I recently purchased a layout and the trains from an acquaintance whose husband passed away several years ago. He had started the layout in the late nineties and must have lost interest around 2002 or 2003. There were around 20 or so MTH engines with photo one installed. I have installed new batteries in 18 so far which required taking the shells off diesels or steam tenders. During this process, I realized what great engineering went into these engines that are now 20 or so years old.
The moldings and castings are very crisp, add on detail and paint / graphics are all first rate. The fasteners are all well made. Wiring is neat and well managed. Shells come off easily without doing damage to the internal wiring or connections. And despite all the negativity one hears about the electronics, 16 ran perfectly after new battery was installed. The other 2 also ran perfectly after using the reset chip set (this may have happened because I tried to run without changing the battery first).
I well remember being impressed back in the mid nineties with the MTH offerings but revisiting them 20 years later and still being impressed deserves to be commented on. Mike and his company and suppliers certainly had (and still do have) their act together.
Well done Mike!
Happy railroading,
Don
