Very Nice Michael.
unfortunately I am on a Diet.
NN

Yesterday, the new HAG owner has orally confirmed (in a discussion with three other members of the German-speaking HAG forum) what I wrote above. The current and future situation can be summarized as follows:

- closing of the entire production at Mörschwil by the end of October 2012
- afterwards establishment of a new "assembly facility" somewhere in Central Switzerland (but they either don't know or don't want to say where... )
- most of the current staff (including the "key people") have been fired, a few will apparently move on to the new site
- a sale of stocks will be held at Mörschwil in September 2012 to clear out the inventory
- the production of TRAXX locos announced in February 2012 at the Nuremberg fair has been cancelled (yeah, a really farsighted company policy, isn't it...? )
- future HAG stuff will merely consist of components manufactured anywhere in the world and "kitbashed" in Switzerland in order to lower prices

Under these circumstances, my personal interest in buying/collecting HAG is dwindling at the speed of a Russian satellite falling down from outer space...

and here I waited and waited for years, one day I'll buy a new Hag loco and this far fetched idea looks like is out the window.
I was interested in the Bls Re 8/8 with 4 motors.

This is a bit of a shock, although I've noticed, over and over, HAG made endless Ae 6/6's from every possible canton and number that was ever produced and it must have been a cost saver affair for molds.

So who is the new owner ? Märklin, Roco or Hornby international ?

I can't see a person sacking the entire staff from a well known company, to start somewhere else unless you have an established company who can take over the staff requirements, unless its another investment company. We will see if people shy away from buying Hag in future ?


John

Here is an extract from a report:

In Mörschwil eingemietet
Eines weiss Adolf Schoch: «Es gibt sehr viel zu tun.» Das beginnt schon mit dem Firmensitz nahe des Bahnhofs Mörschwil. Schoch übernahm nur den Betrieb, nicht aber die Gebäude. Mittelfristig bleibe die Hag dort eingemietet, sagt Schoch. Aber die Räumlichkeiten seien schon seit Jahren zu gross. «Ich denke, ein Viertel reicht aus.» Man wolle passende Lokalitäten suchen. Geplant sei, mehr Arbeiten auswärts zu vergeben – an Lohnunternehmer, die mit CNC-Maschinen effizienter seien als Hag. Der Grossteil der Produktion soll aber in der Schweiz bleiben.

Modellreihe erneuern
Verwaltungsratspräsidentin der Hag Modelleisenbahnen AG wird Adolf Schochs Tochter Christina Schoch. Neuer Geschäftsführer wird Hanspeter Alther, die Produktionsleitung übernimmt ab März Edi Alvanez. Werner Gahler, Sohn des Firmengründers Alwin Gahler, gibt nach über 30 Jahren die Geschäftsführung ab. Er werde in einem 20-Prozent-Pensum den Fabrikladen führen, der noch zwei Nachmittage geöffnet bleibe, sagt Adolf Schoch.

Geplant sei auch eine Erweiterung der Modellreihe. «Gerade überarbeiten wir gestandene Modelle und bringen sie auf den neusten Stand», sagt Schoch.

the premisies in Mòrschwill are to big and he is looking at a smaller place about 1/4 of the current size.
His daughter Christine Schoch will be CEO, company manager: Hanspeter Alther, Production Manager: Edi Alvanez replacing Werner Gahler.
Some of the work will be done from outside sources such as CNC machines wioch would be more fficient than the current HAG machinery.

Werner Gahler will run a 20% portion of the Company shop which will be open in the afternoon 2 days a week.

Reading this, it doesn't look that bad of a picture.

Schochs Tekwiss Engineering AG, so he has at least a background of engineering and knows how to run a company.

It was a lso revealed HAG has reduced its workforce to 12 by laying off 7 staff last year.

He also mentioned Hag is the only commercial modeltrain producer/manufacturer in Switzerland and he did'nt want the big boys in Germany to have it all their own way.
I think his overall strategy is, to run the company with enough staff, reduced size factory and he is looking at expanding the range.


regards.,

John

Thanks for update Stefan, I will treasure my modest Swiss HAG collection.............but I better move quickly on the two remaining ones I would like ,

Jeremy.

Here the dates, as usual only communicated by the grapevine :

- Fridays, September 14 and 21, 9 - 15 hrs
- Friday, October 5, 9 - 15 hrs

Rather unlikely. I would guess "first come, first served", so if you want the full selection, this probably means be there on Sept 14th at 9 a.m.

Also possible: Not so vast discounts on Sept 14th, but increasing until Oct 5th when they desperately want to empty the premises.

I shall post here if and when any reliable information surfaces, but these new owners are a secretive bunch...

My impression is that the new people are unable to cope with the situation and that we might see some final developments soon.

The coming clearout sale will probably be different from the traditional December sales in every respect, but I have no idea what the NEWHAG guys have in mind. Probably they don't even know themselves...

Pure speculation: If the HAG company closes permanently, customers around the globe will either (1) try to obtain what is missing ASAP or (2) hesitate from purchasing anything in fear of no longer being able to count on spares and repair service availability in the future.

I certainly don't want to promote any "panic buys", but if you see something on a dealer's shelf that you would like, then go for it now, because a future re-issue or lower prices seem most unlikely.

And I strongly advise against sending any stuff for repairs or digital conversions to the factory at this time.

Thank you Stefan for taking the trouble of keeping us informed about the current developments at HAG.

From what I seem to be reading between the lines it doesn't bode well for the future.

Maybe it is wise to buy some extra spare parts.

Stefan,

I have one of the first production Re 450 models with the destination sign light that can melt the plastic. What pieces would I need to convert this to the more recent version and where can I get these parts other than Hag?

Thanks

Mike C

It now appears that my "grapevine" information posted further above was more accurate than the official HAG advertisement in the current LOKI magazine...

I have just been informed that the clearout sale will take place ONLY on the three days

- Sept. 14
- Sept. 21
- Oct. 5

and NOT (as printed in the LOKI advertisement) from Sept. 14 to 21, 2012.

And those who understand a bit of German or have a suitable on-line translator might want to read this information published today by a dealer who is close to the new ownership:

http://www.modelleisenba...&id=48&Itemid=73

Regards, Stefan

@ JCR - Enjoy the trip and I am looking forward to the photos.

Ref. your very kind " heads - up" I was monitoring the auction and with about 3-4 hours to go my day spiralled out of control
and I ended up missing the Bourret.

Thanks again - Jeremy.

Stefan,

I remember those pictures and those were the wonderful days at HAG.
I'm just sorry there wont be any more pictures or events in the future.
I would have burned my credit card if I had attended.

Rob

The new owner is based in Zug, Switzerland, so in some ways it makes sense that the company's operations will be moved there. The current facilities in Moerschwil are too expensive to maintain given the current production of the company and the fact that more and more future productions are likely to be outsourced. Selling the building and liquidating much of the equipment helps recoup some of the money spent acquiring the company and allows the company to reduce overhead in the near future.
Most likely, the company will retain or hire some new some customer service/inventory management and design/engineering staff at their new facility and the lion's share of production will take place in Asia.
This is the same production model that has been successful for LS Models, ACME, and other recent entrants into the model train business. With the new design technologies, higher quality models can be built in less expensive facilities overseas.
Hag appears to be concentrating on the New Generation models (Re 4/4II, Re 6/6, Re 460) along with the new Stadler shunter (Ee 922) for the future. I don't know whether the GTW is part of the plan. I also have not been able to find out whether the Ae 6/6, BDe 4/4, Re 450 and Re 456 will be part of the ongoing product palette.
I would have liked to see a model of the Traxx locomotive in metal. Especially the Re 484/BR183/186 which has not been saturated by other manufacturers. Given that more and more of European locomotives will come from the Bombardier and Siemens product lines, it would make sense for Hag to have a presence here. Hopefully they will be able to revise their decision. As ACME already has a Swiss distributor (KML), the possibility of a cooperative venture (Hag motor in an ACME shell) would seem an unlikely possibility. It has been noted that the ACME design has some shortcomings in AC operation that cooperation with Hag might help them overcome.
There are other producers (MdF, Big Models, NMJ, etc) with which Hag might be able to form some kind of cooperative venture like LSM, ACME and others have. We will have to see what the future brings.
In the interim, I have noted that many shops seem to be out of stock on a lot of Hag models (online) and hope to still receive the last model I ordered.

Regards

Mike C

Hi!
They don't own the building, so they can only reduce the rent by moving to another location.
It seems that some workers are willing to follow, so maybe the loss in know how won't be too bad. Otherwise firing the whole staff and moving to a new place would mean loss of all know how - doesn't sound like a clever move.

Folks;

I just want to provide an overview of my trip to Morschwil. For the record, from my house to the factory is 20.5 hours. However, given the flight was on my wifes air mile points, there was a 6 hour layover in Newark New Jersey. It was not total dead time in Newark as I was able to do a number of work calls.

I arrived at the factory on my fastest schedule of 10:30 in the morning. There were a few things that had gone from the sale (GTW's) already but I did find a nice 450. There wasn't an enormous discount on new items (25%) so I just went with the 450. The factory was very interesting and I have attached a couple of pictures below. There was definetley an air of finality to it all but I was very glad to have made the effort to see it.

On my way to Morschwil, I spotted a chap who seemed to be doing the same thing I was; going straight from some crazy flight to the factory and rolling his suitcase through Morschwil. We ended up having a good chat on the way out; he was from Singapore and this was a side trip on a planned trip to London. We chatted all the way back on the train to St Gallen as well. On that train, a young lady asked me if I was Canadian (I had a maple leaf on my shirt). I responded that I was and she asked why a Canadian was coming from Morschwil. I explained that we had been to a very famous factory there. She responded that her father had worked there for many years and had just been part of the team let go. She said that as he was 63, this was ok as this was an acceptable time to retire. Realizing how far we had both traveled for this, she said she had new respect for the work he had been performing. True story this.

As I had much of Friday left, I stopped in St Gallen and did a quick walkabout and visited the store Zuba-Tech. This is an unbelievable store for all scales and brands. It is huge - the web site does not do it justice. There was very little new Hag in DC but I did find the Re 6/6 700 yr canton engine used an in good condition which I have been looking around for eons. A stunning store.

After a good nights sleep, I tackled the Zurich train stores on Saturday. Roundhouse was heavenly; tons of Hag across AC and DC. The only issue is they are at full price unless they are older models. I did buy a great 456 (Vogele Shoes version). Zura Tech was also good but I did not buy anything. I had a long list of possible shops and walked to all of them but the 4 additional ones had either closed or gone under. However, it was a great walk and I saw a lot of Zurich. I also spent some quality time in the Zurich train station; it's great to see the real things up close.

On Sunday, I was up at 5 am to start the trek home. A really great trip.

A couple of final observations:
1) Stay away from the Bemo showcases! They are chock full of cool stuff. I could have spent a couple of thousand $ just on snowplows! Thank god I would have to rip up all my track to use it.

2) It's really an aging demographic in this hobby. At 46, I was the little boy at the factory!

Hi Jon, Thanks for the report and photos - definitely the end of an era. I sent a note to Herr. Alther and it came back unknown address.
I would say that would be an air of finality. Would love a photo of the 700 Jahre lok.

Jeremy.

Hi Jon,

Thank you for sharing your pictures with us and for the report of your visit to Mörschwil.
It's sad to note that soon the Mörschwil factory will close and that the future of HAG is still very uncertain.

On the one hand there is reasonable doubt that HAG will continue at all and on the other hand new information on the progress of the development of the new Re 4/4 Lion has been published yesterday.

Stucki Modelleisenbahn

Hi all,

Progress has been made on the development of the Re 4/4II Lion. A Picture of the completed model has been published on the website of a shop owner with supposedly tight connections to the new management of HAG.

Further news is that the HAG factory will move to Stansstad.
Delivery of the recently planned new items will be by the end of November or later this year, with the exception of the Ee922 which should be ready for delivery in February 2013.

I can confirm the information mentioned in my previous posting: According to the Swiss register of commerce, the new company has officially been founded at the beginning of November 2012:

https://www.shab.ch/DOWN...61822/N2012.06920610.pdf

IMHO, it is a big relief to note that the company is solely owned by Mr. Heinz Urech and not by Adolf Schoch. Mr. Urech has already contacted HAG dealers and assured them that he will try to re-establish a good and mutually prosperous relationship with them. A factory shop will not be opened at Stansstad, and Mr. Urech is determined to stop any "under the counter sales" to private individuals by staff members. The web shop on the HAG website has been shut down and will only be continued in the form of an on-line product listing. Mr. Urech also hopes to attain such a high level of quality that no "seconds" will be sold in future.

Finally some really good news.

Stefan,

Thanks for the useful information, so what sparked the twist from Mr. Schoch to Mr. Urech, was it a change of heart by Mr. Schoch to pass or sell the company on to Mr. Urech ?

John

Have never seen a blue Re 4/4.
That is magnificant.
Come to So Cal and run it on the club layout ? ? ?
We'll be playing trains at the Del Mar Racetrack & Fairgrounds, San Diego the first weekend of December.

Rob

Hi there
Was planning on selling my 20 plus HAG Locos but cant love them to much and the 10% Ebay charge to put me off i have the HAG RE460 65 Jahre HAG model in D/C Sound Mr Alther reserved it for me found him very helpful at the time cant say i like the Loco its to dark
The Re460 OCP is prob my favourite in my HAG collection along with Miss Saigon and Les Miserables i only run the HAG RE465 Stockhorn in A/C Digital i got about 5 sets of Carbon Brushes and headlight bulbs for about 4 locos so that should do my life time as the rest are in there boxes
May get 2 or 3 more RE460 locos in the new year not sure yet thanks to Stefan for all your help