This is topic German Model Train Maker Märklin Goes Bankrupt in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.


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Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on February 04, 2009, 09:24 PM:
 
Hi there,

Yesterday Marklin/LGB filed insolvency/bankruptcy in Germany.

I believe many 8mm collectors here knew who was Marklin and moreover are also collecting model trains.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,605513,00.html

It's a bad bad news,
 

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Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on February 04, 2009, 09:36 PM:
 
Winbert,
Sad news. I had a nice Marklin railroad setup (HO) as a young man, smoking locomotive and the whole thing...still have it packed away. I guess now is the time to get a US-current transformer before they vanish.
Lots of good memories; their trains were quality.

Claus.
 

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Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on February 05, 2009, 12:29 AM:
 
I just brought myself a Marklin train set! very good German quality (like their projectors! )
It is a shame.
Patrick
 

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Posted by Lars Pettersson (Member # 762) on February 05, 2009, 02:37 AM:
 
Reading the article, it didn´t seem that catastrophic to me, although of course it´s sad news. It seems to me this must be a strong enough brand to survive in some form. Also the problems seem sadly typical of what´s happening all over the planet now in terms of credit crunch. The banks simply won´t lend out the money.

Lars
 

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Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on February 05, 2009, 04:39 AM:
 
Hi Lars,

The brand may be still exist in the future to come. But it might be saved/bought by someone who does not have Train collecting taste except a pure businessman, for the sake of money.

If this thing happen, then, the said businessman will shift the plant to China and star business from there.

And you will find next year many Märklin brands with "made in China" written on the bottom.

There is nothing wrong with that business strategy, but once it goes to China, everything will be done on mass production system. That is what we see now with Bachmann and Life Like model trains.

Some of Bachmann's are good but most of them just cheap plastic toys.



regards,
 

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Posted by Lars Pettersson (Member # 762) on February 05, 2009, 04:55 AM:
 
Here in sweden, we may right now be witnessing Volvo Cars Inc (the company) being sold to china

Lars
 

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Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on February 07, 2009, 02:25 AM:
 
I think even though the times are bad and companies are going under..sometimes they can come back. The company I work for started in the late 60's making guitar pedals for Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana to name a few. Then in the 80's due to the changing tides the company went belly up. Fast forward to the 90's and the company reinvents itself and is now STILL making guitar pedals and also selling vacuum tubes. Better than ever. Maybe the trains will come back? You never know..
 

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Posted by Bart Smith (Member # 780) on February 07, 2009, 02:39 AM:
 
Hi Alan,

I used to do quite a bit of business with you lot, always used to speak to Meg, she still there?
 

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 07, 2009, 07:13 AM:
 
Isn't LGB still made by Ernst Paul Lehman? I love these: they're the only trains I've ever had big enough to mount a Super-8 camera on!

If Marklin goes under, what happens to Z gauge? I've alway's sworn if I ever get an office with a door again I'll put a loop of Z gauge in my desk drawer as kind of a stress reliever.

Edit: Oh boy! Marklin took over EPL in '07...maybe they'll spin the line off.
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on February 09, 2009, 09:17 PM:
 
Steve,

LGB went out of business two years ago.
Marklin was posed to take the business and
restore the life back into the legendary
garden train. At the time there were high hopes for
LGB train enthusiasts.

Aside from Bachman, Charles Ro manufactures USA Trains
which are very good, although they are manufactured in China.
MTH also has their hand in the Garden Scale gauge.
I believe MTH's plant is in Korea?
 

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 09, 2009, 09:38 PM:
 
Hmmmm....

Looks like I've been doing my railroading on the movie screen too much lately: I had no idea.

The LGB trains are very much the Lionel of our times: big, rugged, pretty hard to derail. Small engines weigh a couple of pounds, big ones ten and fifteen!

Just great: what I really needed, another hobby based on obsolete stuff!

Interesting: My wife and I were in Germany for our 10th Anniversary in 2002. We were staying in Munich and drove up the Autobahn to Nuremburg. My mission was to visit the Ernst Paul Lehman plant there. (kind of like if I visited Derann these days..) We went to this wonderful railroad museum there and asked the volunteers where EPL was...they had no idea! I never got to see it. Too late now!

Good to "see" you again, Michael.
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on September 02, 2009, 05:31 PM:
 
Walthers is releasing LGB again.

LGB is back
 

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 02, 2009, 05:52 PM:
 
Vunderbar!

Let me guess, Michael. Being from Albertson you must know Willis Hobbies.

-I think I put a couple of their kids through college!

(This was before I discovered an even more expensive hobby: Marriage.)
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on September 02, 2009, 08:13 PM:
 
Steve,

I live north of the Hobby Store and the cross street by my home is: I.U. Willets Rd.
They have relocated several times. Now they are on the east side of the street
on Willis Ave., and slightly up from Jericho Tpke.
Map Quest location

Not a shabby place. Check out their website from the mapquest link. They now have a party room for children.

The LGB section has diminished there. Maybe it will grow again.
The Lionel section is not as large as the Mike's Train House inventory. They are pushing Mike's Train House, and this is disappointing as an avid Lionel Train collector.

I was in Trainland (Lynbrook location) last December and some women were shopping for LGB for their guys. Their interest was in the yearly Christmas train, and the salesmen's reply was: that they did not put out any yearly cars this year.
Somewhat a true statement-

I have tapered down on my train purchases, Lionel and Mike's train house put out about 2,000 items in each catalog. Most of my purchases have been through Charles Ro Suppy in Massachusetts. They have very good pricing. Generally 20% off of the list price, and because it's out of state, I save on the tax.

Let your wife in on the tradition by getting a set for your son?

By the way, did you notice the advert for the 110 Drive-In that I posted on the previous thread?
Drive-In Experience
 

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Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on September 02, 2009, 08:34 PM:
 
Michael, but now is FALLER filed bankruptcy....

http://www.rocousa.com/blog/2009/08/faller-filled-for-bankruptcy.html

or

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/159434.aspx

cheers,
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on September 02, 2009, 08:41 PM:
 
Winbert,

Another blow for model trains.

Unfortunately computing technology seems to dominate most hobbies today.

When I was young, another interest of mine was tropical fish. There is a complete science to maintaining an aquarium. Instead it seems that downloading a patch or upgrade is more significant.

I have heard that some enthusiasts have combined trains and computers.
 

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 02, 2009, 09:22 PM:
 
Back in the day Trainland was like a candy store for me. They had such a stock of LGB items it was best to go there without a credit card.

My son has already been through the Thomas stage and we are talking about building an HO railroad/slot car layout (Aurora Model Motoring, West Hempstead?) in the coming year.

We do a lot of our railroading these days up on the movie screen. It's great when two joys in life cross paths that way.

The Faller buildings are wonderful: a little touch of Europe.

Yes, I did see that ad. What a shame it's not still there. It would be about 10 miles away for me, instead of for example Vermont!
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on September 02, 2009, 09:36 PM:
 
Steve,

About ten years ago, My wife was determined to get me a train for Christmas at Trainland. Forgetting that I had one train on my list, she braves the snow before the doors opened up on Christmas Eve, and could not believe all of the customers waiting to get in the door. Walking in with take-out coffee in hand and marching up to the door. It was a sight to behold.

Aurora and Model Motoring. I used to go to the back door at the West Hemptead lot, and pick-up all of the items that I needed to make my collection complete.

Here is a link to the good old days of the Thunderjet 500 and the legendary pancake motor!
Model Motoring
 

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 02, 2009, 09:56 PM:
 
I know them well: just the thing for middle aged men making up for their childhoods. (That and the chance to finally own a sound projector!)

I grew up in Garden City South, and there were local legends of thousands of slot cars in the dumpsters down at Aurora Plastics. So one day a couple of my friends and I sneaked in there to dumpster dive, and found nothing but a ton of garbage and a surly security guard!

I doubt Spanky and Alfalfa could could nave done it better!

My Mom and I decided one Christmas to buy my Dad the German Railroad 150 Year Jubilee set from Trainland. He'd lost his Lionel standard gauge trains years before and he really treasured the gift.
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on September 02, 2009, 10:04 PM:
 
Steve,

Nice story about the gift that you and your Mom bought for Dad.

I purchased the add on cars of the German Railroad 150 Year Jubilee set.

They look great as additions to a Christmas train.
 

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Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on September 03, 2009, 01:07 AM:
 
What is the strange connection between film collectors and model trains? I have the same disease,having grown up with the tyco factory,later Mantua,5 blocks from my house.
 

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Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on September 03, 2009, 04:17 AM:
 
John
Its certainly true there seems to be a common interest with many that are into films/projectors and trains and not just model ones either. One such film collector here has made some brilliant short films on trains "worked on the railways" on both Standard8 and later 16mm film.
Myself I guess it goes back to the Hornby set when I was young long long ago.

Going of topic just a little back in the mid-70s I worked for Avis as a motor mechanic and was sent to a small town called Picton for a week. The hotel I was staying in had some strange noises late at night coming from the room next to mine. I could not figure out what was going on, it sounded really weird, anyway one day I passed that room and saw the door was not fully closed so out of curiosity I opened it just a little bit and there it was an amazing model train layout took up the full room. The person who owned the hotel was a keen model railroad enthusiast and later I was invited in to have a proper look.

I now had an answer to those strange late night sounds, although this story has nothing to do with film collecting I always remember that encounter .

Graham.

PS Are kids these days still interested in train sets as much? or has things changed compared to kids growing up in the 1950-60s
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on September 03, 2009, 06:49 AM:
 

quote:

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What is the strange connection between film collectors and model trains?

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Both hobbies deal with mechanics: It doesn't matter whether there's a reel or a wheel spinning, as long as something rotates/moves/... .
 

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Posted by Lars Pettersson (Member # 762) on September 03, 2009, 07:40 AM:
 
Hi gang,

Remeber Orson Welles said back in 1941 RKO studios was the biggest Toy Train a boy ever had...

Cheers
Lars
 

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 03, 2009, 08:35 AM:
 
Film and trains go way back. When motion pictures first became possible the filmmakers started looking around for something interesting and moving to capture. Railroading was the big technology of the late 19th century. It fascinated people since it offered the romance of travel and impressive, massive machinery.

So a lot of the earliest films were what we railroad fans would call "Railroad Films" today, even though at the time they were meant for general audiences.

The first motion picture that was shown to a theatrical audience was "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat" by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk

Later on people (well...most people) weren't content with images of trains going past so they tried to add a story line to the trains. This brought us "The Great Train Robbery" in 1903, which is still half a train film.

The trend continued onward through the various silent railroad melodramas and kept going through such classics as "The Titfield Thunderbolt". It is no longer such a big deal because Railroading isn't the center of attention is once was, and particularly in North America there are people who never have much more interaction with them than being stuck at a crossing to allow some freight train to pass. The romance of travel is long gone: they are no more captivating than a warehouse or a forklift.

These days when railroading is shown in motion pictures, television or in the news media it's often almost painful because the people that produce the stuff are so ignorant of what it's about and how it's really done.

There once were film companies specialized solely in railroad films on Super-8, and even today the few remaining film companies have a lot of railroad titles in their catalogs.

Children of today aren't generally fascinated with model trains because they aren't exposed to them by their parents. Children are not immune to things that their Moms and Dads are excited about though (teenagers are: it's just natural!), so if you have a little kid who watches Dad or Grandpa enjoying these things the kid will probably catch it too.

BTW: This is one of my railroad films. I think it's not just about trains but about film too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d1vGxZRFH8
 

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Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on September 03, 2009, 08:45 PM:
 
Kent Easrin,owner of Blackhawk,was a huge train buff.Many of the BH railroad films,he filmed himself
 

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Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on September 03, 2009, 11:31 PM:
 
Thanks Steve for sharing your film its very good.

Graham.
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on September 04, 2009, 03:22 AM:
 

quote:

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The first motion picture that was shown to a theatrical audience was "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat" by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk

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well, there's even a "John Woo remake" of that film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntyt87C1RZM&NR=1

quote:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d1vGxZRFH8

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