My guess is no new USA prototype items, the info in Garden Railways would be fairly current as that part of the mag can be updated right up to the date its printed. It would be nice it LGB and LGBoA would clear the air on what is happening and not going to happen in 2008 or beyond. LGB would be blatently stupid to totaly ignoir the USA market. Marklin being the parent company isnt totaly dumb, but are taking thier time to look at what they got, get the molds into the countries they plan to use for production and ramp up production. This all takes time to set up again. Espicaly if molds have to be moved from say, China or Germany to production facilities in Hungry where Marklin has a factory. There is so much stuff on the market, just sit back and buy from ebay or dealers that have it in stock. Dave is very good at aquiring large collections and selling at a fair price. In time it will all settle out and we will have our beloved LGB trains back and probably with a bit more focus, like having approiate rolling stock for the locomotives, something that LGB in the old days, failed to do in a timely way many times. Cheers Mike
Mike Toney said:
...................In time it will all settle out and we will have our beloved LGB trains back and probably with a bit more focus, like having approiate rolling stock for the locomotives, something that LGB in the old days, failed to do in a timely way many times. Cheers Mike
You’re right about the focus, a “serious tightening of the product line” has been the scuttlebutt for weeks now. Nothing in print on that yet, but that’s just a matter of time.
I think you will see a focus on the Euro side at first, then the USA. LGB will probably continue the Harz, RHB, OBB and Swiss themes and of coarse the Stainz. Hopefully they will keep the F units and Genesis Amtrak line going. They should keep atleast one mogul in production from time to time, still a good loco, just needs a lower price point. As long as the durability that LGB has been known for in the past remains, I think they will survive this hiccup. Its just a shame that it couldnt remain in the Richter family forever. Seems to be like that when the kids take over from the parents that started it, happened to Lionel and many others. I had the occasion of calling LGB in Germany a few years ago, they had to grab someone that spoke decent english and I ended up on the phone with Wolfgang. We talked for the better part of an hour, I hated the bill, but will remember that call for many years. I think that maybe the new generation lost some of the focus and business sense to keep the company in the black and pay the bills. I am just glad to see that LGB will live on with Marklin. The whole Marklin community just when thru what we are going thru now last year. Marklin, then a German family owned company was bought by a UK investment company, and they seem to be doing well with Marklin, the new 2008 items look Awsome! I have already preordered 2 locomotives for delivery late this year, I dont even know what they will cost yet, but the diesel, nicknamed Ludmilla, will be totaly diecast metal and estimated to be around 150-180ish US dollers. We can only hope and pray, that the same fortune happens to LGB when are in Jan 2009 and looking at the new catalogs.
Mike,
Some of us are quite up to date on what happened first with Märklin and then LGB. 
You could add to that the LIMA saga, the ROCO saga, the Liliput saga, the POLA saga and a few more. When you’re in the model railroad business - doesn’t matter which segment - it is a good idea to pay attention to what’s going on.
BTW there are some who believe that none of the LGB saga would have happened, had Eberhard Richter still been alive.
Mike,
in response to a question from me on another forum around 12 months ago, a very vocal spokesperson for LGBoA, ‘hinted’ that the future for the F-unit looked good with an emphasis on Chinese production. Of course at the time LGBoA were in negotiations to purchase Lehmann. I feel that Marklin were ‘burned’ with their semiscale 1/32 American standard gauge and may tread very varily before investing in reintroducing the F-7 variants from the ex-LGB range.
I would agree with that Hans, he was the driving force in those important early years. He was and still missed by many. I guess we can take hope in that LGB will keep living, but I bet the prices wont get cheaper for the stuff from the pre-marklin times. To add to the list of fallen flags, AHM, Mantua, Rivarossi, Athearn, and the list goes on and on. With the USA and the worlds economy in tumoil and maybe a recession here state side, its gonna be hard times for the hobby, both for the producer and the retailer. I am dumping $120+ every two weeks into my diesel suburban, cant afford to replace it and nobody wants to buy it either. After we get moved, I will try to sell it as I want to get a VW Jetta TDI.
At the risk of hijacking this thread, ‘gas’ prices in the usa are around USD3.00 per us gallon = 3.785 litres = USD0.79 / litre but ‘petrol’ = ‘gas’ prices in the UK are GBP1.05 / litre @ 1.98 = USD2.08 / litre. The difference is mainly taxation. My 8 year old 2.3 litre supercharged Mercedes achieves 7.5 miles / litre at 70 miles / hour on the ‘motorway’ = ‘freeway’ = ‘interstate’ and around 4.5 miles / litre in London ‘traffic’ = ‘parking lot’ PLUS I have to pay another USD15.84 /day ‘congestion’ charge’ = ‘toll’ purely for the priviledge of being able to drive to work. Consider yourselves lucky that you have the benefit of a few hundred million years of continental drift.
I do not doubt that Marklin (back on subject) will continue to manufacture products for the USA market. It’s just a question of ‘how long’ and a question of whether to involve ‘lgboa’ in their plans. They currently have 2 distribution networks in the USA and I cannot see that one getting past their accountants. Of course there may be complications such as the financial side - who owes how much for what and to whom but I am sure both parties will eventually sort it out.
Les
Tim Brien said:It also didnt help that there were 3 covered wagons on the market to chose from. LGB's semi-scale F7, USAs 1/29 F3, and MTHs 1/32 F7. I will never understand this insane "me-too" mindset in large scale. How many GG1s did we end up with? Big Boys?
Mike, in response to a question from me on another forum around 12 months ago, a very vocal spokesperson for LGBoA, 'hinted' that the future for the F-unit looked good with an emphasis on Chinese production. Of course at the time LGBoA were in negotiations to purchase Lehmann. I feel that Marklin were 'burned' with their semiscale 1/32 American standard gauge and may tread very varily before investing in reintroducing the F-7 variants from the ex-LGB range.
And we still don’t have an Alco Century series. 
Or a decent standard gauge Connie.
Its just not large scale, go look at HO and how many bloody F units you can choose from, its totaly insane!!! I really think that Marklin/LGB needs to have one spokesperson state side, make a press release stating what the position of LGBoA is, what Marklin/LGB’s intentions for the USA market is and the future holds. The air really needs to be cleared and nobody else can do it but the parent company. I think its just taking time for Marklin/LGB to get all the molds rounded up, do an inventory of what they really have, and plan where to go next. With international shipping and other factors, this can take quite some time. Having worked in the plastics industry for a few years, I have seen a mold on the fast track, from inception to prototyping and working out the bugs, to actual production take the better part of a year. And that is for one mold making one part. They have aquired hundreds of used molds, in various countries in various conditions. Its gonna take a bit to figure out what they can use and what needs retooled or replaced. I believe Marklin/LGB will have a LGB catalog for 08. We should find out in Feburary when the huge toy show is in Germany, I suspect most of our answers will be given then. Mike
Mike Toney said:Mike,
Its just not large scale, go look at HO and how many bloody F units you can choose from, its totaly insane!!!!!!!! I really think that Marklin/LGB needs to have one spokesperson state side, make a press release stating what the position of LGBoA is, what Marklin/LGB's intentions for the USA market is and the future holds. The air really needs to be cleared and nobody else can do it but the parent company. I think its just taking time for Marklin/LGB to get all the molds rounded up, do an inventory of what they really have, and plan where to go next. With international shipping and other factors, this can take quite some time. Having worked in the plastics industry for a few years, I have seen a mold on the fast track, from inception to prototyping and working out the bugs, to actual production take the better part of a year. And that is for one mold making one part. They have aquired hundreds of used molds, in various countries in various conditions. Its gonna take a bit to figure out what they can use and what needs retooled or replaced. I believe Marklin/LGB will have a LGB catalog for 08. We should find out in Feburary when the huge toy show is in Germany, I suspect most of our answers will be given then. Mike
Wait a minute; moulds and tooling where in two countries, namely Germany and China.
The Chinese tooling inventory has been accounted for and cleared. To the best of my knowledge the German tooling has been shipped to Györ in Hungary, track production/delivery is to start in February 2008 … that is the day after tomorrow and then counting the days.
International shipping has never been quicker!
Did you know that LGB® is filling parts orders - as in replacement parts - in Germany and as far as I know the rest of Europe? All indications are things are moving at that end!
Question is: are things moving on the NA end? Ask LGBoA!
OK I’m back to sipping my tea!
HJ-
Hopefully, you will keep your tea hot.
From your sources: “The Chinese tooling inventory has been accounted for and cleared. To the best of my knowledge the German tooling has been shipped to Györ in Hungary, track production/delivery is to start in February 2008…”
Therefore…
Is the conclusion warranted that American locos and rolling stock will once again be available? Furthermore, if the “tooling” includes products for the U.S., are you “suggesting” the distribution will be by Marklin not LGB of America?
As to criticism of the exploration of LGB’s policies and outcomes, name another topic more influencial to the diminishing success of our hobby. Per Model Railroader’s own acclaim, the large scale aspect still remains a small part of the overall hobby. LGB was the image of the hobby. The LGB brand was the singular stardom image for large scale. Christmas and LGB was the regimen. In Germany, the giant toy store manager I spoke to (earlier posting on German train stores missing) indicated that large scale was dead when LGB died. That is his perception per December, 2007. Will Marklin be persuasive to him? If so when???
For those interested in both the business and product end of the hobby the on-going saga of LGB/Marklin is a worthy read.
Please don’t critically discourage those of interested and who have information relevant to study of it’s originators.
Wendell
Wendell,
I drink my tea nice and hot - my equal half can’t figure out how I do it … but it’s really simple, little sips, one after the other.
OK … I’m not suggesting anything, I’m not discouraging anyone from being interested, OTOH once upon a time there was the perception that LGB was the LS hobby, those who still hold that believe should get out more often and have a look at what happened in the past 10 or 15 years.
It would also be interesting to learn where certain info originates, as you know with me “mum’s the word” unless I can quote a source.
The manager of the giant toy store has apparently not looked past his segment - toys - to see that there’s a whole different world of LS out there, a world that he apparently never even considered catering to. Generally speaking the LS crowd hasn’t bought at the giant toy store for some time, neither in Germany nor in NA. BTW did the store carry NewBright and Buddy L?
Will NA proto items be available again? I don’t have a crystal ball, but chances are if the orders roll in in sufficient volume the stuff will be produced, question is: when? What will be considered sufficient volume? That remains to be seen, the same applies to the question of price point. The two will balance somewhere, question is: which point?
LES DITTRICH said:
At the risk of hijacking this thread, 'gas' prices in the usa are around USD3.00 per us gallon = 3.785 litres = USD0.79 / litre but 'petrol' = 'gas' prices in the UK are GBP1.05 / litre @ 1.98 = USD2.08 / litre. The difference is mainly taxation. My 8 year old 2.3 litre supercharged Mercedes achieves 7.5 miles / litre at 70 miles / hour on the 'motorway' = 'freeway' = 'interstate' and around 4.5 miles / litre in London 'traffic' = 'parking lot' PLUS I have to pay another USD15.84 /day 'congestion' charge' = 'toll' purely for the priviledge of being able to drive to work. Consider yourselves lucky that you have the benefit of a few hundred million years of continental drift.Les
Gee, Les, that should be enough to make a body take the train!
I spent over $100.00 USD (at $3.399/ US Gallon) this am to fill my tank with “diseas-al.” I bought this vehicle because “diseas-al” was the lowest price fuel here in USA at the time. It only took $40.00 USD to fill its tank ten years ago, and I thought that was outrageous.
When I first started driving, gasoline sold for $0.199/US Gallon. How times have changed! Of course, back then, Canada was still using the Imperial Gallon to sell gas(petrol).
Sigh.
SteveF
The cost of everything has gone up, trickle down effect. I read in a hobby trade magazine that the sales of G scale trains have surpassed O scale in total sales. They say it can be attributed back to the baby boomers that got older, eyes getting poorer and were worn out on the O scale market. Many O scale locos surpass even LGB locos for price, and while they might all be diecast and have sound, many seem to feel G has more “bang for the buck” so to speak. Everytime I go to Watts train shop, espicaly during the holidays, the LGB and other brands he sells are flying off the shelf. I got the last LGB Euro Starter set he had, while it was a mid 90’s production with the metal valve gear, it was unused and new in the box. Only time will tell what route Marklin/LGB will use to distribute thier line. Mike
To HJ-
My apology.
My request to not discourage those with information, etc., was definitely not to you. I changed reader focus and did not indicate so. My reference was to those who write simply to indicate they have no interest in the on-going history of the hobby – which now is LGB and Marklin. Those contributions may, I say may, discourage those who have information and interest in reading.
To the contrary, your contributions are very welcome and helpful.
Wendell