Visit to MTH Showroom/HQ Today

Excellent pics....thanks.

Peter

Very nice photos.

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

For those of us who have never been there, thank you for the many photos. The displays are very well done.

Thanks for the pictures.  They have a very classy, well-done showroom.

Art

Thanks for sharing your photos!

By the way, where is it located?

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Nice pictures !!!!!

Thanks for the great pics!

MTH is located in Columbia MD. 

That appears to be Mike's Mercedes....he has good taste! Guess business is good....I know how much that model (S550 4Matic) costs! Mike did peek in the showroom while I was in there. 

Glad everyone enjoyed the photos. I encourage anyone to make an appointment to see the layout and showroom, open from 1-3 MWF by appointment only. If they are able to fit you in at another time, they will but no guarantees you'll be able to see the room or have them run the layout. 

Thanks!

Wow!  Thanks for posting those very cool pics.  I have to make an appointment if I am ever in that neck of the woods.

I noticed all realtrax with no scaletrax.  Is that the case?  Did you see any layouts there using the scaletrax system?

Thanks again for sharing the pics!

This is all the public is allowed to see. I know they have other layouts (for testing, catalog photos, etc) but this is all you are able to see. This layout does have some tubular track for the standard gauge trains and was built in 1998 and has been in place ever since, in "public" view. 

OGR used to offer York Week tours when MTH would open their facility for tours (the entire facility, not just the show room) but that hasn't happened for some time. 

I may be wrong, but I believe the construction of the MTH showroom layout predated the release of ScaleTrax.

Mike has a personal layout, and MTH also owns the former train layout from Dollywood. It's stored in the back. They also have the modular layout for train shows. I've been there several times, and have been all through the facility.

Don

Thanks for the great photos! I noticed those MTH B&O cars look very similar to the Lionel ones I have. I've been wanting to make a longer train, and maybe I can find some MTH ones to use. No luck looking for Lionel B&O.

Wow!  

Thanks for the pictures they are outstanding! You must have had a ball today. That is some collection there at MTH.

Thanks for posting

 We were on vacation leaving Strasburg and heading towards NYC awhile back. I wanted to go to MTH but didn't make arrangements. I appreciate the pictures.

 Looking at those display cases, probably is like looking thru their history. I saw the ones at NJHR's and admired those too. Someday, I'll make it to these!!!

I agree with the rest very nice and thanks for posting them !

Doug

I have always been intrigued by this company.  Everything about it seems so unassuming and unconventional.  Really fascinating story for sure.

Thanks for the pictures.  I live about an hour away.  Can anyone make an appointment or do you have to have official business?

Nice pictures.  The collector in me spotted one top notch item I'd love to add to my collection in one of your photos.

I've visited several times and the showroom always looks nice.

Thank you for posting these wonderful photos.

Brad

Glad everyone is enjoying the photos. It was an enjoyable visit and everyone went above and beyond to be helpful and welcoming. A very classy building and showroom. 

I had asked Bob if there was any rhyme or reason for having the particular items in the display cases (I wondered if they were firsts that MTH had made, etc). He said there was no particular reason, or at least not one he knew about. There were some missing pieces and he mentioned they may have gone to China for reference, etc. Many items hadn't been touched and it appeared that many had no wheel wear from what I could see through the glass. There were Premier steam engines in cases along the wall that faced the lobby. There were some items not in cases. The cases were mostly O gauge. There was a few HO pieces in the cases and I think a few Standard gauge pieces. There were a few RTR set boxes on display along the floor in front of the cases. Along the window had some Standard, G, O, and S pieces outside of cases. 

I had been familiar with the layout from various photos, videos, catalogs, etc but never saw it in person until today. It was built in 1998 and featured in a 1999 Classic Toy Trains issue. He gave me some info on the layout overall before firing up the trains. I did have the CTT issue but don't now, if recall it was a very informative article and it was built entirely within a week or so. Good read if you can find it. 

jmiller - Open to anyone but again, by appointment MWF 1-3 per the sign on the door. If they can get you in at another time they will do their best to do so. Call the main number at MTH and follow the prompt and Debbie will take care of you. Debbie graciously opened the room and turned on the lights so I could walk around and see the displays/layout before Bob came out. 

Mike Wolf has some great folks working for him. 

Really enjoyed these pictures!  

Thank you, I'll plan a visit.

SJC  -  Thanks for the great pictures.  It must be nice to be so close to MTH.  I wish I was!

Hard to believe I'm just seeing this now! Awesome pictures. That is great that they let you in to see everything.

The PA passenger car wall with windows is really cool.

I've been there several times, and always enjoy the time there. I went for the service course, and a refresher day working in the repair center. I haven't been there in a while, I think I'm due for another visit. It makes for a long day though, leaving PA at 4 AM, arriving at 7AM, and leaving usually about 4 PM. Glad you enjoyed your visit.

Don

I live a half hour away.  I had no idea you could take a tour.  I'm going to have to go when this weather breaks.

Been there a few times on the OGR tours, very nice layout and display area. The inner operations are very interesting.