@gunrunnerjohn posted:You can still get Lionel parts.
True. But I have DCS WiFi TIU. What I've still not cleared in my head is how would a New Lionel Big Boy with BT, Legacy etc work? Does the Lion Chief BT app get you access to all the features? Maybe I need to put another thread in the Lionel OGR forum board. 
Yes, all features with BT. You cannot operate MTH locos that will not be made in the future with either system. 😢
@jhz563 posted:Absolutely right. China will never let tooling material leave the country. even if they got wind you were going to try it all your dies would suddenly grow legs and start shuffling about just out of your reach. Its just how the country is. Manufacturing material and intellectual property get sucked up like a vacuum.
So much speculation again.
How does anyone know anything about the behind the scenes business of MTH? For all we know part of the deal between Mike W. and the Chinese factories he uses is that two (or more) mold masters are made and one gets shipped back to the US for MTH to keep.
that question has been on my mind ever since i heard the news
never had an mth and always wanted one just never got one. big fan of the railking / rugged rails 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 engines that usually came in starter sets, just thought they were a nice steamer and then were the sports sets . those were awesome always wanted a railking steelers set and and any other one i came across
now with MTH closing i may be too late hopefully some hobby store online may have one set left by next year that has a 2-8-0 or 4-6-0 in a freight set.
@rplst8 posted:So much speculation again.
How does anyone know anything about the behind the scenes business of MTH? For all we know part of the deal between Mike W. and the Chinese factories he uses is that two (or more) mold masters are made and one gets shipped back to the US for MTH to keep.
Dream on! This issue has been so widely publicized that it's hard for me to believe you actually think that. 
Tooling that gets created in China stays in China.
" two (or more) mold masters are made and one gets shipped back to the US for MTH to keep."
I'm no expert, but this would seem cost prohibitive and functionally unnecessary. The tooling is the major cost of any toy train, particularly diecast metal locomotives. If extensive tooling were available for use stateside, the sale of the company, at whatever price, would have already occurred is my guess.
As John said, tooling (molds) cannot be shipped out of China.
After MTH officially closes I will continue to do what I have been doing long before MTH ever existed - enjoying my trains.
It may depend on how good MTH's lawyers were. Lots of interesting info here.
@Dave45681 posted:I can understand what you are saying with not buying "new" engines, since those would be sold in hobby shops and they will probably be around after the closure date.
But while I agree you won't be doing it (nor will I
-Dave
About 2-3 years ago I had let my MTHRRC membership lapse. I rejoined last November. I wanted the Standard Gauge car. The car showed up about two or 3 weeks later but I never got a membership card or anything else. Initially I thought it was because I joined up near the end of the year. Now I feel this may have happened due to the closure. I assume my membership was for 2019. I would like to join up for 2020 but I am a little nervous about it. I like the Premier boxcar. Perhaps I will give MTH a call.
What do after MTH closes up?
improvise, adapt and overcome......
Pat
@Hudson J1e posted:About 2-3 years ago I had let my MTHRRC membership lapse. I rejoined last November. I wanted the Standard Gauge car. The car showed up about two or 3 weeks later but I never got a membership card or anything else. Initially I thought it was because I joined up near the end of the year. Now I feel this may have happened due to the closure. I assume my membership was for 2019. I would like to join up for 2020 but I am a little nervous about it. I like the Premier boxcar. Perhaps I will give MTH a call.
OK, makes sense to me now. The cycle of when the club was generally offered was earlier in the year, and the cars (with some exceptions when there were delays) would occasionally be available at April York, or shipped some time around July.
I received both club cars earlier this summer. You should call and see if they have any left. Unless the intentionally did a smaller run because they knew of the closure before the public did, there may still be a few extras to be had. I'm pretty sure it was not a "BTO" situation. It made sense for them to keep some extras after the initial memberships were signed up in case people were interested later in the year, as you did last year.
For this year, I did not get a separate envelope with my card and pin (which was normally pretty standard), it was just placed in the end of the box for one of the cars.
I mistakenly assumed that people on this board who bought the club cars all knew the somewhat regular timeline for release and were buying when first offered. That is obviously not true since now both you and the OP of the question I was responding to may have bought club items later in the year.
-Dave
The bear says: Don't worry. Just because MTH has decided to stop operatiions does not mean you should panic. As long has we have the Forum and there are gentlemen out there that know a lot about MTH Trains, there will be someone to fix your choo choos. I bought lots of MTH Trains starting in the mid-1990s. I made a lot of purchases from Davis Trains, Milford, Ohio. He is now out of business. But, one of the gentlemen that fixed trains at Davis Trains is still a friend of mine. He fixes Lionel, MTH, etc from his home in Indiana. He has fixed quite a few of my MTH locos. If you wish to know his name, just look me up in the members section of this Forum under railbear601. Good luck and enjoy your trains........
Dave45681, thank you very much for your response. Maybe my card is in the box. I haven’t opened it yet. I can tell you for absolute certain that I did buy the car later on in the year. No doubt about it. I distinctly remember it showing up sometime in December. I should have realized that they had already been delivered and MTH had a few leftover. I was surprised it got there so fast.
I have at times seen older club offerings for sale at the MTH booth during either York. That’s how I got my other Standard Gauge car. MTH had it marked down significantly.
@Hudson J1e posted:About 2-3 years ago I had let my MTHRRC membership lapse. I rejoined last November. I wanted the Standard Gauge car. The car showed up about two or 3 weeks later but I never got a membership card or anything else. Initially I thought it was because I joined up near the end of the year. Now I feel this may have happened due to the closure. I assume my membership was for 2019. I would like to join up for 2020 but I am a little nervous about it. I like the Premier boxcar. Perhaps I will give MTH a call.
According to the MTH website, The MTHRRC Pullman Standard boxcar (20-93900) is still in stock.
I'm going down with the ship. I'm invested in MTH too but I figure I'll run the wheels off what I have or when the boards blow which ever comes first. If push comes to shove and I can't get parts DCC could be a possibility way down the road but until then I'll keep running my trains and enjoying what I have.
@Chris Lonero posted:I'm going down with the ship. I'm invested in MTH too but I figure I'll run the wheels off what I have or when the boards blow which ever comes first. If push comes to shove and I can't get parts DCC could be a possibility way down the road but until then I'll keep running my trains and enjoying what I have.
Could always switch them to TMCC.
Steve
Buy more 3rd Rail...
@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:Could always switch them to TMCC.
Steve
That's always an option to. I'm running a small HO set up now and I'm getting my feet wet in DCC so I'm getting more use to how that works. We'll see.
Will any of these MTH products able to last and stay operable for the foreseeable future after the company closes?
@onetrackmind posted:Will any of these MTH products able to last and stay operable for the foreseeable future after the company closes?
I heard from my cousin's friend's sister's brother in law's barber that they all spontaneously turn to dust on June 1, 2021.
-Dave
@harmonyards posted:What do after MTH closes up?
improvise, adapt and overcome......
Pat
Yup. I'm not worried about the mechanical/hard parts on my MTH stuff, it'll probably outlast me. My only worry going forward would be getting DCS/PS3 components. If those become no longer available as stuff dies it'll get TMCC, DCC, or whatever else going forward. Just because the electronics die doesn't mean the locomotive is a doorstop.
Like Chris, I too, will go down with the ship....I have 78 p2-p3 diesel and steamers , and have lost 3 engines since 2001... if the collection lasts another 10 years,I'm good with that......what I buy now is 2nd and 3rd hand, so I won't miss mth for a while....
"Don't they know it's the end of the world, it ended when MTH said Good-Bye!"
Gads, what a thought.
@Lehigh74 posted:According to the MTH website, The MTHRRC Pullman Standard boxcar (20-93900) is still in stock.
Thanks Bob. I plan to order it this week.
Dave45681, you were right. I opened the box last night and I my membership card was in there and also a 2019 pin. Thanks a lot.
Me? I'll flip the A-U handle on the ZW followed by the D-U.
The same applies to my Weaver models. Most will set on a shelf just fine, requiring an occasional dusting.
According to what I read earlier this year Mike already made a deal with some of the employees to take over the electronics division. I wouldn't get too worried just yet, there is still time and the way things in the world have been going this year, don't be surprised, the situation will probably change a couple more times.
I don't really have much MTH, so it really doesn't affect me.
Why worry over something you can't change ? Hopefully this will work out. I have 2 pre orders that won't be here until 2021. That's if they get built. If not I've got enough locomotives now and my bank account will be safe.
I ordered a spare TIU and I'm looking to order a spare handheld controller. I like the way that works. I figure that I'll use DCS until my products die.
I think if Mike could have found a buyer he would have. IMHO there is no buyer. Wish otherwise for sure.
"What to do after MTH closure"
What with the continuing problems with command control electronics, the lack of new products in the 3-Rail market, and my advancing age (my eyes and fingers no longer did what I wanted them to do), I had Stout Auctions take EVERYTHING. We then sawed apart the layout and put the 3' by 4' sections out for the trash-man. With the sale of all the buildings and all locomotives & cars, I am now "out of the model railroad hobby", after some 60 years. I must admit that I am quite relieved now!
@Hot Water posted:"What to do after MTH closure"
What with the continuing problems with command control electronics, the lack of new products in the 3-Rail market, and my advancing age (my eyes and fingers no longer did what I wanted them to do), I had Stout Auctions take EVERYTHING. We then sawed apart the layout and put the 3' by 4' sections out for the trash-man. With the sale of all the buildings and all locomotives & cars, I am now "out of the model railroad hobby", after some 60 years. I must admit that I am quite relieved now!
I don't believe the target audience of the question was for those that have exited the hobby.
Hot Water: You don't walk alone!
@Trinity River Bottoms Boomer posted:Hot Water: You don't walk alone!
So if you're exited the hobby with HW, what's your point in posting to this thread? Seems to me you could care less about MTH closing or any associated angst by active model train hobbyists.
May I suggest you go stir up trouble in forums related to whatever your new hobby is?
@MichRR714 posted:I don't believe the target audience of the question was for those that have exited the hobby.
Well,,,,,,,seeing the direction the O Gauge hobby was going, two years ago, was another reason that I "exited the hobby". My suspicions about the future of MTH came true.
I’ve really enjoyed my MTH engines and other MTH products so continue to keep buying. I did hedge my bet a little and finally bought a Lionel Chiefplus 2.0 and preordered a Legacy Diesel but debating on getting the Legacy control system. Christmas is coming.
I was really upset when MTH first made the announcement but am inspired when I see people on here converting to TMCC or perhaps DCC, if it is ever necessary.
the most unfortunate aspect is the loss of Local Train Stores which had MTH as a primary line, for me it will be Mercer Junction [good health to you Dave].
It doesn't matter if you are a Lionel person or primarily a MTH person, less product choice = higher prices, fewer "Mercer Junctions" & fewer dealers heading towards local and regional train shows.
Given current circumstances, MTH's folding the tent couldn't have occurred at a less unfortunate time.
I acquired a backup TIU and remote, plus some thumbwheel carriers. If my MTH engines fail and replacement boards aren't available, I'll just convert them to DCC. O Gauge/Scale manufacturers have come and gone over the last century and that will continue. Such is the nature of business in general. You adjust to the changes and move on.
I'm still buying MTH locomotives, as well as freight and passenger cars, some of the best stuff I own. All this means is it'll be a bit harder to get the locomotives I want. I currently run my MTH PS-3 locomotives DCC, so if the PCBAs die, they'll just get replaced by LoKSound decoders, which is what are currently slowly being added to my PS-1 locomotives. I'm sad, but have already gone through the stages of grief and am moving on to just enjoying my trains and running the wheels off of them.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
