I hope Micro-Trains can resume production in a reasonable time frame. Personally I'm more worried about the availability of Micro-Track than locomotives. Although many of us on this board use flex track and wright turnouts, without sectional track the growth of Z scale will slow. After all, I got hooked with a $20 oval of Micro-Track laced with cocaine. Is there a full list of affected companies? I'd like to know what N scale companies will be having problems too.
In correspondence with someone in Japan in the Z scale game and familiar with Sandakan and has recently been to the factory he says the restructuring is the result of the problems of Merrill Lynch in the recent US melt down as they are a major financial backer and the restructuring required to continue with them cheerz Garth
At the moment things are fine...we have inventory and final deliveries and we should be able to make a smooth transition. Being a glass half full kinda guy, I see this as a huge opportunity for MTL to bring some of this work back here to Medford and to work with vendors who want our work and want to be good partners. Frankly our past relationship was a good/bad thing and considering the way the last project was handled...a fresh face on upcomming production will be welcome. With young agressive companies we reap the benifit of their energy and forward, out of the box thinking...not business as usual. I'm not a "looking back" kinda guy with these things, so as far as I'm concerned, the future is a very bright one for MTL. Joe
Good to hear Joe. No sense being negative, I can appreciate that! Sounds like there might not even be a hiccup. So, how is the E-8 comming along? Any chance of the old F-7 making a comeback with the new mech? I'll say it again, even though I consder myself a steam guy, I really like my old F-7. Buzzsaw noise and all, it just runs and runs and pulls like no other.
This is what we want to hear and I am sure if push comes to shove you can do it in house as well. With all that MTL does this I am sure is but a minor hickup. Sent you a PM hope you got it. Keep dragging them in one at a time. Cheerz Garth
We are, but the mold bases used at SDK are different (not sure what the difference is) from many used here from what I am told. Not that it cannot be done, but the main problem is finding someone with the proper equipment and the experience to do what we need. Specifically the track...there are a lot of steps in producing that, especially forming rail, which narrows down the field to almost NONE here in the states. This is a field dominated by the European and Asian mfg's. I suspect we are the only ones in the US that produce track (z flex?) We are starting to develop more parts that will be done here and I personally would like to pull everything back into the shop and do it here. But that's just me! ) Joe MTl
Track Ever thought of a joint venture with Peco? I use their flex track a lot as well as MTLs. Bring out a nice range of streamline points in Z and you could brand it with American tie spacing as MTL and Peco could market it with european tie spacings under their own banner. same geometry just a different sleeper base. Anyhing but going back to Marklins clunkers! O.K for fiddle yards and hidden sidings but look ghastly anywhere else.
Pretty sure Micro Engineering makes track here. http://microengineering.com/about.htm Don't you make rail by drawing rod through rotating dies until the rail shape is formed. Kind of like how gutters are formed. The hard part should be getting the metal rail into a plastic mold.
Longer flex would be nice to. The 12" / 300mm are not all that ideal even for the "80%" market with small layouts (195mm type). Difficult in the curves. I don't care if it is wet-noodle flex like Peco, just longer, like the Märklin/Peco 660mm length. Hopefully MTL can combine some molds for flex and Micro-Track for some savings. Like Joe says, should be a lot more hungry manufacturing sites now. .
How about starting over with 3' code 40 flextrack and matching turnouts? You like them, (Jedi mind trick wave) You really need them (Jedi mind trick wave), Your customers are all screaming for them! (Jedi mind trick wave)
Bowser and FT Bowser does not use SDK that I know of, maybe one of their aquisitions did or they did in the past. They were concerned about SDK's ties to Bachman and letting them have so much control over the supply of parts. They do deal with other Chinese manufacturers, but a lot of their work is still done here in PA. In fact, as far as Full Throttle goes, their shells are made, painted and printed here. Even their foam packaging is made in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, somewhere. The only parts that FT has made in China are their wheelsets (not trucks or couplers) and plastic boxes. Everything else is manufactured, painted and assembled either in PA or FLA. Dan S.
Good to know About Bowser giving the hometown, Originally from WB/Scr area, business. I know there main plant is in Montoursville.
Actually, I was refering to Full Throttle having their foam inserts made in the W-B/Scranton area. Most of Bowsers injection molds and shells are done in Northumberland, PA and their painting, pad printing and assembly are done in Montoursville. Near Williamsport, PA Dan S.
Your correct, but I don't think they produce their own rail. We have that made outside the shop and run spools through a die that straighten it out and cut to size. But you could be correct...forgot about them ) Joe
Joe how about some Concrete Tie flex track and like Jeff said about 3' long for us Modern Guyz :thumbs_up:
