Posted to the MR forum on July 9th, 2005DCC isn't as popular as people think and MTH will prove that there's a cheaper and better alternative. This time next year, there will be a lot of people drooling over DCS and new HO products from MTH. -- posted by Rivet Counter
Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon
selector wrote:I'm guessing that nothing has changed.
Plenty has changed. DCC just keeps getting better and better.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
selector wrote:Joe, you old pot stirrer you!! I'm guessing that nothing has changed. HOwever, I'll go out on a limb and predict that by this time next year the MR world will have something to say about their HO stuff. I won't go so far as to predict what they'll be saying, but....well,...you know.
jfugate wrote: selector wrote:Joe, you old pot stirrer you!! I'm guessing that nothing has changed. HOwever, I'll go out on a limb and predict that by this time next year the MR world will have something to say about their HO stuff. I won't go so far as to predict what they'll be saying, but....well,...you know.I wanted to file this quote away and see if it was really MTH hype or if there was something to it. Even though I think MTH's "not invented here" attitude has hurt them more than helped, I'm willing to see if they might actually be on to something.My evaluation of this statement a year later is I don't see too many people doing a lot of drooling over MTH product offerings in the DCS vs DCC area, or in the HO locos area.As you say, it's still very much wait and see.So the year prediction in the year-old quote was too soon. Looks like we need to give it another year, and maybe two for us to sort out some obvious directions the wind will be blowing.
Why should anyone be drooling over MTH offerings. Joe? All they have in HO is a Pennsy K-4, one of the more overdone locomotives. Shoot, I hear Athearn is coming out with an SP MT-4 4-8-2. Now THAT's something to activate the old salivary glands.
Now if MTH were to come out with a TW-8 4-8-0 or a P-6 4-6-2, I might consider kissing Mike Wolf's backside in front of CNN news cameras. However, I don't really think there's much chance I'd actually face the choice between actually doing that and wimping out.
Andre
Joe, you just don't get it. It's still now. Next year is next year. Next year people will be drooling over DCS and their abiltiy to run an engine, a K-4 no less.
So bide your time, Joe it's coming.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
SpaceMouse wrote:Joe, you just don't get it. It's still now. Next year is next year. Next year people will be drooling over DCS and their abiltiy to run an engine, a K-4 no less. So bide your time, Joe it's coming.
We have only been back on the air a few minutes and MTH has come up already?? I don't believe I will ever get to see on of their K4's, except in the MR video.
Has anyone on our forum seen them??
Maybe they are working on the Big Boy they hinted about.
DCC is working great for me, but then what do I know.
jfugate wrote:I remember this being posted a year ago (July 9th) and so I tucked it away in my calendar reminder for a year later. It just popped up, because it's been a year!Posted to the MR forum on July 9th, 2005DCC isn't as popular as people think and MTH will prove that there's a cheaper and better alternative. This time next year, there will be a lot of people drooling over DCS and new HO products from MTH. -- posted by Rivet CounterTrue ... or not true? It's now this time *next year* ....
Carey
Keep it between the Rails
Alabama Central Homepage
Nara member #128
NMRA &SER Life member
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
howmus wrote: Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, You're always a day away! All the people at MTH are probably too busy dreaming up new insulting ads for RR magazines to reregister here.......
Mark my words. They'll be back.
Once again we have proof of some good advice fromRobert Heinlein:
"Never make a prediction that will be proven wrong within your lifetime."
Either that, or get proficient at dodging rotten tomatoes!
Even if MTH goes out of its corporate mind and produces JNR steam in HOj, the first thing I will do to any that find their way into my hands is gut the DCS and rewire for analog DC. I'll use the extra space to add weight.
Chuck
July 12, 2006 - M.T.H. Electric Trains has begun shipping its debut HO locomotive, the Pennsylvania K-4s Pacific, to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers. Available in two different configurations, multiple paint schemes and different cab numbers, the die-cast model comes fully equipped with Proto-Sound 3.0 digital sound and sychronized puffing smoke.
In development for two years, the K-4 may just be the finest HO steam locomotive ever produced and sports a list of standard features never before included on any HO locomotive. Operation modes include conventional analog DC with most DC power supplies, DCC command with any DCC controller and DCS command with M.T.H.'s DCS Digital Command System.
K-4 fans can choose from pre-war and post-war versions. The pre-war version is available in two different paint schemes as well as an undecorated version.
The point is not the release. There's just less drool from model railroaders than from a dehydrated desert tortoise.
I simply responded to a user that mentions...waiting and waiting for the release of the K4. Less drool but there are still alot of people talking about MTH. :)
SpaceMouse wrote: The point is not the release. There's just less drool from model railroaders than from a dehydrated desert tortoise.
MTH has demonstrated as much sucess as Lionel had in HO, although lionel did release some rolling stock as I recall. This is still a tough audience to make any inroads with. Too many established companies who have paid their dues over time and developed a reputation and a loyal following. Perhaps two years from now ( the development time for the K-4) we will look at MTH differently. perhaps not. I think that I would prefer to purchase from a manufacturer who earns his reputation through his positive actions, not by degradeing others. In that regard I wish MTH sucess in HO, we will all benefit from having another quality supplier in the hobby.
Will
July 12, 2006, a day that will be remembered in the History of HO, we received word, no IC_Jeremy received an Email that the K4 is ready to be shipped from M.T.H., but only to authorized dealers. None of us received an email, at least I did not get it.
Maybe they will make an F unit next. Now that would be a surprise for sure, since it has been almost a week since the last F unit was announced.
Jeremy, are you on their list or did a dealer email you??
SpaceMouse wrote: howmus wrote: Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, You're always a day away! All the people at MTH are probably too busy dreaming up new insulting ads for RR magazines to reregister here....... Mark my words. They'll be back.
Hopefully "next" year.
Jon
SpaceMouse wrote: Joe, you just don't get it. It's still now. Next year is next year. Next year people will be drooling over DCS and their abiltiy to run an engine, a K-4 no less. So bide your time, Joe it's coming.
Space Mouse, you must be a Chicago Cub fan as they have been living that for the last 100 years. Next year ...........
;) Ken
I think this sounds exactly as Microsoft advertising. Just wait until Vista arrives and everyone can live in a nice world without any problems. I have heard all this before, many times
It's time MTH show us something more then words. Will they?
dave hikel wrote:Hi guys,Well, I have a UPS tracking number for my MTH K4, which is predicted to arrive on Friday. My local train store received their shipment a couple days ago. I haven't made it into the store to see and run the locomotive, but the guys I talked to were very pleased.You talk about MTH having to earn respect in the HO world. This is obviously true. But Atlas, Athearn, BLI, etc. had best not make the same mistake Lionel did. Lionel wasn't worried about competition from MTH until about 1999. By that point MTH had nearly caught Lionel in market share, and they did it by offering high quality, scale locomatives with the kind of detail those of us in O gauge had only seen in brass.Those of us in HO have mainly heard of MTH in the negative light of lawsuits, patent complaints and rough advertising. But in O, MTH has built a reputation for offering a WIDE variety of top shelf products. What's more they opened up the world of prototypical operation for a lot of people who had only run toys around a circle of track with DCS. When DCS came out in 2002 the only other command control system in 3-rail O gauge was Lionel's TMCC, which at the time had not yet been licensed to the other manufacturers. DCS was able to run both systems and has become very popular.As for something to drool over, I'm waiting for the first blueberry pie of the season.
Dave,
If MTH doesn't shorten HO model development time their presence in HO market will be fleeting. The HO market is very dynamic and with K4 MTH proved to be very slow on their feet.If they get their act together maybe they have a chance, time will tell. At this point I'm not optimistic about their chances.
As of this point I don't think MTH has given Atlas,Athearn,BLI,etc. much to lose sleep over.JMHO
It really doesn't matter what they come out with or how good it is. It is as simple as this.
DCS is a system that can never be more than a toy train.
Why? Becasue you can't model anything. Suppose they had 20 differnt locos. You can run only the locos they have.
I can't model the 1880's because I can't take the MDC, Bachman, and IHC models and convert then because there are no DSC decoders and DSC is not DCC compatible.
I can't model 1917 Redwoods for the same reason. I have to convert old Mantua 2-6-2s into side tankers. Oops can't run them. No decoders.
I can't build a junky climax.
So until they put out decoders--oh wait a minute--their decoders run on 24 volts--they'll fry the 16 volt motors. So they can't release their decoders without damaging our current inventory.
DSC is a bad business plan.
Dave
Let us know how the K4 runs and if you are happy with the whistle sound. The whistle sound I heard on the video on the MTH web was disappointing to me. I watched the K4's and they all had the passenger whistle during the late forties and used that whistle until the end of steam.
The sound on the video was the 1927 banshie whistle, much like the UK used on their general locomotives. My thought on this, they should have the correct whistle on the post war engine, You might be getting the early version and want the unit as it is. I emailed MTH about this issue and they emailed back that only one whistle sound would be available.
The smoke looked good and their #1 scale does a good job of puffing and timing the smoke to the chuffs, but you have to be careful not to run them dry of smoke liquid or it will damage the unit. Maybe they have a function to shut it down if it is low.
If you don't mind, give us a user type of review when you get time. Try to run it on DC if you can and see if the MR review was correct for the top speed of 36mph on DC. This might have been corrected since that preliminary review. .
Thank you