Will Lionel make it in HO? Who else will follow?

[JFermani]

So how is Lionel doing in the HO market? Does anyone know if their enginers were well received? I know that they were DCC ready or DCC loaded (I forget which). Do you think the other O Gauge manufactures will follow suit? I heard MTH is going to be offering HO engines but I do not know if they will follow the HO standards of DCC or try and use their DCS system. I know Atlas is in HO already but what about Kline or Williams? Its good to see the manufactures expand as it provides another market for them to sell products. I just wonder if the HO world can accept highly detailed engines from "toy train" companies.

Your thoughts?

Joe

[FJ and G]

I saw some reviews about their flanges being too big. Also, MTH is into G scale and they were criticiszed as well for having toy-like flanges on their "scale" Hudson.

I'm frankly surprised that the field of HO would be profitable; as there already are so many good established companies. I just hope their forays into other scales don't diminish 3-rails.

dave v.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Well either three's a charm, or an omen. This is Lionel's third time testing the HO waters. As always the battle cry is "ANYTHING FOR A DOLLAR!!!!". This time may be different though. It sounds like the HO guys like the offerings, and don't care about the name of the manufacturer. They are putting good quality higher end products out, instead of the same cheesey nonsense of the earlier attempts.

As for MTH, I seriously doubt that they will find too many willing participants, and if they try to push DCS on them, look out!!!

[FJ and G]

"It sounds like the HO guys like the offerings..."

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Wait till they get a load of the giraffe car and Mickey Mouse pumping the handcar. :-)


dav

[JFermani]

Yes, I agree that their earlier attempts in HO by making their more whimiscal items were not received well. Since they are attempting to make scale engines I thought it should be received better. Its my guess that making something in HO helps to defray the original costs of the designers. What I mean is this: when Lionel decides to model a train, they spend time making the autocad drawings of the engine. By using the drawings to build say an O gauge scale model, lionmaster version, S gauge version, and now a HO version, they are getting more bang for the buck per autocad design file. I imagine that a lot of time is spent scalling down the original blueprints to something that will run on our layouts. Granted the tooling must be made but the design work is already done.

Joe

[daan]

We have a saying, schoenmaker blijf bij je leest. It means that it's probably best to stick in the job you're good at and don't try to reinvent the wheel.. h0 is already overcrowded.

[FJ and G]

There are some developments in 3 rails that Lionel could pursue with its resources instead of HO. While a lot of folks absolutely love Lionel's scale locomotives, I find it especially incredible and perplexing that Lionel doesn't make scale track. I think that they've pretty much conceeded that to Atlas and Gargraves and its parasitic friends, Ross and Curtis. Lionel's abandoned Super O was a step in the right direction, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Lionel's journey into the already crowded HO market is a desparate move on their part to capture a greater market share in the railroading hobby. However, it's really a slap in the face to us 3-rail, O-gaugers, as we are really Lionel's core business.

Looking behind the lines it appears to me that Lionel's management is attempting to prove to Wellspring that they are not stagnating. Just goes to prove that corporate America is run by the 'pointy-headed men.'

Bill
www.modeltrainjournal.com