@Kelunaboy posted:O27 size passenger train sets, without locomotives
There are plenty of these from Williams/WBB, Lionel, and MTH at dealers and on auction sites.
From Lionel I would love to see an ft passenger set with the sleigh bell limited paint job that the e8s got. I’d also like to see all of the csx heritage models from mth/atlas. A return to sd70/es44 starter sets from mth would be nice too.From all brands I’d love to see large catalogs, no more built to order nonsense, and lower prices, but that won’t happen.
Tubular track between O72 and O96.
One more time for people who somehow has missed this information: MTH is not in the business of creating any new tooling anymore. Nothing “all new” has been created by MTH since Mike Wolf initially tried to sell the company several years ago.
MTH is simply using what’s left of its existing tooling (after much of the Premier line was sold to Atlas and Lionel) to market short runs of product to dealers (as custom runs) or on its own behalf.
The warehouse facility that was once used to store and stage new shipments is no longer in MTH’s holdings, so short runs are now the business model.
MTH shares its former factory in China with Atlas, so production is severely limited. Beyond that, MTH has never mentioned any intention to invest in new tooling.
@luvindemtrains posted:Since you asked...I would like to see Atlas bring back their train sets. They made them in 3-rail and 2-rail. I would also love to see any of the manufacturers offer PRR, PC, or Conrail ore jennies (G38/G39). I'm sure they would be very popular.
Dave
Dylan Lamber aka Lambert Locomotive Works is making kits for G38/G39 Ore cars, decals are available from K4 decals. I am going to build a few of these and see how well they work for 3 rail.
@SGP posted:Dylan Lamber aka Lambert Locomotive Works is making kits for G38/G39 Ore cars, decals are available from K4 decals. I am going to build a few of these and see how well they work for 3 rail.
SGP,
Thank you for this information. I am already in contact with him and have received a sample from him. Please let me know what you come up with concerning the the trucks and application to 3-rail.
Dave
From Lionel, I would like to see some IRT subway cars with full opening doors also an R 46 BMT cars, same thing.
Lionel - complete the American Freedom Train cars as promised. At least the two Showcase Cars and maybe the Power/Bunk car #200.
All - Additional scale-sized Friendship Train cars would be nice, too.
@MartyE posted:A LC+2.0 671 Turbine using the PW tooling NOT the Bantam.
That is an outstanding one!
Some one please bring back the K Line shadow rail track!
@Darrell posted:Some one please bring back the K Line shadow rail track!
Totally agree!
LionChief Plus2 N&W J and Daylight GS-4 (in full MPC/LTI size).
@breezinup posted:LionChief Plus2 N&W J and Daylight GS-4 (in full MPC/LTI size).
Thumbs up on this and add a Blue Comet to the list.
Scale transfer caboose.
Tom
Lionel Legacy Norfolk and Western Class M 4-8-0 with several road numbers
Heavy weight passenger cars with arch roofs. This is the rounded type roof, not the typical clerestory roof on most O gauge models. Also known as Harriman type, or turtleback. This is not the same as a clerestory roof with rounded air conditioning ducts added--those are not rounded off on the ends.
What railroads had these? UP and SP, Frisco and Illinois Central, Erie, Southern. Maybe Wabash. There are probably more I'm not familiar with.
Tony
2000 series CTA subway cars.
From Lionel:A PRR 2-8-0 Consolidation.
Norm
The OP and about sixty replies, almost ALL are different requests!
Affordable command control systems that don't require a phone or tablet. Surely they can't be so blind as to not see the demand for their OLD systems and the price people are willing to pay to get their OLD systems.
John
I would bet this is in the works - but Lionel producing the new Amtrak Avelia Liberty high-speed trains - I would buy one even if it was a few grand.
From Lionel and MTH - an accurate Chesapeake and Ohio T-1. Lionel has the correct tender length but both models lack accurate boilers. Perhaps Lionel could also make one in the Lionmaster line.
I'd like to see better quality / quality control. Last year, I purchased 2 brand-new locos built by one of the manufacturers in question here, and after multiple returns for warranty work, I finally sent them back for a refund. This year, I purchased a brand-new loco from another one of the manufacturers mentioned here, and recently had to send it back for warranty work. I was told the item could not be repaired, so they sent me a brand-new replacement, and it was defective right out of the box. It is now on its way back to the manufacturer for a refund. Until quality improves, I'm not buying what they're selling, no matter how badly I would like to have it. It isn't worth the hassle IMO. Instead, I'll focus on the older modern locos that I have, and gradually have them upgraded. I just had a 20-year-old Lionel Hudson upgraded (Thank you, Alex!!); it runs like a Swiss watch, and for a fraction of what the new products cost.
I am primarily a tinplate collector / operator, but I do like the modern command-control systems. The modern locos that I own that have proven to be the most reliable are the older ones equipped with PS2, TMCC, or that have been upgraded from conventional to TMCC or PS3. So far, every brand-new loco I have purchased has turned out to be a dud. As a result, I'll forgo buying brand-new and will instead upgrade what I already have. Marty Fitzhenry always told me the older PS2 MTH locos (or PS1 locos converted to PS3) make a much better end-product than anything coming off the assembly line today. Based on my experience, I agree. I have several older PS2-equipped locos, and they all run extremely well, as do the older conventional locos (mostly Williams) that I have had converted to either PS3 or TMCC.
Step it up, guys, or you won't get my money!!
A true Cumberland Valley Railroad locomotive in a 4-4-0 American. A very important railroad in America's history. The CV RR basically invented the sleeper car.
All they gotta do is contact me. I got a book with tons of pictures and specifications haha.
More diesels with fixed pilots.
Kits to change swinging pilots to fixed would be sweet too.
@Jim R. posted:One more time for people who somehow has missed this information: MTH is not in the business of creating any new tooling anymore. Nothing “all new” has been created by MTH since Mike Wolf initially tried to sell the company several years ago.
MTH is simply using what’s left of its existing tooling (after much of the Premier line was sold to Atlas and Lionel) to market short runs of product to dealers (as custom runs) or on its own behalf.
The warehouse facility that was once used to store and stage new shipments is no longer in MTH’s holdings, so short runs are now the business model.
MTH shares its former factory in China with Atlas, so production is severely limited. Beyond that, MTH has never mentioned any intention to invest in new tooling.
There's a lot of hearsay in this post.
@rplst8 posted:There's a lot of hearsay in this post.
Have you talked with Andy Edleman or anyone else still associated with MTH since the big change? I have.
Otherwise, use your power of observation or talk to dealers about the size of their custom runs.
And also understand what it means to do R&D and create new tooling: a commitment to produce tens of thousands of castings from the same mold to amortize the tooling costs. Kind of hard to do when you are producing short runs and are no longer staffed or have the infrastructure in place.
This was all alluded to when MTH began this new business model in 2021. Do your homework before making statements like that.
MTH knows what it’s doing, and doing it well.
A true to scale Alco RS3 locomotive
@Jim R. posted:MTH knows what it’s doing, and doing it well.
this is very subjective. Atlas is doing MTH well. MTH itself is on life support clinging to scraps.
@PRRMP54 posted:The OP and about sixty replies, almost ALL are different requests!
Well, a few do have one or two likes
What I find interesting about a lot of these posts is they want something that requires new tooling. I believe that is not going to happen with Lionel, Atlas, or MTH for a while (years?). I hope I am wrong. (Lionel and Atlas “new” tooling is just recycled MTH.)
Waiting to see what 3rd Rail/GGD come up with next, although I probably will not be around when finally delivered.
Good morning and Happy Holidays !!!!
Myself I would like to see more of the Lionel Vision Line cars with sound. I have a couple of these cars now and I think they add an additional interest to the train as it passes by the viewer.
Possibly offer the sound system in other types of cars other than the current box cars, maybe coal hoppers where the sound system can be located under the removable coal load or covered hoppers.
Just a thought !!!
I'd like Menards to produce a line of affordable heavyweight and streamlined passenger cars. Include roads like CofG, N&W, ICG, SAL and ACL, maybe FEC as a bonus.
I’d like to see more command control operating accessories. I recently acquired NIB TMCC culvert loader and unloader. Controlling them from the Cab1-L that also controls the engine is great. Specifically I’d like to see an operating milk car and an ice car.
Menards makes some cool buildings in O-Scale. Plus, they are not that expensive compared to buildings from Woodland Scenics or other companies, and they have LED lighting included. I don't know if I will purchase any of their products, but who knows?
Here are my wishlists for Lionel, MTH, and Atlas.
-Lionel wishlist:
-Fastrack 24" Turntable with Command-Control
-Legacy-equipped Intermodal Crane (scale or semi-scale)
-Bring back all the Postwar accessories with command-control
-Legacy Crane Cars/Boom Cars (sold as a set instead of separately)
-Legacy ET44AC and ET44C4 (with accurate truck side frame air cylinder, piping, and control details)
-SD70ACe-T4 (Vision Line)
-GP60/GP60M/GP60B/GP59 and NS rebuilt GP33ECO/GP59E/GP59ECO
-GP50 and rebuilt NS GP33ECO
-SD75M/SD75I
-Accurate Cabs for NS SD70ACC and NS/CP SD70ACU
-SD45-2 (especially the ATSF Bicentennial livery version and BNSF SD32ECO Rebuild)
-Vision Siemens Chargers with matching passenger cars (Siemens Venture, Bi-Level Commuter Cars, Surfliner and California Coaches/Cab Cars, and new Superliners; Surfliners/California/Commuter Cab Cars with Station Sounds, horns, and bells)
-Avelia Liberty set (Vision Line)
-SD40-2 Rebuilds (NS Admiral Cab and SD33ECO with correct radiator; CSX SD40-3 "Spongebob Cab"; CSX ET23DCM with correct radiator; CP SD30C-ECO)
-New electric locos: EP5, E33, E44, etc.
-EMD SD7 and SD9 locomotives
-Lionel needs to get the tooling for their Tinplate products back from MTH
-New Cab-3 Remote for Base-3 (pretty sure a lot of Legacy users want this)
-O84 and O96 Remote/Command Switches
-Modern Vision Rolling Stock (reefers, boxcars, ethanol tank cars, covered hopper cars, intermodal well cars, etc.)
-New features on locos: rotating bearing caps on modern diesels; sand fill/application; dynamic braking sounds/application
-Vision Line Boeing Fuselage Train with BNSF or MRL Loco, two fuselages, four flatcars, and two container cars with parts containers; addon cars and locos sold separately; EOT included on last car of train; Freightsounds car included in set
-Roadrailers (former Bowser/Weaver tooling; does Lionel have the tooling or does Atlas?)
-Better Crewtalk dialogue, more like MTH locos
-MTH:
-New DCS Remote that connects to WTIU using Wi-Fi
-Radio transmitter module that connects to WTIU remote input to allow older DCS remotes to connect wirelessly to WTIU
-Bring back Scaletrax
-New European models
-Atlas:
-Roadrailers
So many wonderful suggestions. It would be great to see all your wants made.
This is a nice "fantasy" thread and there's certainly nothing wrong with dreaming. One thing I have noticed, is thus far there are not too many repeats in what we, as individuals, would like to see. We know anytime we want an updated or new product numbers drive that possibility. If this were an HO or N scale thread we might have a chance but from what I have seen over the years, many of our wants will not happen. Hey but keep dreaming and asking...who knows!
Dave
@Jim R. posted:Have you talked with Andy Edleman or anyone else still associated with MTH since the big change? I have.
From what I understand, Andy is more in charge of the marketing aspects of MTH and the interfaces with the dealers and custom runs (generating artwork and what not). Rich is the one doing the day to day on the actual production runs.
Otherwise, use your power of observation or talk to dealers about the size of their custom runs.
It doesn't seem a whole lot different from the way they used to do business, or even how Lionel does business now. In the old paradigm, MTH made an announcement twice a year about what they would make. If there was no interest in a particular item (in the later years) they didn't produce it. However, in that announcement (catalog) they would have half a dozen road names.
Now, each dealer does a couple of road names each and it probably adds up to about the same number. Probably not as much as in the early to mid aughts, but probably also not much different that from just before the restructuring.
One more time for people who somehow has missed this information: MTH is not in the business of creating any new tooling anymore. Nothing “all new” has been created by MTH since Mike Wolf initially tried to sell the company several years ago.
And also understand what it means to do R&D and create new tooling: a commitment to produce tens of thousands of castings from the same mold to amortize the tooling costs. Kind of hard to do when you are producing short runs and are no longer staffed or have the infrastructure in place.
I don't think anyone really understand the process of developing new tooling or how much it costs. With as many new offerings that we've seen from other manufacturers... ...in plastic... ...with road specific details... ...for a price not all that much higher than "large runs", I've come to the conclusion that most of what has been opined about on this forum with regard to the "cost" of new tooling is a bunch of conjecture and guessing.
MTH is simply using what’s left of its existing tooling (after much of the Premier line was sold to Atlas and Lionel) to market short runs of product to dealers (as custom runs) or on its own behalf.
There's also been a lot of conjecture about what tooling MTH has left, and statements like "much of the Premier line was sold to Atlas and Lionel" is not known to be 100% true either.
I suspect that MTH has retained more of it's tooling than one would think - just due to the overwhelming and massive amount of models it has released over the years. All of the PRR, NH, Milwaukee, and GN electrics, many Alco diesels and other early diesel era switchers, and the steam tooling. We've definitely seen a few, pop up, but so many more that haven't yet. And untold amounts of rolling stock. And no one, no one, has leaked the details of what was purchased.
This was all alluded to when MTH began this new business model in 2021. Do your homework before making statements like that.
There isn't any homework to do! Here are the facts:
- MTH and Atlas jointly announced the sale of a modest selection of Premier tooling to Atlas a couple of years ago. Along with that announcement, they released a specific listing of the models they purchased. They've since announced a joint licensing agreement on the tools they each own, for each to better produce matching sets of things.
- Lionel said it bought "some select tooling from MTH that complimented their existing tooling." No details on what specifically that meant. No list was given, and any statement on what they got or didn't get is hearsay unless you are recanting what they already released in a catalog, which isn't that reliable because they slap "All new product" on almost everything in there.
- No one can even dream to know about what the current version of MTH might be cooking up. It's a free market, and with the recent quality issues and massive price increases from the big L, there is definitely room in the market for some version of better.
MTH knows what it’s doing, and doing it well.
This reads like an accusation... so please enlighten us.
