Well, I have NO concerns with the new MTH companies, because I have no MTH locos or transformers and am glad of that. I operate only Lionel locos made between 2006 and 2013 with no problems. But as an outsider to MTH looking in, I don't see how 3 parts of a fragmented company can be better that 1 whole company. Good luck to you MTH-ers.
@Yellowstone Special posted:Well, I have NO concerns with the new MTH companies, because I have no MTH locos or transformers and am glad of that. I operate only Lionel locos made between 2006 and 2013 with no problems. But as an outsider to MTH looking in, I don't see how 3 parts of a fragmented company can be better that 1 whole company. Good luck to you MTH-ers.
No one has said the current situation is better than having original company intact, its only better than having zero support or product. Continuing availability of parts is a significant plus. Owners of MTH product have an advantage in that most all items the parts used in recent production can be used to keep older product running. Lionel owners will have harder time doing that as changes to the same prototype over the years in many cases have different mechanics and definitely different electronics.
When a part finally does fail on your 2006-2013 items see check what your options are to keep it running. Hundreds of the parts are now listed as NLA.
Pete
Like most of the other posters have said, we need to be patient and see how this all shakes out over time. The supply chain issues are the real wild card as the new MTH will have little control over that.
I will give two thumbs up to the new parts company 
. The website is easy to use and the customer service is outstanding. I ordered some parts recently and received them in four days. I was shorted one part so I emailed them about it and the person responsible emailed me back the same day saying the part would be sent out right away. Received it in a few days. Great service!
I do wonder about the Chinese factory where MTH is made. Seems to me their production volume has had to have really gone down since these changes to MTH started. Rumor is that Atlas is moving their existing tooling production to the MTH factory. I wonder if that includes their HO and N gauge lines? How much production volume does the factory need to stay in the train business?
Ken
@bigkid posted:I think the answer is at this point it is what it is and whatever it becomes, it becomes. That doesn't mean people shouldn't have concerns. Mike W wanted to retire and get out of the business and what we see is the outcome. Ideally as we have beaten to death, someone would have bought the company and keep going forward with it but that simply wasn't there (for example, a private equity company, like the one that owns Lionel, could theoretically have bought MTH). Lionel and Atlas bought what they wanted of the tooling, what fit their product line, MTH parts spun off, MTH DCS is its own entity, and what is left of MTH product seems to be a custom run shop for hobby stores and some relatively low BTO runs they are doing themselves.
The part about this that concerns me is that either Mike had an unrealistic idea of what MTH was worth, or no investor thinks that the company is financially viable. Seems like there should be some middle ground, but that's for others to decide. IMO, Lionel gets attention from investors because of the century-plus name - everyone knows about Lionel Trains, whether they are interested or not. Mention Mike's Train House or MTH to the average person - crickets.
BTW MTH parts is a work in progress, and all I can say is that given what I heard Mike R saying at York and seeing a demo of the parts lookup, I don't think that is a concern going forward, he seems pretty determined to make it work and given how intense he seems to be, I wouldn't bet against it being a smashing success.
Mike Reagan is the bright spot in all of this. If anyone has the skill and passion to make it happen, it's him. Fingers crossed.
@A. Wells posted:Or some of us might move to HO Scale. In the last three weeks, I've seen nothing but price slaughter for O items, esp. used MTH items. ...
O has never been inexpensive, but HO ain't cheap either. Not that long ago, one could buy a conventional HO loco for 1/10th the cost of an item from Lionel or MTH. Now, HO items are catching up in price, and you need more of them to populate a layout than in O gauge. I always promoted model railroading as a hobby that was accessible to all budgets, but sadly that's no longer the case.
I find it a very frustrating time to be in the O hobby. I've invested heavily in the O end of things at this point and I'm having some regret esp. when I see so many readily available models at cheaper prices for other scales.
This will improve, we just need to be patient. I was encouraged by what I saw at York - in general, asking prices haven't risen, and people were more willing to negotiate. Right now, people on "that auction site which shall not be named" are just trolling for suckers - don't feed that monster.
As @Mellow Hudson Mike mentioned above, the best outcome would be for a passionate young (or at least younger) entrepreneur to step up as Richard Kughn and Mike Wolf did a generation ago. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for that person.
There are a lot of moving parts involved - the aging demographic, chips, shipping, overseas manufacturing - it's going to take awhile to shake itself out. And remember, it's just a hobby...
In that discussing the business behind our trains seems to be a hobby within our hobby, and human nature brings out the armchair CEO in all of us, maybe OGR should open a new “What I Would Do If I Ran the World” forum.
@Mallard4468 posted:As @Mellow Hudson Mike mentioned above, the best outcome would be for a passionate young (or at least younger) entrepreneur to step up as Richard Kughn and Mike Wolf did a generation ago. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for that person.There are a lot of moving parts involved - the aging demographic, chips, shipping, overseas manufacturing - it's going to take awhile to shake itself out. And remember, it's just a hobby...
Also keep in mind that many (most?) of us have more trains than we need, and could likely run for years without buying another thing. 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Also keep in mind that many (most?) of us have more trains than we need, and could likely run for years without buying another thing.
Sounds like you've been in my basement.
@Mallard4468 posted:Sounds like you've been in my basement.
I didn't even have to leave mine to figure that out! 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Also keep in mind that many (most?) of us have more trains than we need, and could likely run for years without buying another thing.
That sounds like acceptance, we all live in denial, ….clearly those classes are working for you,…..I’m a quitter,…I quit going to the sessions,…😉
Pat
@gunrunnerjohn posted:I didn't even have to leave mine to figure that out!
Nor do I and I have seen your GRJ but I have not seen Mallards but I am guessing thatI would be a distance third to both of you. I have 3 more MTH Locomotives on order looking at picking a PS1 up and another Post War 2065 that I let go years ago by mistake. I will still be in third place having seen John.
I hear you coming up in the inside, the finish line is in sight!
Hmm,…I only have two,…☹️
Pat
@Norton posted:No one has said the current situation is better than having original company intact, its only better than having zero support or product. Continuing availability of parts is a significant plus. Owners of MTH product have an advantage in that most all items the parts used in recent production can be used to keep older product running. Lionel owners will have harder time doing that as changes to the same prototype over the years in many cases have different mechanics and definitely different electronics.
When a part finally does fail on your 2006-2013 items see check what your options are to keep it running. Hundreds of the parts are now listed as NLA.Pete
Geez Pete. I'd never stated that they did. I'm only glad that I have the modern Lionel and not MTH. I really hope the "demise" of MTH works out. By the time any parts on my modern Lionel do fail, I'll be dead and gone anyway.
@Yellowstone Special posted:Geez Pete. I'd never stated that they did. I'm only glad that I have the modern Lionel and not MTH. I really hope the "demise" of MTH works out. By the time any parts on my modern Lionel do fail, I'll be dead and gone anyway.
That’s right, Lionels never fail,…🙄
Pat
Well, I have only 5 engines. Minor problems in the past have been remedied by the nearest Authorized Lionel Service Station which is 35 miles from me. So I’m good, thanks.
Play nice guys. 
I have no real worries about the future of MTH. I have two more locomotives on order now, and will patiently wait until they come in (patience is always a virtue, as I am finding out in training my new pup). With the MTH parts situation appearing to be in capable hands under the direction of Mike Reagan; a good number of dealers offering special runs; and some reputable service people to turn to, I have every reason to believe that this new approach should work pretty well.
The majority of my trains are MTH and Lionel . . . all of recent vintage (mostly current century). I have had a high level of satisfaction and success with both product lines.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:My advice is to take a deep breath and give it a little time, I think you'll find that prices won't stay at those levels. Run what you have, after all, that's why you bought it! Quite frankly, I'm doing minimal buying right now and waiting to see when sanity returns.
I'm taking quit the opposite approach this Holiday Season. I'm making as many purchases as possible at this time in fear that 1) prices will sky rocket even more, and 2) there will be no more of the items I want available once hoarders like myself scarf them up. And, at the very least, I'd like to completely complete one area of my layout...just one area!
Anthony
@Mallard4468 - I take it you are calling me a sucker! 
Yes, I am feeding the monster and another with the Z on the end. However, I have been trying to throw more of my business toward Ma & Pa stores. There are two in particular who I'll definitely give a shout out to once I've exhausted them of my wish list.
Along these same lines and my real reason for responding to your comment, is that I have been taken aback by some of these Ma & Pa stores who "maintain" shopping websites. In some cases, I've attempted to contact the owners in regards to stock, actual costs, etc... I have been meant with either crickets or I have been given the "I'll check on that tomorrow" line over and over again. In some cases I have placed orders only to be meant with, (no kidding) we have none of these items in stock.
What I'm essentially saying is that I feel if Ma and Pa stores want to compete SUCCESSFULLY in the vast arena of the Model Train web Market, then they need to make more of a concerted effort with maintaining actual stock counts and provide a much higher level of customer service than they are now. I don't feel that's asking to much of them.
Anthony
I haven't heard what's happening with the MTH DCS spin off. There is lots of DCS opportunity but IMO DCS needs to move forward in order for other MTH spinoffs to prosper. I'm hoping some of DCS's future innovation was shared at the York DCS Users Group meeting.
@Mallard4468 posted:As @Mellow Hudson Mike mentioned above, the best outcome would be for a passionate young (or at least younger) entrepreneur to step up as Richard Kughn and Mike Wolf did a generation ago. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for that person.
I'm 32 (I hope this falls under younger) and likely have some of the resources to do this, but I really wouldn't know where to start.
@A. Wells posted:@Mallard4468 - I take it you are calling me a sucker!
Along these same lines and my real reason for responding to your comment, is that I have been taken aback by some of these Ma & Pa stores who "maintain" shopping websites. In some cases, I've attempted to contact the owners in regards to stock, actual costs, etc... I have been meant with either crickets or I have been given the "I'll check on that tomorrow" line over and over again. In some cases I have placed orders only to be meant with, (no kidding) we have none of these items in stock.
What I'm essentially saying is that I feel if Ma and Pa stores want to compete SUCCESSFULLY in the vast arena of the Model Train web Market, then they need to make more of a concerted effort with maintaining actual stock counts and provide a much higher level of customer service than they are now. I don't feel that's asking to much of them.
Anthony
The website that ends with Z has prices all over the place - some really good, some not so much. IMO, "that other site" has a lot of sellers who put ridiculous prices on stuff to see who will bite. What I'm saying is to shop carefully.
Definitely agree regarding keeping current inventory on websites - it's incredibly frustrating. In general, I've found that Patrick's, Ro, Muffin's, and Trainworld keep their online inventory very accurate. I've encountered a few shops that don't keep their site current - one of them really likes to talk to customers, and he does a great job. One other will take an order but not communicate when it's not in stock - "oh, I sold that a long time ago"; after that happened to me twice, I stopped trying to buy from him. I won't name them on the forum, but will tell you if you email me.
Another annoyance was MTH's "find it locally" option - too many dealers didn't keep it updated, so it was largely useless. Not sure what will happen to that feature as a result of the changes to the company.
@Mallard4468 posted:Another annoyance was MTH's "find it locally" option - too many dealers didn't keep it updated, so it was largely useless. Not sure what will happen to that feature as a result of the changes to the company.
Just a quick note, I've not been able to get the "find it locally" functionality to work in several weeks on the MTH site. We'll talk for sure. A
@A. Wells posted:Just a quick note, I've not been able to get the "find it locally" functionality to work in several weeks on the MTH site. We'll talk for sure. A
It hasn't worked since they moved several months ago. I can only guess, but I believe they moved their server/web provider, and the "find it locally" database did not make the cut.
I'd like to easily find out the shipping schedule for some of the "special run" items that I ordered. I know Mr Muffin showed us how, but his solution was not all-inclusive as some of the items did NOT show up in the query. - I might just add shortcuts to my web browser for these.
@Frank Mulligan posted:It hasn't worked since they moved several months ago. I can only guess, but I believe they moved their server/web provider, and the "find it locally" database did not make the cut.
I'd like to easily find out the shipping schedule for some of the "special run" items that I ordered. I know Mr Muffin showed us how, but his solution was not all-inclusive as some of the items did NOT show up in the query. - I might just add shortcuts to my web browser for these.
The Find it locally feature redirected the website visitor from the hosted mthtrains.com website to an internally hosted server (without DNS) located at http://216.214.83.119 which I suspect was at the MTH Columbia office. I noticed this server went offline during the move from the old MTH office to the new Parts & Sales office.
Anything printed or said to you by a "trusted source" about a shipping schedule is a wishful & diluted guess at this point.
I ordered "In-Stock" IT hardware back in May with an estimated arrival date of July 1.
Received notification on August 1, that my order would arrive before August 31.
Received notification on Sept. 3 that they will now provide an estimate by September 15 as to when this equipment will ship.
On October 1 I was notified that my equipment is located in a shipping container off the coast of California and no further shipping estimates will be provided until the container is actually offloaded from the ship.
I called my sales rep and his best "guess" as to when this stuff arrives is first quarter 2022 but don't be surprised if I have to wait until June 2022.
Patience is a virtue.
"Patience is a virtue."
In all phases of life. There's lots of uncertainty in the world at large, and toy trains are no different 
.
