News 4-20-2009

Titletown Train Show this weekend!

The annual Titletown Train Show is here. It will be held at Shopko Hall between the Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena and the Resch Center, next to Lambeau Field, on Saturday, April 25^th and Sunday, April 26^th. Hours are Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking will be in the Lambeau Field parking lot. This is the premier train show in the area and I encourage all to attend to keep the event going. Other good train shows have closed due to the economy, this show needs to continue and your attendance is needed. For more info, please visit the website www.ttsgbllc.com and I will see you there!

Model train industry changes with the economy.

With the recession many changes have come in the model train industry. Manufacturers have been consolidating, getting smaller or filing bankruptcy. Hobby shops have been closing in significant numbers, it appears that the bigger dealers have had the most trouble generating the necessary cash flow while the smaller dealers generally have lower overhead and can survive lean times more easily. The HO and G scale manufacturers seem to be hardest hit but O/O-27 manufacturers have made adjustments also.

Lionel recently reduced staff to bare minimums and outsourced the product warehousing and shipping departments. Lionel is housed in two different buildings in Chesterfield, Michigan and maintains an office for the President in New York City. Lionel has sold the building where they once produced trains, service trains and handle parts. The service and parts departments are moving to the other building in Chesterfield, Michigan. If you have tried to deal with customer service or parts lately you have probably experienced long wait times on the phone, often in excess of an hour or more. Another sign of the times is Lionel’s new catalog. The current catalog has been redesigned to reflect the restructuring of the Lionel product line. Some of the changes include a new Visions Line which features Lionel’s top of the line items, a new Classic Line that offers more tradition offerings and an Accessory & Track Line. Over all Lionel will offer 35% fewer items this year due to the economic forecasts. Lionel has also limited production numbers of many items which may result in shortages in the holiday season later this year. It has been suggested that customers preorder early to insure that the items you are interested in can be reserved for you.

M.T.H. has yet to show any obvious signs of the slower economy. M.T.H. has entered into an agreement with Lionel to form a new company called “The Lionel Corporation” (not to be confused with Lionel LLC) that is owned and operated by M.T.H. The purpose of The Lionel Corporation is to produce and reproduce Lionel, Ives and American Flyer trains originally from the pre-World War II era, also know as the Tinplate era. An interesting twist is that The Lionel Corporation catalogs were shipped from Lionel LLC. Does this mean there is cooperation between Lionel LLC and MTH Electric Trains? Who would have predicted this a year ago?

Williams Trains was sold to Bachmann about a year ago and recently it was announced that Bachmann’s parent company (TOC Kader) has purchased Sanda Kan (for financial reasons), the company that produces or has produced trains for Lionel, K-Line and Atlas O among others. The Bachmann ownership seems to strengthen Williams finances to help them get through slow times.

Time will tell how Atlas O will get through the current economy. The only signs I have seen at Atlas O is the number of catalogs given to dealers has been reduced significantly but the number of offerings seem to be about the same. Atlas O is one of the smallest companies in the O scale market and being small they are very lean so reductions in staff would seriously impact their ability to operate. On the other hand, being small has been good for other businesses so maybe it helps Atlas O to be small.

GB Train Shop has been fortunate to maintain a good customer base and while other hobby and train stores in the area have closed, GB Trains Shop has held its own and I am maintaining inventory levels rather than reducing inventory. You can depend on GB Train Shop to be your train source. One more piece of good news recently, the city has announced a delay in the rebuilding of Velp Ave. to 2011 or 2012. It was originally scheduled to start in May 2009.

Lionel and MTH release new catalogs

Lionel LLC, The Lionel Corporation and MTH Electric Trains have new catalogs out. Stop by to see what is new for the second half of 2009.

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