Please lets keep it to one thing,
I would like to see MTH get rid of the wireless tether that they use on steam engines. They are a pain to attach and break too easily. Good thing I keep extras.
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High end products which tend to go in Gomez Addams mode 6 feet after they come right out of the box (ie, something does not work!)
All of their objections to working toward uniform standards for digital control systems, sound upload file types and protocols, etc.
Anachronistic tower com announcements in old fashioned steam locomotives.
Get rid of that stupid ".99" and ".95" on their MSRP's. C'mon already!
Round it up to the even dollar. How dumb does it sound with an 1100-dollar
locomotive marked $1099.99?
Hoppy
Originally Posted by HOPPY:
Get rid of that stupid ".99" and ".95" on their MSRP's. C'mon already!
Round it up to the even dollar. How dumb does it sound with an 1100-dollar
locomotive marked $1099.99?
Hoppy
That is a business 101 mental trick. It "appears" to be cheaper at $1199.99 then $1200. Yes I know its only a penny but its the oldest marketing trick in the book. They want you to think $1100 not $1200.
I would love to see WBB get rid of the N5C caboose!! It's the only one they have listed for over eight years straight! How many can you use?
Other companies, even RMT, make two to four choices in a caboose. MTH has a woodside caboose, and baywindow caboose, just to name a couple. Lionel has work cabooses.
Also how about more realistic prototypes while we are at it?
Some railroads never had a GP-9 or a GP-38; like the Reading Railroad, they had a GP-7 and a GP-35 & GP-39-2. Also the cabooses were NMb thru NMp style and not N5C.
Lee F.
Pricing in the hundreds of dollars. Bring back some inexpensive Marx-style trains.
Originally Posted by Ace:
Pricing in the hundreds of dollars. Bring back some inexpensive Marx-style trains.
I agree whole heartily, bring back some lower price items that still have quality!
Even Bachmann/Williams is trying to reach for the $500.00 mark for new engines!
Lee F.
Fantasy paint schemes and models (when talking of real RRs), there I said it 
If they make a Seaboard Q3 Mike and paint it in the appropriate scheme, I couldn't care less if they then paint a few with Minnie and Mickey on the sides.
Sound!!! It gets on my one last nerve after about 5 minutes.
Jeff
hello guys and gals..........
there is one thing that has bugged me for years and that is GET RID of nickle plated rims on the steam locomotives.
the woman who loves the S.F.#5021
Tiffany
I wish they would go back to offering trains WITHOUT the computer control stuff - from all the complaints on this forum about systems that die soon after they're run, it's a wonder so many want the things to start with. Conventional Control for me!
Tethers.
- Mike
Proprietary Operating Systems
The "made in China" label.
Yup! I'll drink to that one too!! Bring back "made in U.S.A."
Hoppy
rubber traction tires
basic steam or deisel sounds-no cab chattet-towercom-pass. and frreight yard sounds.
Second that rubber traction tires. Wish they had never thought of it.
Third that on traction tires, especially on locomotives or sets that are already big and heavy and dual-motored.
I guess anything, no matter how distasteful to me, might be somebody else's treasure, so let me put it in the words of my LHS dealer.
"I feel bad when a kid comes into my store with a $25 gift certificate. There is really nothing he can buy."
So my vote goes for LOWER prices!!!
Get rid of the four plus catalogs per year.Just one all inclusive catalog released in September-October is enough.
Ricky
Buyer paying the shipping on new item returns for warranty repairs.
--Greg
Good thread David.
My one thing is actually two and specific to Lionel. The one thing I wish they(Lionel) would get rid of is the bug-eyed cab figures. I've found the same figures in a Legacy Geep as are in a Docksider.
Nothing worse than getting a beautiful Legacy GP7 and finding these guys in the cab...
Lets keep this on topic, talk of $100 sets, not going to happen, lower prices, not going to happen, being made in USA, not going to happen, getting rid of sound, not going to happen.
i just asked what would you like to see eliminated by the mfgs. I mentioned the wireless tether. Not wish lists that will never happen.
Good Day,
The rubber traction tires need to go. All metal flanged wheels would be fantastic!
I would like the manufacturers to stop producing locomotives and passenger cars with opening doors. I see no need for the added expense of opening, spring loaded doors and in all these years I've never seen any of my small people use any of the doors!
Eric Hofberg
TCA, LCCA
MTH wireless tether, Lionel fat chrome metal tires on the drivers of its steam locomotives
I would like the manufacturers to stop producing locomotives and passenger cars with opening doors. I see no need for the added expense of opening, spring loaded doors and in all these years I've never seen any of my small people use any of the doors!
Eric Hofberg
TCA, LCCA
I second this! Especially the baggage car doors that on MTH which get broken for no reason other than aging plastic, or they creep open all of the time in some cases such as my MTH premier RPO cars.
Nice details are great on products, but not unwanted moving parts that add nothing but trouble to the product.
Originally Posted by Tiffany:
hello guys and gals..........
there is one thing that has bugged me for years and that is GET RID of nickle plated rims on the steam locomotives.
the woman who loves the S.F.#5021
Tiffany
Tiffany
Use a black felt tipped pen. Also great for engine scratches.
Take the coffee maker out of the cab! 
Originally Posted by Boomer:
Get rid of the four plus catalogs per year.Just one all inclusive catalog released in September-October is enough.
Ricky
Yeah, and make the trains in them available when the catalog comes out.
Hello Zhyachts........
Will a "sharpie" king size permanent black marker work ? The nickel plated rims look good on standard gauge tin plate trains but not on 2 or 3 rail SCALE locomotives !!!
the woman who loves the S.F.#5021
Tiffany
That "Made by Lionel on the side of their rolling stock.
Lionel's shiny running gear on their steamengines
PS-3's apparent handicap in the loudness department.
Hello Hogmaster 1............
Maybe it NEED a hearing-aid ?
the woman who loves the S.F.#5021
Tiffany
Originally Posted by Hogmaster 1:
PS-3's apparent handicap in the loudness department.
That is totally untrue, I have 4 sets of locomotives with proto3 and all have sound as loud as any ps2. The only engine that came with less then ear splitting sound was the ES44AC GE evo of which MTH put a new sound file on their web site for customers to download.
Nothing.
I like it all. From prototype to non prototype. Huge oversized "gatemen" to scale size crossbucks. It's all good to me.
Originally Posted by david1:
Originally Posted by Hogmaster 1:
PS-3's apparent handicap in the loudness department.
That is totally untrue, I have 4 sets of locomotives with proto3 and all have sound as loud as any ps2. The only engine that came with less then ear splitting sound was the ES44AC GE evo of which MTH put a new sound file on their web site for customers to download.
It's not completely untrue; I think it's more of a balance issue. My RK Northern has very faint engine sounds but the whistle rattles glass. My F-3 ABA has powerful engine sounds, but the horn is weak. I've tried setting various volume levels, but my PS2 engines are pretty well balanced out of the box, so getting them all to play nice sound-wise is tricky. I'll keep an eye out for upgraded sound files, but truthfully I'm just glad they're getting product out. Would like to see a little more (any?) QC, but that's just about everyone these days.
Also on board with traction tires!
Traction tires
