This should go without saying, but let me express that IMO this hobby is enhanced by the variety of not just the big companies/importers, but also the small cottage industries that provide layout builders a wonderful array of products. If you've ever been to York or other large train meets you know what I am referring to. Besides building and enjoying a layout, this community of O-gaugers is what makes the hobby more interesting and fun IMO. Many of these cottage companies come and go, and some are one-person making stuff in their spare time, and if you've ever visited an old-timers layout (and I say that with reverence) you likely see some unique trains and details and accessories that were made by craftsmen, some of whom are no longer with us.
With all that said, and like many others, I have enough trains to keep me busy (just changing traction tires 
for a long time). Yet, with Mike Wolf's announcement I have been doing some lamenting on the loss of MTH engines that I sold over the years. Admittingly, it was my separation and subsequent divorce in 2009/2010 that prompted the mass sell-off and dismantling of a layout 11 years in the making. Divorce, and moving and re-locating for employment is a major life stressor, and storage of trains didn't rank as a priority. And, I reasoned at the time, that should I ever get back on my feet financially, and given MTH's propensity for re-making models, I would buy them again. Quite frankly, I even hoped that Lionel would make them, simply because I think that Lionel's Railsounds set the bar for sound fidelity.
Well, some of those models that I sold MTH never made again. These were Premier PRR models: PRR FF2 boxcabs, DD-1 boxcabs, BB-1 Rats, and PRR Decapod.
Fortunately, MTH did re-issue the Erie Triplex - which still gains my vote as the best mechanically engineered toy train in history, and I was able to buy it a few years ago.
What MTH models do you regret parting with? And, are you trying to hunt them down now? By the way, the latter can be fun.
Unfortunately, Lionel seems to be in the business model of re-issuing the same engines again and again...and unless they or someone else acquire tooling rights to MTH's models we may never see some of the unique items MTH made over the years.
