Are Merkur trains still being made? I would like to purchase the tinplate turntable I saw shown on Tinplate Times.

Merkur appears to still be active - www.merkurtrain.cz

Some of the posters in https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...kur-trains-and-track are still active on the forum, so they might be able to offer some insight.

I'm interested in the outcome - if Merkur can be obtained here, I might get more.

Thank you for the reply. I did try that website on my lunch break at work. I will look at it some, perhaps using Google Translate, and post what I find. Regards, Paul

@RRmechanic posted:

Thank you for the reply. I did try that website on my lunch break at work. I will look at it some, perhaps using Google Translate, and post what I find. Regards, Paul

In the earlier thread about Merkur, one of the posts indicated that Merkur does not ship directly to the US, which is why they listed sources in the Netherlands and UK (both of which now appear to be dead ends).  I don't know if that is still the case.

Edit:  Several years ago, I bought a Merkur erector set from Berwyn Hobby, and another one from an ebay seller in the US.  Berwyn's might be able to provide some information.

George bought some Mercur through Rob via the Netherlands in 2018/2019..  You can do a search for George's threads and I would suggest attempting to contact Rob.

The company is not really in business any more.  It was a small family owned business.  The gentleman who restarted the company, Jaromir Kriz Sr. appears to have passed away.  It looks like his son tried to revive the company but was unable to do so.  The two dealers who were willing to ship to the US, Rob Giskes and Wolfgang Ammon have stopped doing business with them.  Rob is a member of this forum and has posted in the past.  I have some Merkur locomotives and rolling stock that I bought from Rob in the past--they are great but really tough to get a hold of.  The secondary market in the US is almost non-existent unfortunately.  You are better off ordering from ETS if you want European tinplate trains.

@trolleynut posted:

The company is not really in business any more.  It was a small family owned business.  The gentleman who restarted the company, Jaromir Kriz Sr. appears to have passed away.  It looks like his son tried to revive the company but was unable to do so.  The two dealers who were willing to ship to the US, Rob Giskes and Wolfgang Ammon have stopped doing business with them.  Rob is a member of this forum and has posted in the past.  I have some Merkur locomotives and rolling stock that I bought from Rob in the past--they are great but really tough to get a hold of.  The secondary market in the US is almost non-existent unfortunately.  You are better off ordering from ETS if you want European tinplate trains.

Do you know the user name for Rob Giskes?  I tried searching the member list for Giskes and Merkur but got no hits.

His user name is RobG.  Just do a search for "Merkur" and you will see him pop up.

@trolleynut posted:

His user name is RobG.  Just do a search for "Merkur" and you will see him pop up.

Thanks.  I found @RobG's profile, and noticed that he hasn't been on the forum in over 6 years.  His website is still there, but not sure how active it is.

Too bad about Merkur - I liked their stuff.  Their website still appears to be active??

It is rigth I haven't been at the forum for a long time. As an importer of the Merkur trains in the Netherlands I had some difficulties with Merkur. At first the communciation was very difficult. After some bad handling of orders I noticed ( they never told me) that the Merkur factory wass broke. I discovered this a mont of four after the courts descision.  One part of Merkur, the construction sets, are sold to a Czech toy whole saler. The train production went to Tioka Ikaria which is in the hands of Jaromir Kriz the son of the former owner of Merkur. A pity to tell you that Merkur Tioka Ikaria wasn't able or didn't want to sell me anymore models. Even my collegue traders in Germany did order but never receive the goods. Me myself had to close my webshop because I could furfill orders. I have a website with the last stock. That isn't that much anymore. I have heard a Frenchman has ordered some track and he received a part of his order. Well be caraefull when you order and you need to pay in advcance. I think it is a pity I am not able to sell the Merkur brand anymore. However ETS works still perfect!!!!!