Wow!  Only on OGR do we get this kind of "Breaking News" and we get the man himself doing the parts system upgrade to fill us in!  Much appreciated Mike!

Thanks!

@CALNNC posted:

"Mike once said at York..... Im here to sell trains not parts."

CALNNC,

Could it be that he meant he wasn't interested in selling parts at York, not that he wasn't interested in selling parts at all.

Are you basically saying that this new parts effort is being undertaken because he's admitting that he was wrong?

By the way, I'm with you on the size of the market.  This is a lot of effort to be expending in order to support a market that's not huge.  Compounding things is the fact that the process of instituting order where there was once disorder can be quite difficult -- just ask Sir Isaac Newton.

In spite of this I'm looking forward to a good outcome from all the effort.  Good luck to the organizers!

Mike

I meant to reply to this topic, but mistakenly posted a new topic entitled "Will part numbers be different?"  The following is what I just posted:

I have been waiting to order some screws (part #lA-0000069) from MTH.  After reading the two posts from Mike, is that part number no longer good when the soon to be new parts website is up and running?

I hope Midge is enjoying her retirement.  Midge always went above and beyond in helping me with ordering parts . . . she is missed.

Janet Mattern (TCA, LCCA, P&P, and GCMR member)

This is great news.  Glad to hear this update.

@Janet Mattern posted:

I meant to reply to this topic, but mistakenly posted a new topic entitled "Will part numbers be different?"  The following is what I just posted:

I have been waiting to order some screws (part #lA-0000069) from MTH.  After reading the two posts from Mike, is that part number no longer good when the soon to be new parts website is up and running?

I hope Midge is enjoying her retirement.  Midge always went above and beyond in helping me with ordering parts . . . she is missed.

Janet Mattern (TCA, LCCA, P&P, and GCMR member)

So what if they are, if you’ve been following, Mike has been busting his behind designing a parts site that’ll allow you to bring up your locomotive, view the exploded view, and pick out the parts you need,….

Pat

That is fabulous news. Thank you, Mike!!!!!

Peter

Glad to see this and expected it. Best of luck Mike. I wish you well.

Gerry

Best of luck Mike.  Is Graham going to help you with inventory control?

So, For what its worth, we have tried our best to keep the integrity of the part numbers that existed prior to starting this endeavor. That said, in the event a part number became obsolete (or was superceded by another number) we left a trail (meaning the old number still exists, but the part name points to the current/active part number). Trust me when I say I never want to be “that guy” who erases the trail when it comes to parts!

For instance, instead of having 28 unique part numbers for a 1.5V grain of wheat lamp, we now have 1 number; CA0000075. All the other 28 part numbers now point to CA0000075. The 28 old numbers are still in the parts database (and shown as out of stock) but we have “oodles and oodles of CA000075’s on hand.

so, to answer your question about old/original part numbers, yes, they still exist (with much better descriptions I might add!) and photos of each part too.

thank you,

Mike

Inquiring minds want to know if there will be exploded views of steam and diesel engines?

@Mikado posted:

So, For what its worth, we have tried our best to keep the integrity of the part numbers that existed prior to starting this endeavor. That said, in the event a part number became obsolete (or was superceded by another number) we left a trail (meaning the old number still exists, but the part name points to the current/active part number). Trust me when I say I never want to be “that guy” who erases the trail when it comes to parts!

For instance, instead of having 28 unique part numbers for a 1.5V grain of wheat lamp, we now have 1 number; CA0000075. All the other 28 part numbers now point to CA0000075. The 28 old numbers are still in the parts database (and shown as out of stock) but we have “oodles and oodles of CA000075’s on hand.

so, to answer your question about old/original part numbers, yes, they still exist (with much better descriptions I might add!) and photos of each part too.

thank you,

Mike

Your system makes good sense Mike,….well done,….it took all of 5 minutes to read through what you posted earlier to figure out what you’re cooking up,….I like the prefix system to keep in line steam or diesel Railking or Premier ….etc., etc.,….that allows the consumer to double check their own orders to make double sure they’re in the right category,……it’s gonna work well,…

Pat

Mike, Thank you for the information!!  Excellent work!  I'm sure we can be patient a little longer.  This kind of thing takes a massive amount of work and testing the system.

It is very exciting to see Trainworx taking on the MTH Parts Department.  A great match and there are several parts I am looking for that I will patiently wait on.

28 part numbers for the same lamp? I think I have a better understanding of the past MTH parts problems!

One of the reasons for so many part numbers for one lamp is at the dawn of MTH, they used to sell them with the connector plug attached to the bulb. Sort of a custom fit for each diesel locomotive. So each different length of wire needed, the same bulb acquired several part numbers. Now add if it was a double bulb set for twin headlights, same senario different lengths of wire created a new part number. But all-in-all, it is the same bulb. Just splice onto the existing plug. In most cases it is easier too, not having to re-route the entire bulb and wire.

Mr. Sartor would be correct, in his assumption. While it would be nice if you could just "plug in" your replacement lamp the feasibility of that reality is not to be. Allow me to give you another example. A single 6V grain of wheat lamp. There were 205 individual part numbers in the old system for this part (yes 205 different part numbers for the same lamp! because one may have had leads that were 75mm L with a 2-pos plug while the next one had leads that were 75.9mm L and so on). In the spirit of keeping the original numbers in tact all of these 205 different part numbers for single 6V grain of wheat lamps now point to CA0000074. One part number for "CA0000074          LAMP / 6V / 60mA / 3mm D x 6.3mm L / ASSORTED LENGTH WIRES / SINGLE LAMP / GRAIN OF WHEAT".

The reality of it is this; we just do not have the bandwidth to manage 206 different part numbers for the same part, just does not make sense, especially given the fact that we have essentially started this endeavor 30 years late!

One thing I would like everyone to know and repeat as gospel is this;

When you are searching the parts database please keep this in mind; If the part name is in all CAPS (like the lamp example above) then we have actually laid hands on the part, have renamed it appropriately and photographed it (or have it in the que to be photographed). If the part name has a capital letter and all smaller case letters, such as "Shell" then it is technically an invalid part number (we have not seen it, have not touched it and do not have it in inventory). Here are some examples;

GA1100108B   SHELL / TENDER / COMPLETE / PS 2 & 3 / SOUTHERN PACIFIC DAYLIGHT #4438 / PREMIER GS-4 4-8-4
This would be a part we have in stock.

FB1200342      Shell (boiler)
This would be a part we have not seen and have not renamed. (Do we have it? "Maybe"? We have over 30 skids stacked 5' high that have boxes of parts that have never been cataloged to date (yes, read job security or (job insanity)).

There is a long road ahead of us to get everything into the system and available for the end users, but it is an endeavor worth finishing.     

Janet Mattern, The screw you want to order used to be called; IA-0000069   Screw. After our revamp the part is now: IA0000069 SCREW / WSHRHD / SELF-CUTTING / 3mm x 8mm. (Much easier to know at a glance what you are buying (there used to be 800+ parts named "screw". Yes, we literally determined the thread size/pitch of all 800+ screws and whittled it down to far less than 800+ parts named "screw"!

I am sure you can all see the chaos we have diligently been organizing over the last 15 months. It's a lot of tedious work, but my hope is that you will be satisfied with the outcome (and come buy some parts as a result!)

Also, TW Trainworx has not undertaken this endeavor, its just me with a couple other folks doing this work. The team at TW Trainworx have all been diligently engaged in creating custom layouts for clients, I just furloughed myself to partake in this adventure for a little over a year. Please don't call TW looking for MTH parts! They have enough on their plate as it is, unless of course you need someone to build you your dream layout!

Thank you,
Mike Reagan
MTH Parts & Sales LLC

Mike - thanks so much for the insight.  Your work is invaluable and will be met with much excitement.

Thanks again to you and everyone involved.

That is a mind-boggling amount of work to actually catalog all that stuff!

Mike, now that you're truly an expert at doing such a database, can I get you to drop by and do the same thing for my train collection?  It's much smaller than the parts inventory, less than 1,000 pieces total I expect.  Having it all cataloged and having pictures would be truly great!

John,

No problem, all I ask is that you hold your breath, starting NOW and don't take another one until I get there. I'm putting on my shoes to start walking to PA now! (I might even jog a bit too, but keep holding your breath until I get there!)

Hurry, I'm getting red!

I like the ALL CAPS way of marking the parts list.

I don't know if/when Mike will get back to York, but when he does, he should not be allowed to pay for his own drinks or meals.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

...It's much smaller than the parts inventory, less than 1,000 pieces total I expect.  Having it all cataloged and having pictures would be truly great!

Under 1000 pieces?  I'll bet not.  Are you sure you want your wife to know the actual count and value? 

I have what I consider to be a medium-sized collection (maybe smaller, considering what I've seen in pictures on this forum), and my spreadsheet contains over 1300 entries.

In the spirit of dropping tid-bits of useful information put together in this endeavor here is a revised list of Traction Tires. In a format that will hopefully prevent ALL of us from having to put on our bi-focals, grab a magnifying glass, or wear the Opti-Visor to read it ! Of course, all of this info will be free to download from the site when it launches, but most of you know how I like to stir things up!

Hope this helps you out down the road!

Thank you,
Mike
MTH Parts & Sales LLC

Gunrunner John, you still out there? I just passed the Charlotte Motor Speedway, should I turn around yet and head back home?

@Mikado posted:

Gunrunner John, you still out there? I just passed the Charlotte Motor Speedway, should I turn around yet and head back home?

On the way why don't you swing by Pittsburgh and chat a while.  I'm sure John will be OK.

I'm... gasp...FINE!

@Mikado posted:

In the spirit of dropping tid-bits of useful information put together in this endeavor here is a revised list of Traction Tires. In a format that will hopefully prevent ALL of us from having to put on our bi-focals, grab a magnifying glass, or wear the Opti-Visor to read it ! Of course, all of this info will be free to download from the site when it launches, but most of you know how I like to stir things up!

Hope this helps you out down the road!

Thank you,
Mike
MTH Parts & Sales LLC

I for one must say this is just awful you are taking the fun out ordering MTH parts and the surprise finding out if you actually got the right one when it arrives. Great job and thanks for all the hard work the traction tire chart is super nice.

P.S. I am not sure if you will handle PS3 upgrade kits but it sure would be super nice to keep that inventory readily available it usually all sold when it arrives with people still waiting for them.

Love the traction tire chart, nice touch separating it into various locomotive types and sizes.

John, I am going to head back home, no way you've held your breath this long (and you can respond on your computer)! Glad you like the tire chart!

Tomorrow I will post a couple documents pertaining to Premier Diesel / Electric, RailKing Diesel / Electric & RailKing Steam motors that show dimensions or worm gears (and more specifically factory worm gear numbers) to help everyone easily identify what motors go to what products. Unfortunately the Premier steam list won't be done for some time to come.....

Thank you,
Mike Reagan
MTH Parts & Sales LLC

WOW, being able to find the motors based on the worms would be a HUGE help!  That will be a very useful document!!!

I confess, I already stopped holding my breath.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

WOW, being able to find the motors based on the worms would be a HUGE help!  That will be a very useful document!!!

I confess, I already stopped holding my breath.

Don’t let em’ fool you Mike, the man is so full of hot air, you could inventory every part you got and he wouldn’t even turn blue,….🤣🤣🤣🤣

Pat

@breezinup posted:

It's not necessarily true, but from that description it almost sounds like the MTH parts department was in shambles, meaning someone hadn't been minding the store for a long time.

I think that they just slowly evolved into the mess they had.

@breezinup posted:

Trainworx has been pretty much devoted to Lionel, so it's curious that Mike is now also doing work for Mth.

I don't think TrainWorx has anything against MTH trains, they will build you a layout for any maker's trains.

@breezinup posted:

It's not necessarily true, but from that description it almost sounds like the MTH parts department was in shambles, meaning someone hadn't been minding the store for a long time.

Trainworx has been pretty much devoted to Lionel, so it's curious that Mike is now also doing work for Mth.

I personally think Midge probably did the best she could with limited resources.

As far as Mike working with MTH, why not?  Work is work and Mike is good at what he does.

They were getting pretty sloppy at the end. I didn't receive any confermation of parts orders placed or sent from their website since January.

Looking back at a few MTH threads I didn’t see this mentioned so will there be anyone from the new MTH parts crew at York selling MTH parts as they have done in past years?

Pete

Good question, but I wonder if they're going to want to dilute their efforts of getting the site on-line by dragging a bunch of parts to York?

It'll be interesting to see how Atlas O benefits from this parts department renovation for the items they bought from MTH, including Proto equipped engines. Will they use the same parts numbers as MTH uses, and just refer customers to the MTH site if they need parts? And how about Lionel for parts for the items they bought from MTH? Are they going to channel MTH parts through their own parts department, or refer customers to the MTH parts department?

@Norton posted:

Looking back at a few MTH threads I didn’t see this mentioned so will there be anyone from the new MTH parts crew at York selling MTH parts as they have done in past years?

This is just an educated guess on my part:

NO, they will NOT be selling parts at this or any future York Meet.

I've never ordered a single train part, but I've had plenty experience in my career dealing with part numbers. I don't know how good this new part number system will be, but has to be significantly better than a system where all part numbers started with multiple leading zeroes.