TSG Media Video - MTL Tour

[John]

Featuring Gozer !!! and the rest of the team .. 30 minutes of N scale .. spot any new products

[Chris333]

Where is that fancy ink jet printer? 

[John]

Where is that fancy ink jet printer? 

Must be a trade secret

[CNscale]

Aside from the fascinating machinery, I think the coolest thing about this video is meeting the people who design, build and ship all the great stuff that MicroTrains produces.

It's clearly obvious that each of them takes pride in their work -- as they should.

[John]

What I found interesting is that they build some of their own machines in house.

[Rasputen]

I am impressed that they produce every detail of their product themselves.

[Bill H]

I am impressed that they produce every detail of their product themselves.

I am even more impressed, that it is all produced right here in the US and at competitive prices, clearly indicative of an excellent management team and well thought out production facilities.

[John]

I am even more impressed, that it is all produced right here in the US and at competitive prices, clearly indicative of an excellent management team and well thought out production facilities.

I agree - but what struck me is that a lot of the folks aren't spring chickens anymore .. I hope they have a good succession plan in place ..

[Scottl]

The guy who does the inserts was young and had his bike right there (lol)- seems like there were some others as well.  I'm not too worried, we'll all survive without the Boomers .

I'm impressed when I see how they operate and the amount of capability they have in house.  The amount of tooling for a freight car (and the kind of investment necessary) is something I reflect on when people complain about availability of this model or that.  This is not a big margin business and the sheer variety and sustained output is something close to a miracle. 

I'd love to see cost numbers about the cost aspects of this facility vs. offshoring.  There is probably much to be learned from that.

[mkearns]

Great video. Seeing the whole process and team was enlightening. The way Christa could put a coupler together so quickly was impressive.

[Dwight in Toronto]

It’s satisfying to be reminded that there are good, hard-working “behind the scene” folks, who benefit from the tiny contribution we make to their livelihood, every time we purchase a new ‘toy’ for our hobby.

Also, when you see the time, effort, expertise, capital investment and energy expenditure that goes into producing a new model, it’s a wonder that retail prices aren’t higher than what we like to gripe about!

[mkearns]

I've been thinking more about this video. Are there any locomotives that are Made in the USA?

[peteski]

I've been thinking more about this video. Are there any locomotives that are Made in the USA?

Not that I'm aware of.  Even if they were, some of their components would be made in other countries.
Same can be said for pretty much any consumer item (including domestic brand automobiles). Plus many domestic companies are owned by foreign firms. That's Global Economy!

[JoeD]

I've been thinking more about this video. Are there any locomotives that are Made in the USA?

Just our Z scale F7...we do the plastic for all our N and Z locos and have the chassis done in China.   Someday it would be nice to have that option.

[Chris333]

Hey don't forget this tour from 9 years ago.