That’s very interesting. It’s not surprising that people would take reenactment footage for real. We get used to seeing video of everything and because we have, say, video of that plane crashing in the Hudson we expect video was taken of everything. Hollywood footage is especially seductive because it’s usually showing people what they want to see. I tell students to never trust any moving image unless they are absolutely sure of where it came from. I don’t doubt there is real footage of Pearl Harbor but I will make sure to check the sources carefully
I think that the only film (motion picture) footage of the Pearly Harbor Attack, aside from what the Japanese took, was taken by a Dental Officer aboard one of the Seaplane Tenders.
There was a wealth of film, both still and motion, that was taken by the Japanese that day, but sadly for historians, it went to the bottom with the four Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway.
So if I follow correctly…Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and both Japan and the US make propoganda films about it. Much of the footage we take as real is indeed fake using plastic models. Since trains are often plastic, and models of real trains…this leads to LGB declaring bankrupcy driving a sale to Marklin forcing them to insolvency. Is this correct or just more “revisionist” history? 
Mark,
as Australians we celebrate a national holiday, Anzac Day, which in reality, is a day that celebrates a resounding defeat. It was the day that a young Winston Churchill decided to land allied troops on the Turkish coastline to form a rear guard to attack the Germans, in 1915. By occupying the Dardanelles, one controlled shipping in the Bosphorous. However, Winston underestimated the tenacity of the Turkish soldier in defending his homeland and what was to become a glorious landing assault turned out to be a murderous onslaught, as waves of allied soldiers were killed at the beachhead. Several months later, Australian troops withdrew from the beachhead, without loss of life in the withdrawal. While a resounding defeat, it is an action that drew the country together with common purpose. I feel that it also awakened the Turkish zeal for their own country.
Pearl Harbor was also a resounding defeat, but what it did achieve was combining the American people into a unified thought and America entered the war. December 6th, only 15% of the population were in favour of entering the war. December 7th, the decision was unanimous. Japan celebrated it as a victory, but in essence, a hollow victory, as the attack awakened a sleeping giant. Both sides of the conflict had something to gain from the propaganda aspect.
I also accepted the images portrayed of the attack as real footage, although, in hindsight, much appears to have been either edited from other sources, or reenacted. The intent of the film was purely propaganda and obviously intended to raise support for the war effort. What is more surprising is that America knew that the final decision to place an embargo on Japanese oil supplies was seen as tantamount to declaring war on Japan and rightly guessed Japan's decision to invade American soil. America delayed the decision to place an embargo on oil supplies for over twelve months, as Japan was totally reliant on American oil and any embargo would have been seen by the Japanese as a hostile act. It is highly likely that America could have been dragged into WW2, up to twelve months earlier, if the embargo had of been placed earlier. The outcome on the length of the war would have been interesting, as at that point in Japan's war, they had not encroached much on the Indo-China land mass through Vietnam, Burma, Malaya and ultimately the fall of Singapore.RE Mark’s posting above.
It is off the Pearl Habor topic and back on posted topic – an intriguing suggestion that the cost of LGB to Marklin was the causal agent for Marklin’s bankruptcy.
Any takers on this premise?
Wendell
Hey wendell, would not surprise me. Though the money paid did not come straight from Marklin’s bank account it was a significant amount of debt to take on. You have to sell a huge amount of trains to pay for it, something apparently even LGB could not do. Marklin bought LGB and then failed to re-launch the product to one of the larger markets for the product (America). Sales would help pay for the purchace but it appeared they did not reach out to the customers of the company they just bought.
When one airline buys another they don’t shut the other one down, they take on their schedule.
The debt could be one contributing reason to their recent woes but unlikely the only one.
P.S. Tim, interesting story…I shall have to do further reading.
Wendell & Mark,
Marklin was in bad shape when Kingsbridge Capital bought the company… As a investment ( fusy term ) banker they were going to flip the company… They then got into the LGB insolvency… After buying LGB there was the logo mess with LGBofA… This caused a delay of over a year on getting product to North America… There was also the internal fight going with many new managers, a least 3 that I heard of… Then the bomb dropped on the financial market… This is where we are now…
Don’t forget the consultant$ that the banks made them hire!
I think they planed it. Its a way to help them get out of the big labor cost in Germany and move it all to China and hope they can save even more money. After all I think part of the reason they got the Lehman deal over LGBoA was the court felt they would keep the jobs in Germany. Now, its a O we tried but…
I not sure Silvergate/LGBoA could have done better but I don’t think they could have done worse and I would at least know were to send my Loco for repair.
Geoff,
You are right about the keeping the jobs in Germany… Now weather the insolvency court will let them take it out of Germany will be interesting… Let us hope that they do not liquidate the company, but that could be the best thing that could happen…
The original LGBoA deal stipulated that jobs (110 from memory) would be retained in Nurnberg. Schoentag ‘guaranteed’ production would remain in Germany. Marklin ‘guaranteed’(?) jobs would remain in Germany, (but not at Nurnberg).
LGBoA would have not had sufficient capital to make the deal viable. They struck a consortium with firstly, a German lawyer and then a German millionaire (ex-airline owner), but still could not raise the capital to make a decent bid on the company. Handshakes behind closed doors between consenting adults, does not guarantee that someone gets something for nothing. They got the golden eggs (LGBoA for a handshake in 2006), but they wanted the golden goose as well, but firstly, Schoentag and then Marklin stepped up to the plate. I would be really curious as to the identity of the ‘guaranteed’ investors who pulled the plug on Schoentag in 2007 (maybe some familar names in the bunch), leaving him millions of Euros in debt. Maybe Schoentag was not part of the ‘master’ plan?
John Joseph Sauer said:John, in this case I think it was Kinsgbridge that hired the consultants. The trick is to know who really owns Alix Partners and the other consultant company. Often this is simply a way for the "Grasshoppers" to glean more. I would bet that Goldman Sachs has some connections to the consultants.
Don't forget the consultant$ that the banks made them hire!
Regardless the adults are in charge of Märklins future now. Porsche has expressed an interest.
This is entertaining … I don’t need to translate, not much to add - most of it has been said before. Just sit back, relax and wait for the end result, then compare that to what was mentioned by the participants.
Jack Barton said:John Joseph Sauer said:John, in this case I think it was Kinsgbridge that hired the consultants. The trick is to know who really owns Alix Partners and the other consultant company. Often this is simply a way for the "Grasshoppers" to glean more. I would bet that Goldman Sachs has some connections to the consultants.
Don't forget the consultant$ that the banks made them hire!Regardless the adults are in charge of Märklins future now. Porsche has expressed an interest.
Makes one wonder if EPL had to hire “consultants”.
John Joseph Sauer said:John Joseph, yes, and the consequences were rather similar. Best wishes, Zubi
Makes one wonder if EPL had to hire "consultants".
JJ,
remember that after the 2006 insolvency the Richter cousins became - COSULTANTS. Most likely they were consulting their own company right up until late 2006.
Maybe they realized how much money consultant$ can bilk out of a company…
Sure a lot of disjointed discussion to read through and still the only relevant question remains unanswered: Will LGB or its successor, if any, continue with the American line of rolling stock? Anyone read the tea leaves on that one?
Ron,
almost all the American outline promised bt Schoentag in 2007 has been reissued as new items for 2009. No doubt that they are in the pipeline coming to a Walthers store near you.
Zbigniew Struzik said:PS before 2006 that is, Best, ZubiJohn Joseph Sauer said:John Joseph, yes, and the consequences were rather similar. Best wishes, Zubi
Makes one wonder if EPL had to hire "consultants".