FWIW, and previous comments still how I feel, I find it kind of interesting that there is NO mention on MTH's website, social media pages and that the post on Facebook by Trainworld (where I saw it first) has since been deleted. You'd think they'd put it front and center on their website!
@Cincytrains posted:Assuming that Lionel found out yesterday as well, I wish I could be on their Zoom meeting this morning!!! Howard is going to open the meeting with "well boys what do you think?" I hope they would buy some of their models to produce them in Legacy..I feel bad for Trainland, Mr. Muffins and all the other dealers who invest in MTH inventory!!
Somehow I have the feeling Lionel knew before the rest of us. It's hard to imagine Mike wasn't talking to them about a sale.
Mike, thanks for the trains, and good luck to you with what you do next, but you will be missed.
I am not a big MTH locomotive buyer: my modular O club mostly uses TMCC/Legacy. However, many of my buildings and most of my streamlined passenger cars are MTH.
In recent years my interest has been drifting over to two rail. I had hoped that MTH would take a step to fill the hole that Weaver left behind and put out a two-rail diesel switcher under their excellent ALCO S-1/S-2 shell and cab. They will definitely be missed.
@Oman posted:Now I'm pondering my DCS equipment. I have an original TIU and handheld remote. I also have a new Wi-Fi + TIU. If the new TIU dies, then I'm back to the original and no Wi-Fi. If the Wi-Fi dies, then I'm back to the original handheld remote.
My decision to stock up on TIU's and remotes when they were pretty cheap is looking pretty good right now. 
Mike,thanks for everything! Enjoy your retirement.
Brad
@irish rifle posted:Interesting. 60 is a very early age to be retiring these days.
Pat
If it makes sense to retire now then do it. I am willing to bet there isn't a single tombstone with the epitaph that reads "I wish I worked more". You can trade years of life for more money, you cannot purchase additional years of life. I hope he enjoys his time.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:My decision to stock up on TIU's and remotes when they were pretty cheap is looking pretty good right now.
And so did I John we did the right thing!
@gunrunnerjohn posted:My decision to stock up on TIU's and remotes when they were pretty cheap is looking pretty good right now.
So what are you buying in the stock market right now, John?
"Just asking for a friend."
Wow, what a shock to read that MTH is going to close. One thing for sure, Mike Wolf brought three rail scale to our hobby. He woke up Lionel and other companies with his amazing ideas, products, inventions, reproductions of so many trains we all wanted when we were young. His courage to make accessories with sound, moving cars, simply amazing. This thread could very well go on and on, but in reality, this product line will be missed, unless some other vender can keep it going. Thank you Mike for a job well done, congratulations on all you’ve done for our hobby, and enjoy retirement. Your friends in Tennessee will be praying for you, your employees, your customers, and all families involved. Thanks again. Leapin Larry
Wow, and I thought 2020 was already eventful enough!!! Well I will say, that this is a devastating loss. I model nothing but MTH and to hear of it's closing is almost like seeing a childhood friend leave for good. I first got into model trains at 16 with my first set being a MTH subway set and from that point I was hooked. I even went so far as to take a Lionel set back for a MTH set, sorry Lionel fans. I just hope that this great company can be taken by someone who can keep this company going and that Lionel is not the only company left in this hobby because I feel competition is what keeps this hobby diverse and thriving.
Also Mike Wolf, thank you for providing me with ample amounts of fun and enjoyment for the past 15 years. I hope your retirement is just as enjoyable as you have made me enjoying your products.
i am sad to say the least i already posted on fb my thoughts down below
i have never owned any mth stuff and i really wanted to. the news is a big blow to the train hobby hopefully in the future a new train company will rise or lionel will buy the tooling i have no idea i just wish mike wolfe the best i knew this day was coming i just didn't know it would be this soon. i have no clue about my own roster as a big chunk would have been mth stock including the csx railking law enforcement unit . freedom es44 and caboose set multiple halloween items and multiple christmas items and multiple railking steam locomotives and sets and it would've taken a good while to aquire these due to money and space but now i have no idea what to do.
His retirement is no surprise. His selling off pieces of the company is. I guess he's looking for retirement money. I expect someone will buy what's left and MTH will continue. NOW the big issue for all you MTH fans will be PARTS.
@Cincytrains posted:Assuming that Lionel found out yesterday as well, I wish I could be on their Zoom meeting this morning!!! Howard is going to open the meeting with "well boys what do you think?" I hope they would buy some of their models to produce them in Legacy..I feel bad for Trainland, Mr. Muffins and all the other dealers who invest in MTH inventory!!
Don't they will be fine. They will sell what they have and you can bet there going to look at what they feel will sell good and really stock up.
I personally thou would hold back on motive power/electronics until some of the dust settles and see what happens to company. Because after a year if there isn't anybody in the system to repair items ( be able to get the parts ) What good are they going to be if something goes wrong,
Very sad day for the hobby, but no one can blame Mike. The value MTH has brought to this hobby is unmeasureable.
Lets hope a group of employees comes forward with a workable arrangement, like what happened at Harley Davidson some 40 years ago. As good as Lionel is, it will be sad if they are the only player left on the block.
Lets see; Weaver gone, Williams gone, K-Line gone. Lets hope Atlas stays with us! 
Rod
What's shocking is not just the retirement but the decision to close the entire company.
I'm also a radio collector, and something similar to this happened with the Atwater Kent Co. in 1936. Arthur Atwater Kent founded and ran a company that made high-quality radios in the 1920s and 1930s. His company was prosperous, and Atwater Kent became one of the big-time radio manufacturers. His radios are still sought-after by collectors. When the Depression hit and the market was flooded with low-cost, lower-quality radios, Kent retired and closed his company rather than lower his standards.
Startling, spoil-your-breakfast news! I read every previous comment to avoid redundancy, so can only add, as when Weaver closed, Health! was my first thought, but a retirement home in Florida means "gittin' out while the gittn' is good"? Dunno. I fear my whining about variety may get worse, but my avoidance of electronic locomotives might end if one system was standard. THERE was redundancy.
It seems that TrainWorld and others have pulled down the posts of the announcement. Also, nothing on MTH website or social media. I wonder what that means?
I find it funny that so many think theirs "more to it". It has been rumored for a few years now that MTH was for sale, whether true or not I don't know. 40 years in the business is a long time and at some point you need to enjoy your sucesses. Without a clear line of succession it would be difficult to see a different future. Andy and Rich are the best chances IMO but they too are getting to the age of retirement. I'm not sure I'd want to take that on in this stage of life.
Back to the impact MTH has had on our hobby. It is undeniable that MTH has changed our hobby all for the better. How many PW F3s would we have now without Mike. Now we have all sorts of locomotives, passenger cars, and innovation that I'm pretty sure we wouldn't without him.
I wish Mike nothing but the best and thank him for his contributions to the hobby. Thanks to the entire MTH group as well. If you do continue I wish you noting but the best and look forward to see the direction you take the company!
I would venture to guess that Lionel has been aware of this for sometime. It can also be assumed as things like this go that anyone looking at buying the company or part of it outside of those mentioned is restricted by an NDA.
There is opportunity in everything, while many may see this as the end of something, others will see it as the beginning of something else.
MTH is what got me back into O Gauge, Mike has done a great job. I certainly don't begrudge anyone retiring especially a guy that has been doing this since he was a teen.
Just the managing of a company with overseas manufacturing alone can be grueling. I wish Mike the best as well as the whole MTH Team!
@J Michael F posted:It seems that TrainWorld and others have pulled down the posts of the announcement. Also, nothing on MTH website or social media. I wonder what that means?
It may mean the announcement was premature, but that ship has already sailed, the news is out!
@gunrunnerjohn posted:My decision to stock up on TIU's and remotes when they were pretty cheap is looking pretty good right now.
One of the reasons I was always against proprietary systems is the need to “stock up” on parts. As model railroaders we should not have to do this. Just my opinion. But I digress.....
I just checked my email and there was the “MTH Electric Trains Daily O Gauge Newsletter”. I guess eventually I won’t be getting those emails anymore. 
Probably the only daily email I ever enjoyed getting. Still so sad.
A sign that us, age-ing "Boomers" , are quickly moving on, and some of the nostalgia related markets, (model trains), with us. Boomer generation born, 1945/6 to 1955/6 Oldest now 70+. IMO, Mike CT.
I think in the big scheme of things this is not a big deal, but in our hobby it is when you look at the landscape of what is left for us to purchase new. I got in the O scale hobby about four years ago and I was torn between MTH and Lionel at first. I bought a few pieces of MTH stuff, but ultimately sold all of it and now I own only Lionel. However, due to quality control issues with Lionel that I have dealt with in the last year or two, I was seriously considering going towards MTH by buying all the necessary command control items needed to operate their locomotives. Well, now I am glad I did not make that investment. I am surprised that MW was so excited about all the new things his company was coming out with like the SD70ACE G Scale products, Christmas items, military items, and presidential stuff if he knew the handwriting was on the wall and he was looking to retire with no real potential buyers. People have spent years of their lives investing in his products and have become avid followers for his brand and now only to be left with their mouths open and wondering, well what next. I would like to see Trainworld do a Facebook live with him to get some more answers. I think with how much people have put into his company that his a reasonable request, but I know that is obviously debatable like everything else in the world.
As a Traction fan i greatly appreciated the Railking PCCs and Brill semi-convertibles. I have several of both and enjoy running my own little transit agency. Cheers Mike Wolf!
Reading the news last night that Mike Wolf was retiring and with the status of MTH being up in the air, lead me to reflect on the impact MTH has had on my O gauge hobby journey.
O gauge trains have been a part of my life since I was 10 years old, mostly in the form of postwar Lionel trains. Sometime around 1997, my wife bought me the MTH GG-1 freight car set, No. RK-022. This was my first experience with an O gauge train set other than Lionel. It was a conventional set but I remember being impressed with how nice the set was, both in appearance and operationally. The GG-1 ran so much smoother than anything I played with from the postwar era. That set opened up a whole new dimension for me in the O gauge hobby.
About the same time, I would frequent Little Hobbies in Flemington, NJ. The shop owner always carried a nice stock of used trains. One day as I was perusing the display cases, I saw it. A standard gauge Blue Comet set! However, this set was not scratched or worn. It was pristine. Turns out that MTH was also making reproduction tinplate trains under the Lionel Classics name, which was something else I was unaware of. I drooled over that set every time I went into that store. At the time, it had a price tag around $3,000., much too much to pay for a train I had no layout to run it on, but I continued to dream about that set.
Seven years later, I was in The Train Shop in Middlesex, NJ. I asked Irvin, the owner, if he had a MTH standard gauge Blue Comet set for sale. He said he did not, as that set had come out a few years prior. He said he knew of two shops that may still have a set in stock. Irvin went on to explain to me that MTH made two versions, one conventional and the other command controlled with PS2. He recommended that I get the PS2 version, as it was the same price, ran very nice with the cruise control and had all the sounds and smoke.
Irvin gave me the number for Nicholas Smith Trains. I called them up and they confirmed they had a PS2 Blue Comet set available. I took my bonus money and placed the order. The set arrived later in the week. I still remembering opening that set on the living room floor. I waited seven years for that moment. It was truly like Christmas morning and a very magical moment. I had purchased an oval of standard gauge track which I had set up on the basement floor. I ran the Blue Comet set with a postwar ZW and had a blast. In no time I had the basement full of smoke with the PS2 sounds echoing through.
I then read about this thing called DCS. It said that it would open up even more features of my train. You mean there’s more??? I purchased the DCS system. Remember, I still don’t have a layout at this point. I was hooked. It totally increased my enjoyment of toy trains. It was at this time I decided a layout was a must. The layout was built and provided years of enjoyment. The layout showcased many MTH engines, cars and accessories.
And now we enter a new era in our hobby. One that does not have a clear path at this time but will come more into focus in the months ahead. Thank you Mike Wolf and MTH for adding to the happiness the hobby of toy trains brings to my life. It has been a fun ride.
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Wow, I was taken aback when i first learned of this announcement, but hey, they're gonna roll on for at least another year as MTH. I mean, we still can buy new American Flyer and Williams electric trains after they were sold. I'm sure someone will pick up the mantle and carry on with this brand, as long as there's a market for it. And I really hope somebody will continue with DCS because i just got the WIU this year and I like it!! 
Well done Mike Wolf, I really enjoy operating MTH (mainly Railking) trains, and God willing, will do so for many more years.
Thanks Mike, enjoy your retirement 
Thanks Mike Wolf!
It's nice to see someone who worked so hard over the years finally decide to have fun and retire. I did the same a few years ago, and it's very nice to be able to do whatever I want without having to worry about getting to work the next day. If I stay up late one night, I can just get up later the next day without a worry. Now Mike will be able to do the same. He's earned it.
I'm sure Mike would like to see the company continue successfully under someone else's direction, but I don't think it really matters to him in the long run. Now he can run HIS trains all day long if he wants. Yay!
For several decades, I have been a steady purveyor of MTH's most excellent tinplate reproductions including those produced in partnership with Richard Kughn as the Lionel Classics. I have owned both the traditional and DCS versions of the various Lionel standard gauge engines as well as a huge variety of rolling stock, and they always performed flawlessly. Mike's first love was tinplate and this is readily exemplified by the Blue Comet 400E in his logo. THANKS, Mr. Wolf, for the wonderful and exhilarating ride on the tinplate rails!
I'll be missing MTH and hope Mike enjoys and has a long and healthy retirement.
“There is opportunity in everything, while many may see this as the end of something, others will see it as the beginning of something else.”
This comment by TexasSP hits the nail squarely on the head and reminds me of something I read years ago when a company I worked for closed down. I’m paraphrasing somewhat with this but, it went - “some people spend so much time looking over there shoulder at the door that has closed behind them, they fail to see the door that is opening before them”.
This ain’t the end of the world folks - keep looking ahead!
Curt
My intro to Ogage was in 1952 when my father started the first of at least 10 years of Lionel Christmas presents. I got out after my perception that the plastic products were of inferior quality. I kept going back and deciding not to expand my 50's collection until 2003 when I was shown the Kline Hudson. I was hooked when I saw MTH demonstrated at Engine House Hobbies in Gaithersburg, MD run multiple trains with their DCS "All" command. I was really impressed with MTH's quality and ability to run multiple trains on the same track and I eventually got up to 37 trains simultaneously and with their "lashup" capability that included 50 of my 70 MTH and Lionel engines (now down to ~50 engines). I am thankful that I have 6 TIU's and 9 DCS handhelds so I should be able to run my trains until I am six feet under. I would like to thank Mike for providing the quality of product that permitted me to experience the joy I had when I was young, and to pass that love of trains to my grandchildren. Enjoy your retirement Mike and your efforts permitted me and many others to better enjoy our hobby.
I seriously doubt that I'll spend another dime on a product that I know won't be around much longer. If this hobby wants to remain "somewhat" healthy, it's going to need more than Lionel and Atlas O. Hope MTH continues on with new ownership or I think O gauge model railroading will wilt rapidly.
My first "experience" with MTH was through its ads in the many magazines dedicated to the hobby. Although I wasn't too keen on the reproduction tinplate -- "it's been done before" -- I made an exception when it came to the pre-war-inspired accessories. Later, when Mike and his crew began making tinplate items that Lionel never offered, I really began to appreciate the brand even more. Beyond the tinplate offerings, there can be no doubt that were it not for MTH, Lionel would still be producing some mediocre offerings using tired and well worn tooling. As to the future, I've got a pretty good idea that there will be after-market upgrades and other parts sources available to "keep 'em running" for a long time to come.
Thanks Mike!
I hate to hear he is leaving. The industry is losing a talent with imagination and enthusiasm it needs. If MTH is owned wholly by Mike Wolf it is too bad he could not have followed the example TrainWorld and even Mars has followed. Keep it in the family creating a strong future for everyone, employees and customers.
Mike Wolf was the first to bring out scale O Gauge Trains. When he brought out his first Dash 8 Diesel Locomotive, it was a hit. I still have 4 of these engines and they were simple but the electronics worked well. He went from Proto-Sound to Proto-Sound 2 and finally Porto-Sound 3. He worked a partnership out with Lionel to make Lionel's Standard Gauge Tinplate Trains. Wolf had an idea of using one type of dc can motor to fit different diesel engine wheel arrangements--a B and C type truck. Today, all the 3 rail train manufacturers use this type of mechanism. He learned his trade from Jerome Williams (Williams Trains). MTH was Lionel greatest competition and now they are gone. I wonder what will happen to Lionel and there prices?
Good luck, Mr. Mike Wolf
Sincerely yours railbear601
Whatever happens with MTH, I hope that Mike Wolf now gets to build the layout for himself that he has been too busy to create during many years of providing model trains for everyone else.
MELGAR
Thinking about this since last night's post and just musing...
A thought: This could be a great opportunity for Atlas O if they play their cards right. Why wouldn't they want to get the rights to DCS/PS3? After all, it's a system that is widely used and respected in the hobby, it would be much better than Lionel's TMCC hand-me-downs, it's DCC compatible which would be in keeping with Atlas's one foot in the 3 rail O hobby and one foot in 2 rail approach, it's hugely modular so they could finally load custom sounds as accurate and detailed as their models, and they would have a market for years selling replacement parts to the owners of the tens of thousands of MTH engines that are already out there.
MTH has a wealth of tooling for accessories, locomotives, rolling stock, and track at their disposal, not to mention components such as motors, electronics, couplers, etc, etc. Even if they don't actually own the tooling itself, they do own the rights to it, and it certainly won't benefit the owners in Asia if no one can use it. If MTH is not restructured or bought whole, I'm sure a lot of money will be changing hands in the near future in tooling rights alone.
As I posted last night, I'm very, very sorry to see MTH go, but I wish Mike Wolf all the best in retirement. I know the hobby may look a bit different going forward, but I certainly don't think this is the "end".
@railbear601 posted:I wonder what will happen to Lionel and there prices?
Lionel had no problem raising their prices while they were in competition with K-Line and later M.T.H. (You can buy a Lionel traditionally sized Chessie gondola w/2 canisters today for $49.99. I doubt it is new tooling!) Without any major competition that has a full line of products anymore, what do YOU think will happen to Lionel and their prices?
@phrankenstign posted:Lionel had no problem raising their prices while they were in competition with K-Line and later M.T.H. (You can buy a Lionel traditionally sized Chessie gondola w/2 canisters today for $49.99. I doubt it is new tooling!) Without any major competition that has a full line of products anymore, what do YOU think will happen to Lionel and their prices?
Or the other way around. I wonder what is going to happen to MTH prices?
MTH got me into scale three rail. I still have their first catalog with the HO F units to show us what they were going to offer. They got me into big electrics from the Scale Little Joes to the wonderful GE box cabs.
Mike made the tinplate Hiawatha set for Lionel. Their FM switcher was the first engine my wife bought me for Christmas from the Train Shack. It still runs great. Just want to thank Mike for all the great fun I have with his trains.
THANK YOU! Don
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