-I also worked in heavy industry for almost 40 years. Although it's true that labor costs are typically at least 50% of total operating costs, I think it's incorrect to assume that Lionel's equipment/overhead costs for a facility that was 20+ years old were insignificant. During WWII, they converted from manufacturing toy trains to making products to support the war effort. After the war, they completely changed their product line from tinplate to postwar. I'm sure that this required substantial re-tooling, capital, and depreciation costs.
-I have no idea who Frank Pettits is, and nobody is saying that $120K/year (in today's dollars) is peanuts, but for an executive salary in the NY/NJ area, his salary doesn't seem at all exorbitant (as a matter of fact, it seems a little low). If Mr. Petitts (whoever he was) had an impact on Lionel's postwar success, then he deserved every penny. Also, I don't think that Joshua Cohen was ever accused of overpaying his employees.
-During covid, I got back into the hobby which meant that I took a bunch of stuff out of boxes that had been sitting in an attic for 55+ years. It all still worked. Lionel was never a low cost supplier, but there's a lot to be said for building something that will run for decades. Producing products that will last for generations isn't cheap.
