People have probably read the news that Sanda Kan has cancelled the manufacturing contracts with 60 of their 80 model train manufacturers. This affects many of the model train companies in the smaller scales - H0 and N, I was just wondering if either USA Trains and/or Aristocraft are affected by that. I have no clue if those two companies even use the Sanda Kan manufacturing facilities and if so, if they are one of the 60.
I did a little digging around and found that Sanda Kan was actually bought out by Kader back in 2008, but at that time the companies were kept seperate. I also found out that Aristocraft did use Sanda Kan to maniufacture thier trains, still digging into USA Trains to see who they use, but from what I understand thar Kader and Sanda Kan were the two biggest Chineese and Korean train manufacturers so I'm sure USA Trains might be in the mix there also. I wish USA Trains would bring thier stuff back to being made in America again. Aristocraft started in Korea and then moved to China. For instance Rio Grande box car stock number ART46002 that was made in Korea was orange and silver, the China version was yellow and silver.
The official word is that Sanda Kan wants to concentrate only on large volume manufacture, but who knows the real reason........... There is a nice write-up here about Kader and Sanda Kan history and the current situation as it relates to some of the smaller scales: Model Railroad News:Single Article Page
I own China and Korea/Taiwan Aristocraft. Let me just say the latter was the less fragile of equipment. But I've heard that too, but remember, in a situation like this, a company will tell the public what they want to hear while keeping the real reasons under wraps.
Who ever USA Trains uses to manufacture the trains, Charles Ro hasn't been real happy with them in the last two years, often complaining how they want thier money up front paid in full but it takes forever for them to produce what was paid for by USA Trains causing Charles Ro grief and huge 2 year delays sitting on his money.
Maybe Charles Ro should think about setting up his own factory in China like Piko has done. That way he has more control over the operation. I assume USA Trains already owns the molds which is one of the big expenses.
i did not see anything yet for USA trains but Model Railroader is reporting that Aristocraft is not getting a letter so they are safe and their products will contine to be made from Sanda Kan
Sanda Kan has recently sent letters to various manufacturers advising they will no longer handle their projects. Model Railroader reports,"among the model railroad customers receiving letters from Sanda Kan are Weaver, S Helper Service, American Models, Bowser, Micro-Trains and Märklin/Trix. Among those not getting letters were Bachmann, Lilliput, Graham Farish, Lionel, Atlas, Walthers and Aristo-Craft."
I found a You Tube post by Aristocraft called "How model trains are made" which are produced by Sanda Kan, but just seems to be a intro. There is a official website at the end of the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USbtGFiLD0I
Sanda Kan only manufactured a small portion of the Marklin product line. Sanda Kan didn't manufacture any LGB G-Scale trains, so this is not really a concern for this group. I still don't know who in China manufactures for USA Trains but I'm beginning to doubt that it's Sanda Kan.
Does Marklin own their own production facility in China for LGB? Because I'd like to smack them for not gluing down the interiors of my D&S Coaches and making me do it myself
Of the large volume Large Scale manufacturers only Piko owns their own factory in China. But smack Marklin anyway - they are ultimately responsible for the quality of their product no matter who manufactures it.
On a slightly related point, this issue was discussed at the recent N scale convention in Houston. Atlas and Intermountain said that they were not to be affected by Sanda Kan canceling issue. But they are fairly large companies in the model industry USA.