Hypothectical Question(s)

I had wondered the same thing about power units from Menards.  I have not, as yet, purchased any of their buildings or rolling stock.  Perhaps when I build my dream layout that will change.

Notice they haven't expanded the track line into crossings and switches...

The train products from Menards is such a very small part of their overall business.  Most of their rolling stock is cloned off of somebody else's products, so I doubt they're going to get into making locomotives and the headaches that potentially follow.

Rusty

Maury Kline was an entrepaneur with a passion for our hobby.  If Menards can fill the void created when K-Line left the market place, good for them.  In doing so, they are reducing the sales percentage which would have gone to the big three.  Those reductions may cause the big three to reconsider offering new items.  There have been discussions on OGR Forums about the decline of the hobby and discussions about Menards.  If the pie is getting smaller and another player is carving a new slice, something is going to have to give.  John in Lansing, ILL

Allegheny posted:

I've always wondered what the status of the modeling community would be IF K-Line hadn't been forced to shut down?  

As many of you know, they were on the fast track and were putting out products which many of us purchased over the other two leading brands.  They had innovative products and designs.  They were not stagnated by their history, tooling, nor customer base etc. 

Today we have another vibrant player, Menards, who is following along this same path that K-Line did so many years ago. 

Do you feel as I do, that they could become as large or larger than K-Line, once they start introducing powered units?  

Well, K-Line was expanding into scale models before they were smacked down.  Is Menard's doing that?

Balshis posted:

Well, K-Line was expanding into scale models before they were smacked down.  Is Menard's doing that?

Wow that's a leap. K-Line took 20+ years to get to that point.

K-Line did  start out like Menards though, selling Lionel(M.D.Klein - MDK Inc.), and then making track, and buildings, and then a few simple accessories before their own line of rolling stock was made possible by the acquisition of tooling to make it possible. That did lead to the progression of locomotives & starter sets, and their own unique line of switches for O & O-27.

The big variable is the disparaging difference in the core business of the two companies. Klein was a train company, Menards is not. Time will tell.

Balshis posted:

Allegheny posted:

I've always wondered what the status of the modeling community would be IF K-Line hadn't been forced to shut down?  

As many of you know, they were on the fast track and were putting out products which many of us purchased over the other two leading brands.  They had innovative products and designs.  They were not stagnated by their history, tooling, nor customer base etc. 

Today we have another vibrant player, Menards, who is following along this same path that K-Line did so many years ago. 

Do you feel as I do, that they could become as large or larger than K-Line, once they start introducing powered units?  

Well, K-Line was expanding into scale models before they were smacked down.  Is Menard's doing that?

As I recall, K-Line brought itself down.

Rusty

The thread topic Hypothetical Question(s) reminds me of one of my favorite Stephen Wright-isms.

What if there were no hypothetical questions?

What happened to all the K-Line tooling?

raising4daughters posted:

The thread topic Hypothetical Question(s) reminds me of one of my favorite Stephen Wright-isms.

What if there were no hypothetical questions?

Another Stephen Wright fan!  One of my faves:  it's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it.  Also, I put a cup of instant coffee in a microwave and went back in time.

BlueComet400 posted:

What happened to all the K-Line tooling?

I think it stayed in the Far East.  John in Lansing, ILL

BlueComet400 posted:

What happened to all the K-Line tooling?

Kadar Industries ( Williams by Bachmann parent company } acquired most of it via the Sandi Kan bankruptcy.

   Bill T.

Bill T posted:

BlueComet400 posted:

What happened to all the K-Line tooling?

Kadar Industries ( Williams by Bachmann parent company } acquired most of it via the Sandi Kan bankruptcy.

   Bill T.

No, Sanda Kan acquired the tooling as settlement as payment for manufactured products after K-Line’s bankruptcy. Then Kader acquired Sanda Kan, which reportedly was struggling at the time but certainly wasn’t bankrupt.

It’s rumored that both RMT and Menards use Kader-owned tooling, but neither company has publicly confirmed that.