Perusing the new 2014 MTH catalog I found that MTH had 30-1662 listed for N&W Y6b engine. I was interested in case my broken Y6b could not be repaired (it has been, and awaiting its return.) Curious, I used the product locator to see if engine was available, but locator says no. So sent inquiry to MTH asking if this would be produced and received the following reply:
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Thank you for contacting MTH Electric Trains. We appreciate your interest in our products. Unfortunately we try to keep future offerings secret, even re-cataloged items, so we are not able to answer your question at this time. But we're always happy to hear from our customers, so we know what products our customers would like to see again. As you may know, we get many of our ideas from folks like you who take the time to write in and tell us what you want. We've put your request with others for our marketing and product development teams to evaluate when planning future product lines. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns you may have.
Kirstin Martinez
MTH Electric Trains
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What seemed odd was the low catalog number which would mean they are reusing the number but for updated product. Which is probably standard operating procedure. Of course this might confuse modelers in secondary market who would have to inquire if this is a Y6b with PS2 or PS3 boards (or am I overthinking this?)
I assume Kirstin's reply is pretty much standard for inquiries.