????This is where our $$ trains are made

That's where almost everything for the major model train companies gets made.

Lionel, MTH, Bachmann; Williams, Spectum H.O.

Look at the underside of most modern day model trains or on the electronic boards, 90% or better will have 'Made in China'.

RMT and Weaver may be the only two that don't use China for most stuff.

Lee F.

I think I remember hearing that incandescent light bulbs are on the environmentalist "hit" list and therefore won't be made in the USA any more. (?)

How can something so simple be on the EPA hitlist?

Maybe it is on the US government hitlist as being phased out due to energy concerns, incandescents waist energy compared to compact flourescents, for 120 volt lighting but at model train level I seriously doubt the incandescent will be phased out.

But compact flourescents present their own dangers, don't break one or you must vacate the area for 15 minutes or be exposed to toxic fumes. For me the CFL's should be more of a hazard with the EPA then incandescents.

Lee F.

If I recall correctly, it is only the 100 watt incandesent bulbs that are being phased out. I may be wrong, but I do know there was / is a wattage limitaion on new manufactured incancesent bulbs. Hence the push for dimmable led and CFL bulbs for household use.

Including 97% of your shoes (check 'em) and everything else.

Every year new wattages are added to the phase out... so it may be 75 watt next year, 60 watt the year after, etc.

I don't think that small bulbs are on the "hit list"

I stocked up on 100's for those places where you really need 'em!

Ed

You're correct Phillyreading. The small incandescents are exempt for now. However, when you tell Sylvania or General Electric that they can only make flashlight bulbs in their mega-sized bulb factories, they'll close them for sure.

>>I don't think that small bulbs are on the "hit list" 

I stocked up on 100's for those places where you really need 'em!

 Ed<<

 Not that matters but last summer I came across those squiggly 100 watt replacement bulbs that use only 23 watts of power but put out 1600 lumens of light at Costco very cheap.

I think a package of four lights were under $4 with their instant rebate program..

I replaced two 100 watt incadecent lights in the garage with these and have had zero problems since. Plus they have 10,000 hours of life.

I've since bought other wattages even cheaper at Costco and I'm slowly replacing the ones without dimmers.

They do have their practical use, abiet limited and they save money.

Joe 

Good luck with that one!  The ones I have installed do not last any longer than the incandescents that I removed.

Don

The original CFL bulbs were very well made and had the long life that is claimed for them. The cheap ones now being produced in China are highly variable - some last a long time, some will burn out faster than cheap incandescents. What is also highly variable is the color of the output. I did some comparison tests using a matched pair of frosted-globe lamps. The color of the bulbs ranged from icky yellow-green to bright pink to an eerie, science-fiction blue. 

What all CFL's have in common is lots and lots of mercury. If they are disposed of en masse in landfills, they will contaminated the landfill and potentially the surrounding soil and groundwater. To date, arrangements for collecting dead bulbs and extracting and recycling the mercury are woefully inadequate. 

quote:

However, when you tell Sylvania or General Electric that they can only make flashlight bulbs in their mega-sized bulb factories, they'll close them for sure.

What kind of bulbs do others buy?

And where do you buy them?

In recent years, I've noticed that the current production "GE" miniature bulbs I've seen were made in Yugoslavia. I like GE Reveal standard sized bulbs. I just checked a package of sixty watt bulbs, they are made in China.

We bought a CFL 3-pack at COSTCO.  Two were dead right out of the box.  By the way, at last weekend's train-show I fixed a light on a MPC U-36-B.  The old bulb was Chinese, complete with a red star.

Jon

And yet just last week I bought a pack of 75 watt and a pack of 60 watt incandescent bulbs in Wall-Mart, they were MADE In the USA.

Be selective, shop around, the prices are very close and I say keeping an American employed is worth another 5%. In the case of the bulbs, the price was the same !

They are made by Sylvania and have a flag logo and the Made in USA on both sides of the package. I'm stocking up on 75's and 60's now. I HATE CFL's and LED's are still way too expensive.

"RMT and Weaver may be the only two that don't use China for most stuff."

Lee, RMT products are totally made in China. And I believe they are still made at Sanda Kan as Aristo Craft was one of the few companies not dropped by Sanda Kan. But that could always change. It'd be kind of cool if RMT stood for Reading Made Trains, as in Reading, PA. Bet you'd like that Lee!

You know, this topic area of made in China comes up quite a bit. Almost as much as do the topics relating to "when will the manufacturers finally make this" or "what do you want to see so and so make next year."

It's hard to have it both ways. I personally believe that more trains could be made in the US, along the lines of the Weaver manufacturing model, where some parts and components are made overseas, along with some more detailed products, while some can be made here.

But what is the biggest grumble I read here about Weaver when they introduce a new catalog? Not much new. No newly tooled products. Mostly the same stuff as last year with a few new roadnames.

Yes, I believe American made trains are possible, but I also believe you WOULD NOT see the variety and the amount of newly tooled products that train consumers have become used to. Would be prices be higher for American made trains? Yes. But I also have no doubt prices are also going to continue to rise for overseas made trains. Recently there were some complaints about Lionel and Atlas $80 list high end cars. Well, the Lionel starter set cars list for $40 and they are far less costly to make as well as being made from older paid for tooling.

Despite some other complaints here about the selection or offerings of the Lionel made in America box cars, according to Jerry Calabrese, these cars are a complete sell out from Lionel's distribution end. In other words, cars are at dealers, but Lionel has no more to send out to distributors. Train consumers are fond of saying what they want. Just as importantly Lionel and the others have to have what they want (and need) and that is products that will sell.

Which could be another factor in American made trains... the items that actually sell may not be the trains that many here would like to have made. And in reality, that liability affects what gets made overseas too. As the costs in China rise for the train companies, they have to be far more selective what products they actually put into production.

PS: I've seen "Made in China" on these small sort of automotive light bulb for many years now, so it's no surprise to me. "Made in USA" would be the rare variation today.

That may or may not be reflective of where Weaver products are made.  Weaver seems to be doing OK, even with a limited selection and specialized brass.

Weaver may have simply not chosen to be a participant in the "catalog wars."

Rusty

<<PS: I've seen "Made in China" on these small sort of automotive light bulb for many years now, so it's no surprise to me. "Made in USA" would be the rare variation today.>>

Brianel, look at my picture more closely.  It's not the 'Made in China' that makes it special.

nope all incendesent light bulbs are phased out..start up grading you trains to leds..that what i did..better off anyways..no dim lights on low voltage running..

The threads don't go to the bottom of the bulb.

We had the same problem here at our factory.  Chinese self-drilling sheet metal screws were not threaded up to the head.  Once the screw was run in all the way, it would freewheel and not tighten.

This is why I now only buy Post War Lionel and an occasional Williams loco.

My days of paying several hundred dollars for made in China toys that last only a fraction of what Post War Lionel trains do are over.

They can keep all the fancy bells and whistles (no pun) 

looks like incandescent bulbs will be done in 2014;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...ndescent_light_bulbs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...ghting_Energy_Policy

http://www.abc12.com/story/169...ur-energy-bills-down

We haven't had incandescent lamps for years in Australia. I'm surprised the US is so slow. We can still buy small non-home use lamps.

I was not sure about RMT, thanks for that info brianel027, made in Reading PA would be a great idea, get that city back on the map.

Ever look at labels at Walmart? About 95% or better will have made in China!

Also didn't know that the incandescent light bulb was doomed by 2015.

Some of the CFL's I have used didn't have very long life, two years, so they get expensive quickly even when bought in four packs at Home Depot.

Lee F.