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Reply to "Trains made in the USA. ?? What or who would be?? Thank you."

I see a number of posts in this thread making note that the person would be glad to pay a little more for an American made product.  Why?  When we started seeing production of more and more product go overseas AKA China, does anyone remember the price of the product going down?  I think not.  The object of any manufacturer is to increase profits.  By going overseas that is in fact what they thought that they did.  I have not seen the price of our products going down due to lower wages.  Case in point.  I started buying a manufactures switches at about $40.  Those same switches, with some minor modifications today go for about $100 even with the perceived benefit of lower overseas wages.  So I submit to you that this same manufacture could bring the manufacturing of this product back to the USA and maintain the current price.  Here is the rub.  Will their overseas manufacture allow them to remove the intellectual property and molds back to the USA.  I fear not and that is a big reason that even though we would like to see American made products, it may be an impossibility.  Manufacturers who were sold a bill of goods about the benefits of foreign manufacturing have since realized they have sold their soul to the Devil.   If you are currently in the process of creating a layout or an expansion buy product from those organizations like Ross or Gargraves who are very competitive with the afore mentioned manufacturer.  I have done my last expansion and have stated many times, I wish I had it to do all over again and had started with one of these latter named manufacturers.  My 2 cents.

Could track switches be made here again? I think so. Freight cars? Already being done.

But you took a plausible idea to declare that Lionel could “bring” all production ”back” to the U.S. 

Tell me, how many TMCC locos of new designs in the 1990s were produced in the U.S.? Newly tooled top-of-the-line command locomotives are of Asian origins. Not the U.S. 

Starting with Lionel’s decision to bypass Mike Wolf and deal directly with Asian manufacturers, Lionel devoted itself to developing a state-of-the-art product line that never was domestic. Circa 2000, Lionel merely discontinued the rest of its American production at that time.

So Lionel can’t bring back something that was never here. You’re business model never existed. 

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