Interview with former Lionel owner Richard Kughn

It was a good interview.Why didn't you ask him what led to him selling the business.Thanks

He sold it because he wanted to cut down on his workload.  He had other business interests and he found that running Lionel was taking up too much of his time to be able to give his other business interests the attention they needed.

I just finished listening to the interview.  It was very good, Derrek!  Thank you.

This chat brings back fond memories of youth and Dick being in charge of Lionel, and so many great, memorable trains were being made during his reign: The scale Hudson, the scale Turbine, the Daylight, the T-1, the Mikado, the B-6, the lift bridge, the steam clean and wheel grind shop, RailSounds, Trainmaster Command, and RailScope!

And to hear all of what Dick said about his relationships with the Lionel employees back then really shows what a considerate man he is, and I do feel he is the more modern Joshua Lionel Cowen, so I feel his legacy will be just as strong.

I have yet to stop by Madison Hardware, but I vividly remember the big move in 1989 of it from New York to Detroit - that story alone fascinated me as a child. Chuck Leibrock was a perfect example of a great guy at Lionel, and he must've had a once in a lifetime experience moving all those goodies.

I didn't even know about Dick's special political trips and the Madison cars that went with them! I really did learn a lot about Dick from this interview.

You're very lucky to be able to chat with Dick Kughn, Derek, as it's one of my goals to do just the same before it's too late.

Enjoyed listening and learning how some things transpired such as the sale

of Madison Hardware back then .

Thanks

Thomas, don't worry Chuck is on my Radar for Notch 6 as well.....

I hope you get the chance to speak with Dick sometime. He really is an amazing man and someone who has accomplished a great deal of good for the hobby. 

Hands down the best one yet Derek. That man is interesting as all heck. Loved it!

Here are a few photos taken during this interview and afterward of Dick running  his trains.  Dick is very passionate about his Madison cars that he has on his shelves.

al K. 

What a great interview.

Thanks

Al Galli

Wow

A legend born from  trash can. Great story

Yes DIck is a very interesting and nice guy. I had the pleasure of sitting next to him years ago at the day before York at the TCA museum.  HAd a nice little conversation before he had to go.  He actually saved Lionel

If that's the case, I very much regret that he didn't divest himself of some other part of his business dealings instead.  To my mind, he had the clearest vision for Lionel of anyone since J. L. Cowen.

Great interview, only thing I do not remember was he at the helm when Lionel went offshore? He seems very pro US manufacturing, would like to her his thoughts on them going offshore and what would it take to come back

Also sad to hear there were no great surprises at Madison Hardware, always thought there had to be some cool things there somewhere.

Dick Maddox was at the helm when Lionel moved offshore and he does a pretty good job of explaining the economics behind the move and why Lionel could not continue to produce in Michigan. Although I have a feeling the decision to move was made before Mr. Maddox took over, more in the Gary Moreau era than anything else.  Check out episode 29 and 30 for that story. 

As to great surprises at Madison, my two cents are that there were some pretty neat things in there. Many are not known except to a few folks. Some really odd boxcars, etc. Nothing that would be recognizable to an outsider as unusual or rare, but to someone with a deep collecting knowledge could find some interesting things in the piles. I hope to uncover more of this story in 2015. 

Derek; another great Notch 6 podcast. Probably the best yet because of the person involved.

It's going to be a challenge to keep up the quality of these interviews. We have some more big ones in the pipeline, but the group of true O gauge legends is small. I'm going to treasure this interview for awhile. 

I agree.  Richard Kughn is a living legend!

al K. 

Richard Kughn did start some outsourcing to the Orient/China during his tenure as well, the die-cast sprung bettendorf trucks were one of the early ones to move IIRC (I think they were made domestically under General Mills prior to that), and of course select higher-end scale engines such as the T-1, Pennsy Turbine, Mikdado, and the Lionel Classics (tinplate) trains were also imported via MTH.

As I recall from Ron Hollander's "All Aboard", Kughn said to the effect that outsourcing was inevitable to an extent, and there was an article posted on toytrains.info authored by a Mr. George Adamson dated from May 2001, a few months after the formal announcement that they were moving manufacturing to China, that Kughn's response to the move was that it was a "no-brainer."

And I concur with Derek that forces to move manufactuing overseas en masse were most likely already in motion prior to Dick Maddox taking the helm and ended up given the task to see it done by Wellsprings.

Derek, Thanks for another great episode! Your 1 lucky guy to meet and interview these people in the hobby.

I also would like to wish Dick a Happy Birthday and many more to come!!!

Doug

Thanks for doing this.

Only a few people in history could legitimately be called "Mr. Lionel."   He's one of them.

Here is LCCA President Elect Al Kolis presenting a recognition award plaque to Dick Kughn, former owner of Lionel Train Inc as part of the LCCA's Oct 11,2014 Special Event

Hey Al

I love your photos but can they be any larger?  The forum will shrink them for the threads but it would sure be nice to be able to click on them and get a better view.  Like the presentation that you and Dick are holding.

Thanks!

Marty,  I don't know how.  I embed the photos as attachments and include in the body of the message.

if there is another way, please let me know.

thx

al K.

Marty:

Here's what I do to enlarge photos when the original poster doesn't provide a way to expand them, or, as in this case, when he provides a way that actually makes them smaller by mistake:

Press and hold the <CONTROL> button, and scroll up or down with the mouse wheel.

UP (rotate wheel away from you) brings the sizes UP, and DOWN (rotate wheel towards you) brings the sizes back DOWN.   This method works on any web page content, to allow a closer look at things.

Hope this helps.

Do you know how to do this from an I-pad?

al K. 

Richard Kughn obviously loves what he does and the people in his life.

I think that's what a successful person is. It's not about money alone.

I took this picture with my iPad.  I uploaded via the forum and this is the default size the iPad has.  If the photos on the iPad are already re-sized small, unless they are re-edited there is really nothing that can be done I guess.

Thanks Marty,I had forgotten how to do that so it sure was nice for the refresher. Great intervew also Notch 6.

Great episode Derek. Keep up the good work. I would like to know more about the Madison cars that were talked about, pictures I guess would be interesting.

Thanks again.

Charlie

Thank you for the interesting interview with Mr. Kughn.

Nice job on the Kughn interview, Derek. I listened to it over a lunch break this afternoon.

I received your note this morning regarding the George H. Bush Observation Cars that were mentioned by Mr. Kughn in his interview. I wrote an article for the 1999 Edition of TM's Price & Rarity Guide on how the car was made.

All the cars were hand-decorated, using a 6-19038 Anheuser-Busch Passenger Car as a base. (Those were made for Budweiser's annual gift catalog.) The A-B graphics were painted over in gold, and then a combination of decals and dry transfers were used to redecorate it for the 1992 Whistle Stop Tour through Michigan. A Lionel Circle-L lapel pin was added to simulate a drumhead.

Between 60 and 70 were produced. I've attached photos of a duplicate I had a few years back. The rarity, combined with the backstory and distribution method, make it among the most desirable pieces produced by Lionel in modern times.

I hope this helps--

Todd Wagner

Derek...FANTASTIC interview.  Sure brings back good memories.  And thanks Al for the pictures taken during the interview!..

Great stuff guys!

Alan

Wow Todd!  Excellent information!

Thanks for jumping in Todd. I knew you'd have the info! 

VERY INTERESTING, THANK YOU.

Marty, thanks for the shout-out. I hope all is well!

Derek, no problem. Glad to help.

TRW