MTH announces uncatalogued BNSF 25th Anniversary ES44AC

Steve:

These look awesome! Unfortunately, they are too modern for my circa 50s layout...

Pat

Another clue - MTH 1 year warranty takes these items into April 2022.

@SIRT posted:

Another clue - MTH 1 year warranty takes these items into April 2022.

Thank you for reminding everyone that these loco's will be fully covered by MTH's warranty, so there should be no concern about warranty work if you purchase one of these and need work performed under warranty.  You're covered until April 2022.

Stu

@SIRT posted:

Another clue - MTH 1 year warranty takes these items into April 2022.

I'll be interested in how that's done come the middle of 2021...

What about repairs after the warranty is up. Will parts be available? (boards) Continued support for the DCS system is a positive thing but what about repairs of locos?  If MTH has some secret message for the future, now would be a good time to make it public. I wont buy Lionel, but I really like my MTH. I had to stop buying locos because of the uncertainty of the future of repairs. I guess since train buying is disposable income, locos out of warranty could just be tossed in the trash can.
That said, I still find it very tempting to buy more MTH locos but have not since the announcement of the closure. I am still buying freight and passenger cars. (bullet proof items)

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'll be interested in how that's done come the middle of 2021...

I also keep reading about how the current service centers will do warranty repairs, funny part of that is MTH has not communicated with myself being one of those service centers.

Jim

Not word one from MTH here either.  Given the way warranty repairs are handled, the assumption is you sold the locomotive and if needed will provide the free labor to install replacement parts.  I'm not about to start providing free labor to install parts for a product I didn't sell, what's the sense in that?  Some warranty repairs could run into a lot of work, why would a random ASC provide hours of free labor?  Given the fact that the prospects for future business is pretty bleak with no new products, what's my incentive?

There are huge assumptions here that just don't seem to make sense!

I talked with Mike about this. He told me:

• they were creating a new legal entity to take over DCS development, DCS sales, etc, and had already selected the management team. They would start when MTH wound down - forecasted for the end of April 2021
• they were creating a new legal entity to take over parts provisioning, support the authorized service centers, and provide warranty repair for products MTH sells through the shut down. Again, he has already selected the management team

What was unknown was what would happen, going forward, with new product production and their tooling. That is still unknown. IMO, and its just my opinion, their tooling and their manufacturing capability is just too valuable to go away

To have MTH announce uncatalogued diesels like this, in late December, gives me confidence that there's a path forward and these items, like everything else we are receiving now, will receive warranty coverage.

I have been a customer of MTH's for a long time, and a dealer for over five years, and in my humble opinion, I have found them to be competent business people. Very professional.   

Thanks for the update Steve, I sure wish some "official" word would come to the great unwashed sea of folks that don't have a pipeline to MTH management.

For a company going out of business they sure are busy.

I certainly hope there is a future for the tooling.  In all their sales descriptions for the GE 44 Tonner, they mention the Arcade and Attica as a current operator of the locomotive model.... BUT they never produced the paint scheme in O-Scale!!!  I've been hoping for it for years!

Reading above posts leaves little doubt in my mind that my new loco will be taken care of while under warranty. No idea who will be doing the repair work, but someone will. My big issue is again what about that new loco that you buy and a year and a half later is in need of new boards. Disposable income/trash can?  Gut the electronics, turn into a non powered unit and give it away on Ebay?

I currently have 11 scale wheel MTH ProtoSound 3.0 locomotives with 4 more on the way including an SD45 from the most recent run. I'm not too concerned about the PS3 electronics if they fail after the warranty expires. I operate them under DCC so if/when the time ever comes to replace the boards I will do so with an ESU LokSound decoder which will always be in abundant supply.

@catnap posted:

I operate them under DCC so if/when the time ever comes to replace the boards I will do so with an ESU LokSound decoder which will always be in abundant supply.

Gee, how great for you!  What about all the people that don't run DCC?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Gee, how great for you!  What about all the people that don't run DCC?

Well, I certainly hope for all of the DCS operators that a 3rd party will be licensed to make PS3 electronics. I'm guessing that somebody will and PS3 will be around for years to come. I know there are some who favor TMCC or DCC or just plain conventional operation but there are a significant number of DCS runners that I think it would be foolish for MTH to neglect that segment of the O scale world.

BNSF 25 th anniversary ES44.....its a win-win for everyone in my book....their best paint scheme yet !

@clem k posted:

For a company going out of business they sure are busy.

Mike is retiring - let's see what happens.....

@Brian DeFazio posted:

I certainly hope there is a future for the tooling.  In all their sales descriptions for the GE 44 Tonner, they mention the Arcade and Attica as a current operator of the locomotive model.... BUT they never produced the paint scheme in O-Scale!!!  I've been hoping for it for years!

There are a lot more schemes to do....

@jini5 posted:

Reading above posts leaves little doubt in my mind that my new loco will be taken care of while under warranty. No idea who will be doing the repair work, but someone will. My big issue is again what about that new loco that you buy and a year and a half later is in need of new boards. Disposable income/trash can?  Gut the electronics, turn into a non powered unit and give it away on Ebay?

I am confident "they" will still be making boards... I have over 500 PS2 and PS3 engines in my personal collection - I am not expecting them to all become dummies.

@catnap posted:

Well, I certainly hope for all of the DCS operators that a 3rd party will be licensed to make PS3 electronics. I'm guessing that somebody will and PS3 will be around for years to come. I know there are some who favor TMCC or DCC or just plain conventional operation but there are a significant number of DCS runners that I think it would be foolish for MTH to neglect that segment of the O scale world.

The new entity will not be a third party - they will own the DCS patents and have the manufacturing and repair capability.... its not being abandoned.

Steve, you say a lot, but the actual people that will have to carry the load have been totally mute for months on the topic.  It would be a whole lot more reassuring to see an official statement coming from the people that will actually be making the boards and supporting the existing products.  Is that too much to ask?  It's great that you have confidence that there will be a future, it would be nice if more information was forthcoming so that more of us could share that great confidence in the future of the MTH products.

If you bought the latest products, you will notice an improvement.

New sounds, scripts, voices and details have been noticed. Crew is talking about the storm that crossed the line! Nice! New people behind the curtain...

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Steve, you say a lot, but the actual people that will have to carry the load have been totally mute for months on the topic.  It would be a whole lot more reassuring to see an official statement coming from the people that will actually be making the boards and supporting the existing products.  Is that too much to ask?  It's great that you have confidence that there will be a future, it would be nice if more information was forthcoming so that more of us could share that great confidence in the future of the MTH products.

Gunrunner, they already made an official announcement. Unfortunately I don't have a link, but it's been talked about and covered on here. I think in a thread called "Ps3 is not dead" or something like that. Not only that but they announced a WIU/AIU unit.

As for the ES44, incredibly striking model. I've been hoping to see it announced ever since seeing the real thing. Because I have the Lionel oil train set with an add on dummy, I'll wait a few weeks for their catalog. I think if they make it, it'll look so cool triple headed with my other two. If not, I'll probably order a pair from MTH.

Bill