The Standard Gauge Module Association had a Zoom that included Andy Edleman a few days ago. He updated the situation with MTH. Nothing terribly concrete, but he provided much more detail about the parts and service organization. For those interested there's an extended segment on YouTube of the whole session. Andy's is the second segment and lasts close to 30 minutes or more, and includes his discussion of MTH history and possible future. Short version: Tooling is abroad and not coming to the USA. The parts and service organization is in the works, but the future of manufacturing is uncertain. He said there is still a possibility of an MTH II, so to speak, but there was unlikely to be any announcement before the New Year. Clearly there are things going on he could not publicly comment upon. Little DCS discussion but this was a standard gauge tinplate crowd who are likely to be less interested in that issue. Some very informative and open comments, and some personal reflections including why he does not and will not play golf with Mike Wolf . I think many will find Andy's comments quite engaging and interesting. His reflections on the altered level of collegiality in the industry, much for the better, were particularly poignant, I thought.
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Andy is one the real gems of our hobby. Hard working, straight forward, and I've always had good conversations with him over the years. Hope the best for him and the rest of the MTH team for interesting news in the future at sometime.
Interesting and entertaining, even w/o popcorn.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for posting this. It gives me a small amount of hope that maybe something good will happen with MTH. I plan to watch the video later.
Really enjoyed Andy Edleman's part of this. It was a real "look behind the curtain" into the train biz.
And his comments about manufacturing in the States were spot on. While posters love to bring that topic up incessantly, to paraphrase Andy, "it ain't happening."
I found it interesting that he talked about not being ready to retire for several more years (he said he turns 60 soon), and his words could be taken to imply that several others in leadership positions aren't ready to retire either. Maybe they have some interest in being part of whatever comes next. OTOH, maybe Lionel or Atlas will make him an offer he can't refuse...
Great post and video. Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed that!
Thanks for the post.
There might be light at the end of the tunnel? The other side of Andy I never knew. Great info and video!
Landsteiner - thanks for posting the link! Most informative about MTH in general Certainly provides us hobbyists with lots of hope going forward.