Micro Engineering is Sold

[Scottl]

IMO all flex track looks better than hand laid.  There are a few rare exceptions where tie plates and spikes are added for detailed scenes (cue @ednadolski) but for the most part, it is very rudimentary looking.  Hand laid turnouts are a different story because they often function so much better than commercial products.

I suspect the Peco embedded rail design is protected.

I've been buying Atlas code 55 flex for my layout and have yet to see any flash.  And it is plenty strong and flexes easily and smoothly.  My limited experience with ME concrete 55 flex was that it looked great but you had to be very careful to get smooth curves.

[oakcreekco]

JMHO, but for ME to move forward and gain sales, "flash" on flex track is not acceptable.

[mike_lawyer]

JMHO, but for ME to move forward and gain sales, "flash" on flex track is not acceptable.

That's why I am wondering if the new ownership has new molds for the flex track.  If there are new molds, I can see why the price would increase.

[oakcreekco]

Yep, that'll be interesting to see.

I'm guessing no at this point, as the time frame from buying ME to getting track out was pretty short.

Hard to get tooling done well that quickly.

Fingers crossed

[mu26aeh]

If that was the case, I think they'd be smart to get that news out to the public

[wazzou]

Yep, that'll be interesting to see.

I'm guessing no at this point, as the time frame from buying ME to getting track out was pretty short.

Hard to get tooling done well that quickly.

Fingers crossed

These are my assumptions also.

[oakcreekco]

There's several good tool and die companies in the area, but these types of dies aren't cheap.

I may be all wet, but ME had some good products, but the new owners also got some pretty worn out tooling in the deal.

If issues aren't addressed, some product sales just won't take off and grow.

[mike_lawyer]

There's several good tool and die companies in the area, but these types of dies aren't cheap.

I may be all wet, but ME had some good products, but the new owners also got some pretty worn out tooling in the deal.

If issues aren't addressed, some product sales just won't take off and grow.

I agree that the "new" flex track being produced by the new owners will probably be tooled using the old tooling.  I just hope at some point they upgrade the tooling to remove flash and make a better run of flex track than what we have seen recently.  If only we could get the old Rail Craft flex back!

[peteski]

. . .
If issues aren't addressed, some product sales just won't take off and grow.

And that sounds like chicken and the egg thing:  If modelers shun the old full-of-flash track with the new prices, Micro Engineering will not see enough of a market to retool the track and nobody wins.

[oakcreekco]

That's where a manufacturer has to "reach out" to the N scale world and explain their products situation.

Ask questions and evaluate their inherited product.

Without this, they'll never honestly know what the problem with lackluster sales really are.

Yes it takes extra leg work. That's just part of business.

[wazzou]

I agree that an introductory announcement coupled with an explanation of production priorities and timelines would be a good PR move.
Like, we are going to focus on this because we know we can sell it and the proceeds will help fund this, type of thing.

[Chris333]

I wonder how their products in others scales are? Are all the molds worn out or just N scale?

[Spades]

I wonder how their products in others scales are? Are all the molds worn out or just N scale?

I know ME just released 2 years? their HO scale #5 turnout ladder system.  I would assume their molds are in various conditions

[Tristan Ashcroft]

By the end, the HO girder plate bridge molds were problematic - the two sides weren't lining up well, but ME was selling the results anyway.  The HO flextrack ties had some flash, but it was usually a quick fix.  The HO switches are pretty new, hence they were okay.


Edited to note that the post is all concerning HO products.