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I asked MDC, Walthers, Intermountain and Athearn about their kit production, back on the 29th of December, last year. Here is what I asked: Many of us whom are "MODELERS" are concerned that your company's direction of providing Ready to Run rolling stock is going to continue to grow and eventually obsolete the kit from the market. Presently on two forums at trains.com, this discussion is very active. I understand you would not be offering RTR if the market did not warrant it. However, I wonder if you would care to comment on your vision of what will be offered for kits, in the future? Here is Athearn's Reply: "Thank-you for taking the time to send in your inquiry regarding our regular "Blue Box" kit product line. Please note that we have no intentions to discontinue producing our regular line "Blue Box" items. We continue to produce these items on a daily basis here at our plant and will continue to do so as long there is a sufficient demand for those products. Best regards, Athearn, Inc." Here is MDC's Reply: "We have no intention of discontinuing kits in HO, UNLESS there is such small demand that it is not financially worthwhile. We have encountered this event in N' scale but hope that it doesn't spread to HO, however, you never know". MDC Here is Walther's reply: "Essentially, sir, our marketing research is showing an ever increasing demand for ready-to-run, pre-assembled model railroad equipment. As such, it appears as though Walthers HO freight and passenger equipment will follow this trend. As a distributor, we will still be carrying the kits offered by other vendors, and our CORNERSTONE SERIES line of structures will continue to be predominantly offered in kit form. While we regret the shift away from offering our model equipment in kit form, it appears as though the current trend in model railroading seems to be moving toward the "ready-to-run" items, especially amongst newcomers to the hobby. I hope this helps to clarify this matter for you. Sincerely, Tom Schmidt Walthers Customer Service" I never received a response from Intermountain!
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