When trains were made here they were considerably more expensive. Remember Postwar based, Pullmor powered, TMCC F3 A-B sets selling for close to $700 in the mid to late 90's? I would imagine a set of Legacy scale F3s built in the USA would sell for considerably more for Lionel to make money. Unless you want to pay people slave wages in the US you're not going to be seeing modern US built model trains. Plus what makes anyone think that paying someone close to nothing to build a model train in the US is going to suddenly create a high quality product?
I also agree with you Alan well said...........I guess for me it's just hard to accept what America has become. When I think of Lionel trains I think of an American icon the same as the Chevrolet Corvette. Lionel trains made in China is like running your finger nails on a chalkboard. The Chevrolet Corvette is still made in Bowling Green Kentucky and thank God for that....It is what it is with Lionel....... But it makes me sad and upset to see our great country relying on China products.
Lou1985 posted:When trains were made here they were considerably more expensive. Remember Postwar based, Pullmor powered, TMCC F3 A-B sets selling for close to $700 in the mid to late 90's? I would imagine a set of Legacy scale F3s built in the USA would sell for considerably more for Lionel to make money. Unless you want to pay people slave wages in the US you're not going to be seeing modern US built model trains. Plus what makes anyone think that paying someone close to nothing to build a model train in the US is going to suddenly create a high quality product?
Seems like we could pay higher wages buy taking away the cost of shipping stuff half the way around the world. And that adds to the thought of them paying the folks over their slave labor rates. I collect blow molds, the figures in my avatar. There used to be many in the US that made them. Now we are down to one. Now the new ones are made in China. And now they are more expensive than the US made molds! That being said. How did they make them, ship them around the world, then ship them in from ports and sell them cheaper than we can make them? Cost me 10 bucks in shipping just to get a LC universal controller shipped to me!
Jim
Economics of scale. One item cost more to ship than 100,000.
Dwayne B posted:I also agree with you Alan well said...........I guess for me it's just hard to accept what America has become. When I think of Lionel trains I think of an American icon the same as the Chevrolet Corvette. Lionel trains made in China is like running your finger nails on a chalkboard. The Chevrolet Corvette is still made in Bowling Green Kentucky and thank God for that....It is what it is with Lionel....... But it makes me sad and upset to see our great country relying on China products.
RIGHT! But dont look into the parts used to build that Corvette! Now we have Chinese glass in nearly all automobiles no matter where they are made. If you have a newer vehicles read the legal info printed on it. See if it is CCC compliant.
On the other hand .. Isnt Apple building a multi billion dollar plant here in the mid west? : )
Jim
China only cares about labor not capital. The objective is to maintain labor's income. So the cost of the tooling is only in the labor used to produce it. The other cost China cares about is the labor used to produce the things made with the tooling. Tooling removed from China or parts removed from China reduce, or potentially reduce, labor's income. That is a big deal in China. In China the point is to maximize the income of labor. That is why it is so cheap to make tooling in China, it is a means to an end and the ROI is only in the income of labor it provides.
Lou1985 posted:Economics of scale. One item cost more to ship than 100,000.
True. Economics of distance. Its not as far from NYC to TN as it is from China to TN. : ) A quick google search says it costs 6000.00 roughly per 40 foot container. Maybe fit 400 molds in one.. 15 dollars each. So nearly 40% of the cost is the shipping. Which could be used for the added labor cost of making them in the US.
Add some new US tax leveling and the US is looking better and better!
Jim
I care less about where they are made and more about how well they are made
China is not known for producing high quality products. Cheap usually doesn't equal high quality. As some have noted 3rd rail is higher quality. But they sure aren't cheap!
RDUNIII sweet edit.
Jim
We all would like to see Lionel made in the USA again. Why we are willing to buy things made anywhere with slave labor to save a few bucks baffles me. Shame on us! Good old American know-how could make affordable trains with fairly paid labor here if we would rediscover our innovative and inventive character.
I just scanned this. Remember, we are on the edge of some pretty neat technology. I believe we can currently "print" jet engine components out of titanium - parts that do not crumble in service.
Ten years from now we may be able to "print" tooling that can then be used for pressure die casting. At that point, the Chinese can keep their tooling, and we will have better dies.
Assembly is labor-intensive. We will have to be willing to do it ourselves.
I predict a revolution in model trains - both here, and with battery/RC.
