Model Railroading > MDC no more UP, DRGW, MP, WP, SP

MDC is droping all road name that required a Licensing fee.
Going to a lot less engines and cars for us now with the MDC stopping sell road name that require a fee and the problem with Athearn/Horizon. Who is going to pick up the slack?

Dennis

This is indeed an unfortunate turn of events.I have been picking up a good collection of their products in WP over the years,and hold their product in high regard..A few more would not have gone astray.
I could not find any thing about this on their website however.I guess the other manufacturers will step up to the plate ,and fill the void if required.
I dont have any problem with paying that little extra to cover the UP licensing issue.
Regards,Daryl Kay.

My son on Monday called MDC looking for some DRGW cars and he had a long talk with the guy on the other end and he stated to him anything that require a licensing fee they are dropped and when gone no more. MDC does not want to get into licensing fee. By the way the DRGW cars he want are all gone and no more.

Dennis

What Athearn problem? Sounds like it is yours. I haven't any.

Wow, exactly what my hermit friend in Idaho predicted. Too bad about that.
Perhaps when manufacturers release a car design or roadname applied to a car they will consider whether there is prototype in the sense of whether it will be a good seller or not. For example the Penn Central Steam Engines, seemed to be a waste of the manufacturers resources and Hobby Shop resources. It can be seen were they would have to pay License fees and then have the product sit on shelves and never see the hobbyists.

You must be buying Athearn today from a horizon dealer?
Do you pay MSRP?

ghoerm Wrote:
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> What Athearn problem? Sounds like it is yours. I
> haven't any.

I would assume CNW is included too? You didn't mention CNW in the subject line.

L.G.

From a business standpoint, I don’t understand how MDC can just drop so many road names because it will cost a fraction more for licensing fees. By dropping so many roads, then MDC won’t be selling as many cars as it does now. Does this loss of revenue justify the savings of not having to pay the extra licensing fees.

no and no

Hi!

> revenue justify the savings of not having to pay
> the extra licensing fees.

It's not the fees, it's the accounting requirement.

Tony Burzio
San Diego, CA

I think MDC is hanging by a thread dying a slow death so this comes as no surprise to me. Considering their factory paint jobs, I can do better with a toothbrush and waterbased finger paint.

Say goodbye to another model company! All I know is whoever pays the fee (KATO) is going to come out smelling like a rose once all of these other companies disappear due to a lack of products/profits! You can't eliminate that many popular roads and come out the other side very strong. Oh well, didn't think much of MDC anyway!

AaronJ

Have you heard of painting and decaling? I believe Microscale has set up a licensing agreement with the UP, so you should be able to buy undecorated cars and paint and decal for the road of your choice. Of course if this short sighted decision causes MDC to go out of business that will be a loss to all of us.

Losing MDC would be a loss to us all. They make a wide assortment of boxcars that are inexpensive. Several other cars they make aren't made by anyone else either. I'd hate to see them disappear.

L.G.

rrnut_99 Wrote:
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> Losing MDC would be a loss to us all. They make a
> wide assortment of boxcars that are inexpensive.
> Several other cars they make aren't made by anyone
> else either. I'd hate to see them disappear.
>
> L.G.


Me too. MDC has a few cars that no one else handles. Even though they are not prototypical in every form, you can get a car for around $5 and put a little time in with a knife, paint and $2 of additional details/ parts and you'll have a decent car. I bought one of the 12 box car sets for $60, all KCS, changed the plastic wheels and horn hook couplers, added metal grab irons and weathered and they came out looking pretty good. They do offer quite a few road names that aren't repersented by the other companies.
Jeff

A year or two ago, MDC retooled their 36' boxcar, making it a much better purportioned and detailed model. The problem was, the first 4 paint schemes applied were wrong, 4 of 4. One was just made up, and three were correct, but for cars of a much later era, long after all 36' boxcars had been dropped from rosters. We at the RPI model RR club have painted and decalled around 12 of these cars, but it just makes you wonder why they would retool these and then botch the schemes so "badly" (didn't want to say badly, didn't know which word I wanted to use) Greg