It’s nothing personal….
I recently received an email from a loyal OGaugeWatch reader about my negative comments/rants about MTH and the poor job they’re doing managing their web presence. Because of these comments the reader assumed I was bashing MTH because I’m not a fan of MTH. The person also commented that it was unusual to read personal opinions on OGaugeWatch because I usually just post about the news leaving my opinions aside. I feel compelled to clarify both comments to clear the air.
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Lionel’s new Legacy train control system delayed. Why all the fuss?
There’s been a lot of chatter in the O Gauge world about Lionel’s delay in delivering the new TMCCII Legacy train control system. The first sign of a delay surfaced back in October of ‘06 when it was rumored that Lionel was supposed to demo the new system at the Fall ‘06 York Train meet but didn’t. Rumors hinted that the meet organizers wouldn’t let Lionel demo the system at the meet. Turns out the real reason was that the system wasn’t quite ready. Lionel representatives presenting at the TCA Museum’s open house addressed the rumors by announcing the system wasn’t ready and that Lionel was doing all they could to get the system out the door by the planned delivery date of the end of 2006. You can listen to Lionel’s statement at the bottom of the post located here.
Recently, speculation as to why the system was delayed started surfacing in the O Gauge forums. O Gauge Railroading Magazine contacted Lionel about the delay and received a response from Neil Young that they posted here. The response included the following excerpt.
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Opinion: Are the “old guys with deep pockets” the lifeblood of the O Gauge hobby?
On 12/29/06 The Record, a northern New Jersey newspaper, ran an editorial response by Peter W. Kruimer that took issue with an Associated Press article The Record ran before Christmas about the model train hobby . Of course, as with most news stories about model trains, the article makes the assertion that model trains are for older men with deep pockets. The article also mentioned that the future of the hobby was unclear because kids are more interested in computers and video games. Peter’s editorial response takes issue with both points and can be read here.
I had originally intended this post to stop at the end of the previous sentence but reading the AP article and Peter’s editorial response provoked me to get up on my soap box and spout a few thoughts of my own.
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Opinion: Why Delay The On-Line Release Of A Catalog?
Today, MTH announced the dates their new 2007 Volume 1 catalog would be available. As in the past, they are delaying the release of the on-line version. Lionel did the same thing when they released their 2006 Volume 2 catalog. I guess the theory is that people will be so hyped about the new catalog they will run out to the nearest O Gauge train shop to get a look at the "counter copy" because they can’t wait an additional week until it hits the web or when customer copies are available. I guess this makes the train shop owners happy but what’s the point?
In my opinion, all the people getting hyped up about new catalog releases
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