks and they are very efficient workers who slap these locomotives together as they go down the assembly line. My guess is the savings of a kit might be $20 to $40 not hundreds and for that small amount of money on say $500 or $1000 locomotive why would anyone choose a kit. Remember someone would have to put all the parts in the kit and make sure everything is there. This labor would negate some of the savings of a kit. It would not be worth it for Lionel or MTH to even tool up a box for a kit because they would get so few if any orders. All my opinion.