This news reads and feels like a punch to the gut. I certainly understand desire to retire...and having once been involved in the day-to-day operations of a privately-owned business I know it is not easy, very stressful it is. MTH has been an institution in Standard and O-gauge - Mike Wolf's history reads as an American success story - I won't repeat it here as you all probably know it, or will learn it someday. Suffice to say, I have about an equal share of both MTH and Lionel engines and rolling stock, and operate via DCS and Legacy, and I've endeavored with DCS through all the troubleshooting...and the thought of support for that going away is another stomach punch.
From a business profitability standpoint, if a company is viable and profitable then it can be sold and taken over ~ the proverbial change of management. Announcing a company is closing with an ambiguous future of the product line puts a kibosh on products coming down the pipeline as well as consumer confidence in buying existing dealer inventories. For selfish reasons, I hope someone buys the tools and dyes, patents, etc, and keeps the product lines going. And, competition is a healthy thing in business. Having two "heavy hitters", MTH and Lionel, was good for the hobby, keeps everyone sharp. It took MTH a long time, but I recently read they finally implemented whistle steam in the new Premier T1s...something that was a long-time coming...I think they previously had it only on their Premier Big Boy.
This is really sad, and potentially, bad news for the hobby.
