These arrived the other day. Looks like Lionel found a high quality vendor.
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Yes. This Romanian production was mentioned in a thread some months ago. Pretty interesting.
Wow .... Romania! 
I truly hope many more items to come.
They look great!
Gotta be better than China. 
Very nice.
Nick
breezinup posted:Yes. This Romanian production was mentioned in a thread some months ago. Pretty interesting.
Yeah we discussed when first announces but nice to finally see the end product. I assume they started with traditional standard o existing tooling but may head to newer high detailed tools at some point. The cardboard used in the boxes is what we were used to when Lionel was made in USA. Nice and sturdy.
Just curious Mike--- are the trucks the same "die-cast sprung trucks" that have been used forever or a new "scale" truck
And that's not a problem--- again just curious
Thx Mike
Very nice. I hope this is just the beginning.
Very nice looking, Romania is bright spot in the eastern European manufacturing, they make some quality items. I hope they make more for the US market, as someone said. Better there then China.
These are the first Bathtub Gons w/ a coal load.
I am waiting on the NS 2 pack.
Romania is where Dracula was supposed to come from. Perhaps a Dracula hopper come Halloween time? 
Dave Warburton posted:Romania is where Dracula was supposed to come from. Perhaps a Dracula hopper come Halloween time?
Yes, Transylvania,, home of Vlad the impaler AKA Dracula. I believe I ordered a set of those NS hoppers, I hope I did.
They look good,
Brent
Mike W. posted:breezinup posted:Yes. This Romanian production was mentioned in a thread some months ago. Pretty interesting.
Yeah we discussed when first announces but nice to finally see the end product. I assume they started with traditional standard o existing tooling but may head to newer high detailed tools at some point.
The quality seems very good, and I think it's great to see these coming from that country.
This information about Romanian production of other model trains was mentioned in a comment sometime back - interesting. I suppose it's possible Lionel trains are being made at the same factory.
"Owned by the same holding company, Roco and Fleischmann branded equipment is now being manufactured at a Romanian factory in Arad. Production was shifted from China within the last few years. I have several recently produced Fleischmann N scale models and they are indeed labeled as having been built in Romania. Production quality of the models is superb, no doubt due in large part to the demanding standards established within the continental European enthusiast community."
dorfj2 posted:Just curious Mike--- are the trucks the same "die-cast sprung trucks" that have been used forever or a new "scale" truck
And that's not a problem--- again just curious
Thx Mike
The trucks are similar to Lionel's long-time standard O truck with springs...used since the 70's but tweaked for rotating couplers. The couplers are fixed and there is an extra spring in the truck...plus other minor structural changes.
Perhaps this is the factory...
These are strictly Gondolas, not hoppers with discharge gates.
For some reason these are not able to be produced in Romania anymore.
Perhaps the Lionel team should make the Johnstown America or Freight Car America version of the Five-Bay, Open-Top, aluminum-body hoppers next time.
Andrew
And NO UGLY THUMBTACKS!!!!
Maybe theres hope.
It should be noted that another former Eastern Bloc nation, Hungary, is now the manufacturing location for the Marklin produced LGB.
Is the tooling new or was the tooling transfered to Romania from China. I have always heard that a company cannot remove their tooling from China.
What is the situation then when Lionel shipped, I assume, most of it US tooling to China years ago, does this also come under the Chinese rules that this also can’t be returned back to the US or any other country?
As my interest is in Flyer S gauge then does this mean that all original Gilbert and later US Lionel made tooling is now lost forever to China?
RickO posted:And NO UGLY THUMBTACKS!!!!
These were made before the change,look at the original post date.
Doug
Maerklin moved much of their production to Hungary. Their old Maxi line was made in (former) Czechoslovakia by ETS. Many manufacturers are moving production to Vietnam. Reason: China is becoming too expensive and China wants to control production by having 51% interest in most partnerships. The new frontier is Africa, where even China has been investing.
Mark
RickO posted:And NO UGLY THUMBTACKS!!!!
The couplers in the photos are dummy couplers. There is no separate movable knuckle, no hinge pin, etc. either.
What about the milk cars? I thought they were in Romania and Lionel was having quality issues.
Noticed the TRUCKS have 3 Springs, same as MTH ?????
Just saying!!!
The original posting date was three years ago before Lionel changed truck design. They do not necessarily represent what the run that was announced in 2017 will have. The previous runs of these gondolas had dummy coupler on one end and a thumbtack coupler on the other. They all had 3 springs in the truck.
