Hi all,
Sorry for taking a little time getting this posted. I spent some time working on client layouts after York.
I'm happy to report we had more than 30 people who were able to attend. It was a real joy to get together again after a two year hiatus and it was great to see so many familiar faces.
Pat Marinari upgraded the firmware on more than a dozen TIU's and DCS remotes. Thanks Pat!
At the last meeting in Oct., 2019, we had settled on doing the user group meet once a year, and we may return to that schedule in the future. However, April, 2022, will be a special occasion, the 20th Anniversary of the release of DCS. There will be our usual announcement for the meet when we get to next March. For now, please mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 27th, 2022!
I gave a PowerPoint presentation on the current status of MTH and DCS. Here are the slides with a little captioning for added context...
No! MTH did not go out of business. The new MTH headquarters hasn't even moved very far. The new HQ is one exit farther north and on the opposite side of I-95. The new location handles shipping and receiving for new MTH products and is home to MTH Parts.
As others have noted, MTH has now been re-structured into three separate businesses. We talked a little about each business.
Mike Wolf still has an ownership interest in each of the three companies. Rich Foster is now a partner in the new MTH Trains and Andy Edleman is continuing to work as a consultant. The MTH Parts business is now a partnership of Mike Wolf, Mike Reagan, and Mark Hipp. The MTH DCS business is solely owned by Mike Wolf, but is still being directed by Dave Krebiehl.
First, we talked about MTH Trains.
About 20% of the O Gauge tooling has been sold, but about 80% remains available for use by MTH Trains. Many new items have already been announced throughout 2021. Most are special runs for clubs and dealers. All new product announcements are being made on-line. The best way to learn about new releases is to sign up for the MTH e-mail newsletter HERE.
All of the new product announcements to date have come from the Railking and Premier O gauge product lines.
MTH Trains still owns the tooling for Standard gauge and O gauge Tinplate Traditions products, Railking 1-Gauge products, and RealTrax and ScaleTrax track products. Dealers and layout builders (me 
) who have carried ScaleTrax have already had additional ScaleTrax produced. Similar opportunities are available to dealers in the future who want to bring in product from other MTH product lines. The main difference is that the new MTH HQ does not have enough space to warehouse large volumes of product, so new production runs will be limited to what dealers order.
MTH Parts has a new website up and running at www.mthpartsandsales.com. Mike Reagan has taken on the monumental task of sorting through more than 50 pallets of parts that were moved from the old MTH HQ. He has already cataloged, photographed, and posted more than 28,000 parts, many of which "found" parts that had been listed as "out of stock."
To demonstrate the new parts website, I showed a sample search I recently made for a replacement drawbar for a client's Z-6 Challenger. When looking for a part, click on the "Exploded View / Part Lists" section. As advised by Mike Reagan, it's best to start with a VERY broad search.
I started by entering the wheel arrangement for a challenger, 4-6-6-4.
That results in a list of every challenger MTH has ever made in every scale. The most powerful tool of the new website is the ability to filter search results. I know I was looking for a drawbar for a Z-6 challenger, so I typed in "Z" in the filter field.
That instantly cut down the options to four listings. In this case, the Z-6 challengers were produced once with PS2 and later with PS3. Each run offered both 2-rail and 3-rail versions. I was looking for a drawbar for a 3-rail PS2, so I clicked on the "Electronics Parts" for that engine.
That brought up one of the many new parts breakouts that Mike Reagan has been creating. The drawbar is labeled as part #52 on the diagram. Scrolling down the page we find the listing for part #52.
There are several listings for the different length drawbars that will work with the engine in question.
Clicking on the photo symbol for the 35mm drawbar brings up a picture of the part. Sure enough, it's the 10-pin version with the plugs 90˚ to the bar. It's in-stock for $12. There is also an exploded view for mechanical and detail parts that has never before been available for this engine.
Mike Reagan has a long way to go sorting through parts, but he's making excellent progress. As time goes on we will have a MUCH easier time finding, ordering, and receiving the parts we need for our trains.
Next, we talked about the MTH DCS business.
MTH DCS is responsible for development and maintenance of DCS hardware and software, including the DCS App. They are also responsible for overseeing the production of new DCS hadware that will be sold through Atlas.
The main project right now for Dave Krebiehl and MTH DCS is the new WTIU (#50-1039). This next generation Track Interface Unit was announced in early 2020. It integrates the functions of the existing TIU and WIU. We then compared the catalog image and feature description of the WTIU with the existing TIU.
The USB port has been relocated to the same position as the current RS-232 serial port. This implies that the WTIU will eliminate the RS-232 serial port.
The TIU's "remote input" has been replaced by an "ENET INPUT," or ethernet jack. The inclusion of the ethernet port is critically important for large layouts with multiple TIU's. As I covered in an earlier presentation to the DCS User Group on DCS Networking, when you have more than one TIU/WIU on a layout you will have MUCH more reliable operation by hard wiring the WIU's to a router with ethernet cables. When properly configured, this almost entirely eliminates the issue of TIU/WIU's disappearing from the App.
An important thing to be aware of is the new WTIU will NOT include a 900MHz radio. Therefore, it will not communicate via radio with existing DCS remotes. The product description for the WTIU notes that the DCS remote will work with the WTIU, but only when tethered. That implies that the "REMOTE INPUT" jack will be relocated to the opposite end of the WTIU.
The WTIU will have a standard RP-SMA antenna. This is a nice improvement over the TIU. RP-SMA cables are readily available on the aftermarket. If you use the WTIU as a standalone network, or use WiFi to connect the WTIU to a router, you will be able locate the antenna for optimal radio reception while keeping the WTIU under the layout for short wire runs to the track.
Each channel of the WTIU will have a purple indicator light. On the WIU, the purple indicator light indicates that the WIU has negotiated a connection with the TIU. On the WIU, these lights may indicate when the DCS signal is turned on or off on each channel. This would be a nice improvement over the TIU for those who like to turn off the DCS signal to run conventional on the variable channels. This isn't common, but it can cause real angst when one forgets to turn the DCS signal back on.
Another change is the ability to control either AC or DC track voltage on the variable channels. The TIU can only handle AC current on the variable channels.
Going into the future, the WTIU, AIU, and DCS App are the only products that will definitely be produced and maintained.
Other DCS products have a less certain future. MTH announced the discontinuation of the WIU last year, but that decision may be reversed. The DCS Explorer was designed for start sets, which MTH Trains will no longer be producing. The DCS Explorer was available for separate sale, but it's uncertain if there will be enough demand for separate sale versions to justify another production run. The DCS Remote Commander was replaced by the DCS Explorer in starter sets, but there was already enough demand for the separate sale version that more DCS Remote Commanders were produced. If that demand persists we may see another batch. The DCS Commander is probably the least likely product to get another production run. The DCS Commander is a DC only product aimed at the HO market. Since MTH has sold all of it's HO and S scale tooling to Scale Trains, it is unlikely there will be demand for the Commader.
The Rev. L TIU and DCS remote will not be made again.
Next we covered the diaspora of MTH tooling.
The fact that Scale Trains will not be using PS3 in their locomotives is a real hit for DCS users in HO. Without new production locomotives, it is unlikely that replacement HO PS3 boards will be produced in the future.
It was announced that Lionel has purchased some MTH tools, but Lionel has chosen not to reveal which tools. Some items did appear in the new Lionel catalog, including the Railking barn, 3-story building, Premier 19th Century passenger cars, and the UP CA-1 caboose.
Atlas acquired numerous tools from the MTH Premier line (listed above). Most important for DCS users, the locomotives produced by Atlas will include PS3 electronics.
Atlas has licensed DCS from MTH and will be marketing DCS hardware, including the WTIU and AIU. Atlas will also be handling warranty repairs and service parts for all items they sell. They will maintain their own supply of parts separate from MTH Parts.
I have also been making a few DCS related products, including DCS signal filters, a battery compartment insert for the DCS remote, thumbwheel assemblies for the DCS remote, and repair posts to replace cracked posts on the TIU case.
After the PowerPoint presentation, Andy Edleman addressed the meeting on behalf of MTH Trains and Atlas. Andy explained that he is working as a consultant for both companies. He is making the marketing materials (product images, descriptions, etc.) and handling ordering with the factories overseas.
He explained that the new MTH Trains will be producing about half the number of new items each year as the old MTH, but without a printed catalog. Atlas will be marketing many new products as "Atlas O Premier" and will be releasing a new printed catalog by early December. Atlas is excited to be working with MTH's factories, which will allow Atlas to bring products from catalog to dealers in a much shorter time frame than earlier Atlas products.
Among the new Atlas O Premier items announced in July, 2021, were several sets of 70ft. heavyweight passenger cars. Atlas coordinated with MTH Trains on these announcements to produce matching steam locomotives. Andy confirmed that this arrangement will continue in the future.
Again, thanks to everyone who attended. Hopefully more of you will be able to make it in April.
