New Press Release From Ready Made Trains

Fans of NJ Transit will be excited to hear this:

Bloomsbury, NJ...Walter M. Matuch, president of Ready Made Trains, LLC has announced a licensing arrangement with New Jersey Transit Corporation, operator of NJ's commuter rail system that will allow RMT to produce O/0-27 gauge 3-rail toy train locomotives and railcars with the distinctive NJ TRANSIT logo and markings.

The NJ TRANSIT system is well known throughout the country as a premier railroad transit system with trains carrying thousands of commuter rail passengers each day to destinations throughout New Jersey and into New York City says Matuch. NJ TRANSIT is a welcome addition to the Ready Made Toys line that currently features many colorful toy trains from America's historic and current rail lines.

Previously RMT had only produced NJ TRANSIT items as special limited edtion offerings but now will have NJ TRANSIT logoed BEEP diesels, BEEF diesels, BUDDY railcars and a caboose as part of the complete RMT product line.

Enjoyed by train hobbyists around the world including members of our Armed Forces in Iraq, RMT's toy trains features durable, detailed and inexpensive locomotives and railcars.

The NJ TRANSIT caboose will be arriving during November, 2007 with additional NJ TRANSIT items to follow. 

For additional information, please contact Ready Made Toys at 908-479-1279 or online at www.readymadetoys.com

Thank you.

Current Status Of MTH, Lionel Lawsuits Settlement By Erol Gurcan

My goal is to keep this report short and sweet (a novel concept for a lawyer). Here is the current status of the MTH Lionel settlement as of this morning.

MTH's and Lionel's lawyers were back in bankruptcy court on October 25th. Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese and Mrs. Martin Davis were present. MTH's Mike Wolf was not. It was not necessary for him to be. I also attended the proceedings.

Click on the link below to read on

MTH 2008 Volume 1 Catalog Now Online

MTH's 2008 Volume 1 catalog is available to be viewed online.  The latest from MTH includes a number of items in MTH's less expensive but highly detailed Imperial Line.  These items include the 4-6-4 Hiawatha Passenger Set which is a great deal at a MSRP of $499.99 for the 4-6-4 and a set of 4 passenger cars, the Norfolk & Western Class "J" Northern Steam engine and the 4-6-4 Hudson Empire State Express.   I got a chance to look at most of the new Imperial Line products at the York show and they all were very nice.

Click on the link below to read on

AP Story About Lionel Bankruptcy

The Associated Press ran a story this week about the Lionel Bankruptcy hearing.  Read the story here.

Bachmann Confirms Purchase of Williams Electric Trains

Back in late September rumors were circulating that Bachmann had purchased Williams.  Today Bachmann Industries circulated a press release today officially confirming the purchase Williams Electric Trains.  From the press release:

Mr. Jerry Williams, President/Owner of Williams Electric Trains, Columbia, MD and Mr. Bud Reece, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, along with Mr. Ed Winter, Senior Vice President Finance & Operations, Bachmann Industries, Inc., Philadelphia, PA announce the acquisition of the assets of Williams Electric Trains.

Read the rest of the press release here.

Lionel And MTH Making Progress In Trade Secrets Case By Erol Gurcan

It's been about 2 months since I have written anything substantive about the Lionel MTH Trade secrets case or about the status of Lionel's bankruptcy. That's because there was little going on in the proceedings during this period of time. As you may recall, on August 13, MTH filed an appeal concerning Judge Lifland's August 2 rulings in favor of Lionel. On August 2, Judge Lifland ruled that any future trial (the Bankruptcy Code 502(c) damages estimation hearing) in the trade secrets case would be held before him, instead of in the Federal District Court in Detroit Michigan, and granted a fifth extension of time to Lionel to file an exclusive bankruptcy plan with the court. MTH had opposed Lionel's motion for exclusivity and proposed three alternative plans which were rebuffed by Judge Lifland.

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GUEST BLOGGER: Rollie Soderholm's Christmas Layout

To kick off OGaugeWatch's Guest Blogger series, below is a story submitted by Rollie Soderholm.  Rollie's story is about his permanent Christmas layout that all started with the purchase of Lionel's Polar Express set ran under his family's Christmas Tree last year. Like many of us, Rollie had a hard time putting the trains away after Christmas and a layout in his garage was born.   

This past Christmas I purchased Lionel's Polar Express train but after Christmas when it came time to dismantle it and put it in the attic I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want the heat to distort it so I decided to build a year round Christmas layout in my garage. After all, it’s heated and air conditioned so year round use is no problem.

Click on the link below to read on

Atlas O October '07 Announcements

Atlas O announced several new paint schemes for the following products in their Atlas O line:

ALCO C-630 and C-628 Locomotives
Gunderson Twin-Stack Cars
40' Containers
40' Steel Rebuilt Box Car

The Atlas O Trainman RSD 7/15 Locomotive is also available in several new paint schemes.

Those who collect Altas O's billboard refers will be interested in Atlas' newly announced Icing House and Icing Platform kits. 

Be sure to visit the Atlas O website for more details.

Model Railroading In The News #24

Its been awhile since the last issue of Model Railroading In The News.  Enjoy.

Click on the link below to read on

Atlas O Announces 2008 Golden Spike Club Car

Atlas O will be offering a complimentary 50' PS-1 plug door box car in Naperville Junction Railway livery to initial or renewal Golden Spike Club memberships in 2008.   Membership in the club costs $50.00 and includes other perks from Atlas including special members only offers and promotions.  More details about the Golden Spike Club are available at the Atlas website.

REVIEW: The Black Diamond Railway DVD

In September of '06 I posted about a cool website, www.ToyTrainsOnTracks.com, featuring photos and videos of the Black Diamond Railway.  The Black Diamond Railway is the creation of Rich Battista and was featured as the cover story of the October/November 2006 issue (Run 217) of O Gauge Railroading magazine.  The quality of the site and the photos and videos it contained was very impressive so it was no surprise when Mr. Battista announced he was going to make a DVD featuring The Black Diamond Railway.

Back on 9/26/07, I received a tip from an OGaugeWatch reader that the new DVD was available for purchase.  I've had the opportunity to watch the DVD and here are my thoughts.

Click on the link below to read on

MTH Releasing Another HO Locomotive

When MTH entered the HO market with the release of their K4 Pacific locomotive I thought it was a good move and it turned out, according to the hobby shops I frequent that sold it, to be a popular item among the HO crowd.   MTH recently announced the addition of another locomotive to their HO roster, the Erie Triplex.  It's a sharp looking engine that will retail for $499.00.  View photos of MTH's HO Triplex here.

UPDATE:  MTH has posted a video of the Triplex in action here.

Profile Of Auctioneer Ted Maurer In The Oct. Issue of Toy Collector Magazine

The October issue of Toy Collector Magazine features a profile of Ted Maurer, the now former owner operator of Ted Maurer Toy Train Auctions (according to the article, Mr. Maurer turned over the business to his daughter Kathy Maurer-Wilson on January 1 of this year).  A former school teacher, Mr. Maurer has been in the business since 1971 and has sold over 50,000 lots of trains.  Read more about Ted Maurer here.

Model Train Author Paul V. Ambrose Sues Train Collectors Association by Erol Gurcan

Model train author Paul V. Ambrose has sued the national Train Collector's Association (TCA) and also its Eastern Division, the entity that hosts the yearly York meets in April and October. Although there was a lot of discussion about the lawsuit, little was said about the basis and details of it.

Click the link below to read on