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What if question. Does MTH plan to have everything produced and manufactured by June 2021 from the 2020 volume 2 by then? What if production falls behind because of Covid? And will there be a big warehouse blowout from remaining unsold inventory?

The announcement stated that MTH intended to produce all the items in the final catalog.  However, there are many variables that can occur between now and then.

Rusty

No, I have all the Milwaukee Road electrics MTH made and I thank them for making them. Most of my steam and diesel are K-line scale with two Atlas Diesels and one Weaver Hiawatha Steam engine. No Lionel engines at all. I have more engine power than I can run plus my home built little electrics. Again, thank you Mike for getting me into three rail scale and have as much fun in retirement as I am. Don              DSC_0431

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@breezinup posted:

I suspect lots of folks would say there's an enormous difference between finding parts for Postwar Lionel engines, which are relatively simple and the parts common, and finding them for all the different complicated foreign-made MTH engines with an almost infinite number of different parts, many of which are already unavailable.

Very patient 

Auburn?

I'll stop there. But the chase goes back further than pw too. Lionel can be an easy hunt sure. But there are Lionel production parts that have been hens teeth MY whole life and I've got more than a half century casually looking for a couple of them.

In fact, I was a young operator who broke some parts just in time for the bankruptcy sale to Quaker.  Oh what about the availability of LSA/Mercury parts, fire car,..... all show items by 69.

 

 

I’ll admit it.  I panicked a little.  I’ve wanted a Z4000 for a long time just couldn’t justify it for my small layout.  I was at the local hobby shop and the owner says it is the last one he has and will ever have.   Well that was all it took.  My wife doesn’t let me go to the car dealership by myself anymore either.
Seriously I have gotten a lot of enjoyment from MTH products and glad I finally took the plunge.  Can’t believe MTH would pull the plug on this transformer!

@Toro5xi posted:

I’ll admit it.  I panicked a little.  I’ve wanted a Z4000 for a long time just couldn’t justify it for my small layout.  I was at the local hobby shop and the owner says it is the last one he has and will ever have.   Well that was all it took.  My wife doesn’t let me go to the car dealership by myself anymore either.
Seriously I have gotten a lot of enjoyment from MTH products and glad I finally took the plunge.  Can’t believe MTH would pull the plug on this transformer!

Good purchase. I have a first generation; still working, 

I had 3 sets of MTH Premier 18" passenger cars pre-ordered before the announcement.  After the closing announcement, I didn't panic.  It was a call to arms! 

I ordered 4 more sets.  The new Lionel catalog only verified my decision.  They seem enamored with 21" cars.  I'm really bummed about MTH going away.  I hold out no prospect of a miracle.  IMO they're toast.

I put in about a grand worth of rolling stock pre-orders from a Forum sponsor (first time doing it this way), recently received a UP SD70 (#4884) from the same dealer, and after a day's searching, managed to acquire the four newest centerbeam flatcars (first in my collection) with the repositioned trucks, NS, TTX, BNSF and UP.

Still thinking about getting UP SD70 #4014 now that I got the #4884. I already have the PS2 version of Big Boy 4014.

---PCJ

@Toro5xi posted:

I’ll admit it.  I panicked a little.  I’ve wanted a Z4000 for a long time just couldn’t justify it for my small layout.  I was at the local hobby shop and the owner says it is the last one he has and will ever have.   Well that was all it took.  My wife doesn’t let me go to the car dealership by myself anymore either.
Seriously I have gotten a lot of enjoyment from MTH products and glad I finally took the plunge.  Can’t believe MTH would pull the plug on this transformer!

That's not panic; it's wisdom, come to the fore. 

- The Other Guy

 

I bought a couple of Railking streamliners, picked up a few used passenger sets and replaced all of my gigantic crossing signals with scale ones before MTH closes.  I also just preordered an extra DCS remote as a back up.  The rest of my new MTH stuff was preordered before the announced closing.  I'm only waiting on my 18"  Illinois Central passenger set from 2020 Vol 1.  That should complete my must have MTH stuff.  I don't expect to buy any more  new engines unless the phoenix rises from the ashes because I only run DCS now.  MTH's demise is heartbreaking to me.  I'm losing a good friend I've known for a long time.  I'll miss the catalogs.  They were so awesome.  I still have them dating back to the 1990's. 

I have bought more MTH product in the last few months more so because of COVID-19 than MTH announcing they were going to shut down.  I am sure there has been some panic buying, sure FOMO.  I am enjoying my new acquisitions, and have been fortunate, they have all worked out of the box, well the engines that is.

John

I see several people looking for items that were uniquely made by MTH.  They probably were holding out until the item was going to be produced again.  Now that that's not happening is when the panic sets in.

FWIW, I've been informed by more than one dealer that the 64' Woodsided Passenger Add-on set in PRR livery might not get produced.  I'm reasonably sure there are enough orders for it and why it would not be produced is beyond me.

After the announcement of MTH's closure I've decided that I will no doubt order the 4-4-0 in PRR while I might not of.

Since returning to O gauge model railroading 23 years ago, MTH has been my favorite brand. I have enough locomotives and rolling stock and don't really need more but I have continued to buy one or two new locomotives every year and I regret that MTH won't be offering new ones in the future. Due to the closure, the one thing I have bought recently is a new Z4000 transformer which will be a backup and also power the 10'-by-5' layout that I had been running off the transformers on my 12'-by-8' layout. I had planned to make this purchase in the future but decided to proceed immediately after the closure was announced. I still find it hard to understand how a brand with the market presence and reputation of MTH could just close up shop.

MELGAR

@RickO posted:

The most disheartening thing is that even though MTH will continue customer support.

 Gunrunnerjohn has stated that their boards have been impossible to get for some time prior to Mikes retirement announcement.

 

Hey Rick ,

I didn't see GRJ's post about the boards being impossible to get .

Was it an advanced MTH closing notice to China or an order slow up from China because of COVID19 ? 

There’s an engine in MTH’s 2020 vol.2 catalog that I really like, but I’ve decided not to buy it—or to buy any other MTH loco going forward. I don’t want to make that kind of investment in this kind of product—where things can and do fail or break—when the availability of parts and support is so uncertain. I only buy engines to run—not to display. Sadly, that’s the way it is...

@Keith L posted:

There’s an engine in MTH’s 2020 vol.2 catalog that I really like, but I’ve decided not to buy it—or to buy any other MTH loco going forward. I don’t want to make that kind of investment in this kind of product—where things can and do fail or break—when the availability of parts and support is so uncertain. I only buy engines to run—not to display. Sadly, that’s the way it is...

I agree - even though I've been a long-time buyer of MTH. The part supply will become an even bigger issue than it has been. And, as you say, sadly, that's the way it is.

MELGAR

Mary , Keith and Melgar ,

I hear what you all have to say .    🤔   ............and any manufacture can go away 😢..... but......going back to too many days ago , I remember running trains conventionally.

I still run  my Lionel and MTH engines conventionally from time to time .   The thing is , I notice that a good deal  of the time,  I don't do a whole lot more with the engines in command mode .

I guess I just like to see them run and maneuver with different size and varieties of  consists and the improvements from lubing and cleaning .    The scenery and all the little make believe residents are these days also of much interest . 

I've had friends and relatives in to check out the activities in the train room .  They enjoyed the running operations but the most common comments were that they really thought that all the activities that were taking place in the miniature world were amazing.     The layout is only 5'×16' with an add on spur and 8 rail yard on a 6'×30" section. 

Don't worry , have fun with this amazing hobby and all these great people on the forum.

Stay safe  😷.......remember this .....🎵🎶  The Virus got along without US before ......and The Virus can get along without US now 👻  🎶

 

 

I will admit that I am buying more MTH products but I personally say I am not panic buying.

Mostly, I have been buying parts for things that I knew would go wrong or things I think would go wrong: Passenger & freight trucks, a few shells, BCR upgrades, several PS2/3 and PS3 upgrade kits, and two smoke units. All of my electronics are kept in anti-static bags so that should prevent anything static related problems from occurring. I already have plenty of screw and misc. parts so I don't need to worry about any of the small stuff.

My justification is that I will need it sooner or later so I should get it while it is in stock.

I have always wanted something from MTH's European line and they aren't that common anymore. With Mike's announcement of closing the business, I recently ordered a SNCF set of passenger cars and am currently looking for a matching engine. I also got a few bierwagens just to say I have them.

Some could say that I am panic buying, I like to say I am carefully preparing for an uncertain future in an uncertain world.

Bryce

Last edited by Oscale_Trains_Lover_

I panic bought in a way, I'm primarily an N scale modeler but had been eyeing some items from MTH for over a decade now with the thought "Oh I'll just get them the next time they're run" issue after issue. With the news of the closing I went ahead and pulled the trigger with some help from forum members. I'm glad I finally did it. I'm a bit of a purist as far as consists go, I like everything to be the same brand so nothing is out shined by another car or loco having noticeably better detailing or paint work so I'll be trying to round up the other stuff I need for the train. Once I have that I'll be happy

I will admit that I am buying more MTH products but I personally say I am not panic buying.

Mostly, I have been buying parts for things that I knew would go wrong or things I think would go wrong: Passenger & freight trucks, a few shells, BCR upgrades, several PS2/3 and PS3 upgrade kits, and two smoke units. All of my electronics are kept in anti-static bags so that should prevent anything static related problems from occurring. I already have plenty of screw and misc. parts so I don't need to worry about any of the small stuff.

My justification is that I will need it sooner or later so I should get it while it is in stock.

I have always wanted something from MTH's European line and they aren't that common anymore. With Mike's announcement of closing the business, I recently ordered a SNCF set of passenger cars and am currently looking for a matching engine. I also got a few bierwagens just to say I have them.

Some could say that I am panic buying, I like to say I am carefully preparing for an uncertain future in an uncertain world.

Bryce

I went onto the MTH website and downloaded a bunch of their old catalogs (as PDFs) going back about 15 years. I see engines I'd like to acquire, but they're not currently available, so will have to get them, obviously, used.

I just display the engines, so the lack of future parts for same is not a concern of mine.

I now have several engines, 3 from MTH, that are still in their boxes, unopened. Bought them all in the last few months. (No wife, no family; just me!) Waiting for the Covid to abate, so I can donate a bunch of my books to an academic library, freeing up space for train displays. Yeah, moving A so I can move B and C to where A was...

There's no shortage of this stuff.  Yellow / Gold and Purple boxes will be around for years to come, brand new or on the secondary market.

True, nothing new will be produced, but trust me you won't run out of buying opportunities.

Even if PS3 goes away forever... something new will come along that will be better.  Necessity is the Mother of invention.

Go to a train show... You can buy old prewar and postwar stuff from 70+ years ago.  MTH products will be out there long after we are gone.

Now if you really wanted to hoard something... I might start downloading a bunch of sound sets from the Protosound web site since that future appears to be in a state of flux.

Have Fun!  

Ron

 

@Toro5xi posted:

 Can’t believe MTH would pull the plug on this transformer!

Their pulling the plug on the entire company.      However I would not be a bit surprised if some suppliers hit the market with products that were originally designed for MTH.   Guess it hinges on who actually owns the design of the products and tooling. I would bet Mike would be willing to make deals with the suppliers if he got a cut.    Don't expect to see all the MTH products in the market but some like track and power supplies may have enough demand to make a product run every now and then. Again, I would not be surprised to see other marketing operations "Lionel, Atlas, Bachmann, ?" arrange to  produce some of the MTH products.     j

@MELGAR posted:

Since returning to O gauge model railroading 23 years ago, MTH has been my favorite brand. I have enough locomotives and rolling stock and don't really need more but I have continued to buy one or two new locomotives every year and I regret that MTH won't be offering new ones in the future. Due to the closure, the one thing I have bought recently is a new Z4000 transformer which will be a backup and also power the 10'-by-5' layout that I had been running off the transformers on my 12'-by-8' layout. I had planned to make this purchase in the future but decided to proceed immediately after the closure was announced. I still find it hard to understand how a brand with the market presence and reputation of MTH could just close up shop.

MELGAR

I imagine we only know half the story. Mike probably started putting the word out on the QT some time ago.  Obviously no takers. Guess all the likely operations figure they will go directly to the suppliers for specific items after the wake is over. Things I have been wondering, is this a purely financial decision or if Mike has any health issues or simply a case of burnout ?          j

Last edited by JohnActon

I admit that part of what got me to pre-order a Amtrak Turbo Train was that MTH was closing.   Another reason is I can remember my Mom rode a Amtrak Turbo Train from Silver Spring MD to Harpers Ferry in the 70's.   And I happen to be designing a new Harpers Ferry layout.   So yeah, had to have one.   My layout design has some O-63 curves on the mainline and the Turbo is min O-72.   So I modified my design to include a O-72 loop by adding some switches.   Actually a good thing since now I'll be able to run just about any engine I might get in the future.  My collection is 95% MTH and I'll miss the company.   Hopefully DCS will continue but if not AND IF my DCS control equipment fails I'll upgrade my PS2 engines to PS3 (really easy) and run with DCC.

Great review by Eric's Trains - appreciated the warning about non O-63 Atlas compatibility:

@Ron045 posted:

Now if you really wanted to hoard something... I might start downloading a bunch of sound sets from the Protosound web site since that future appears to be in a state of flux. 

That is exactly what I have been doing. I have over 400 sound files downloaded with descriptions of each one: engine type, passenger/freight, name of train (if passenger), and if its PS2 3V or PS3.

I still have plenty more to go.

Bryce

That is exactly what I have been doing. I have over 400 sound files downloaded with descriptions of each one: engine type, passenger/freight, name of train (if passenger), and if its PS2 3V or PS3.

I still have plenty more to go.

Bryce

I'm working on downloading some of my favorites too. Looking for the 2008 run R11 Subway file 20-2933-1. It's not on the site. You by chance have it. 

Last edited by Trainlover9943
@Ron045 posted:

Now if you really wanted to hoard something... I might start downloading a bunch of sound sets from the Protosound web site since that future appears to be in a state of flux.

 

 

I have all the sound files for all my locomotives downloaded and saved on my computer and an external hard drive, along with copies of the DCS loader and latest TIU software. I was doing that before MTH announced they were closing though. 

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