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Offline tommyheadleycox  
#1 Posted : 18 March 2021 18:31:23(UTC)
tommyheadleycox


Joined: 29/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 170
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
https://www.nytimes.com/...del-trains-pandemic.html

My sister just sent me this link, knowing of my 62 year fascination with Märklin. This is such happy news!

Regards,
Tommy


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Offline DaleSchultz  
#2 Posted : 18 March 2021 19:25:35(UTC)
DaleSchultz

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2006(UTC)
Posts: 3,997
and the Märklin fan from Sweden Magnus Hellstrom sounds familiar.... thought he was member here...
Dale
Intellibox + own software, K-Track
My current layout: https://cabin-layout.mixmox.com
Arrival and Departure signs: https://remotesign.mixmox.com
Offline marklinist5999  
#3 Posted : 18 March 2021 19:50:38(UTC)
marklinist5999

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC)
Posts: 3,075
Location: Michigan, Troy
Wow, a year longer than I've been living already!
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Offline rbw993  
#4 Posted : 18 March 2021 20:12:43(UTC)
rbw993

United States   
Joined: 19/08/2008(UTC)
Posts: 954
Unfortunately I didn't know about Marklin 62 years ago, but I did have Lionel!

Roger
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Offline Puttputtmaru  
#5 Posted : 18 March 2021 20:38:21(UTC)
Puttputtmaru

Canada   
Joined: 15/02/2021(UTC)
Posts: 201
Location: Quebec, Montreal
Nice thanks for the heads up
Offline Bigdaddynz  
#6 Posted : 18 March 2021 22:29:32(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
Originally Posted by: marklinist5999 Go to Quoted Post
Wow, a year longer than I've been living already!


Likewise!

Great article - good to see the scenery work on the Museum layout, as the layout was in the bare bones state when I saw it in 2019. Thanks for sharing it.
Offline mnosal  
#7 Posted : 19 March 2021 03:31:22(UTC)
mnosal


Joined: 07/04/2008(UTC)
Posts: 72
Location: ,
The New York Times newspaper ran an article today about how Märklin has experienced a sales boom during the past year. It mentions their bankruptcy and recovery under Simba Dickie.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/business/model-trains-pandemic.html

"The pandemic has helped Märklin, a 162-year-old company that makes model trains, discover a new audience."


Nice to see favorable signs for Märklin and the rest of the model railroad industry.

Z-scale, DRG steam from Era 2. See: zscale.tumblr.com
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Offline Bigdaddynz  
#8 Posted : 19 March 2021 04:39:39(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
We've already had a thread opened about the NY Times article, so I am merging this one there.
Offline husafreak  
#9 Posted : 19 March 2021 07:37:55(UTC)
husafreak

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Location: California, Bay Area
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Offline Bigdaddynz  
#10 Posted : 19 March 2021 08:39:37(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
I'm sorry to say this, but this is the 3rd thread we've had opened for this particular topic.

Can all members please be sure to read the forum first before posting in case the topic has already been posted and discussed. Otherwise it creates work for us Moderators having to move and merge posts on the same topic into a single topic. Thanks in advance.

Moving (yet again!) posts into the original thread.
Offline mnosal  
#11 Posted : 19 March 2021 12:35:40(UTC)
mnosal


Joined: 07/04/2008(UTC)
Posts: 72
Location: ,
Originally Posted by: Bigdaddynz Go to Quoted Post
I'm sorry to say this, but this is the 3rd thread we've had opened for this particular topic.

Can all members please be sure to read the forum first before posting in case the topic has already been posted and discussed. Otherwise it creates work for us Moderators having to move and merge posts on the same topic into a single topic. Thanks in advance.

Moving (yet again!) posts into the original thread.


Sorry to make work for the mods, but I didn't think that the article would be posted in the H0 forum as it is news about Märklin in general, not just H0-scale. "News from Märklin and others" seems like a better home for this story.

Anyway, glad to see a bit of good news about Märklin get covered, with original photos to go along with the story as well.

Cheers.
Z-scale, DRG steam from Era 2. See: zscale.tumblr.com
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Offline husafreak  
#12 Posted : 19 March 2021 15:47:08(UTC)
husafreak

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Joined: 09/04/2019(UTC)
Posts: 557
Location: California, Bay Area
I also mostly frequent the “small” forum and would have missed it under general topics. Anyway, understood.
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Offline H0  
#13 Posted : 19 March 2021 16:13:32(UTC)
H0


Joined: 16/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 15,254
Location: DE-NW
Quote:
“We used to contract some of our parts abroad, but we found mostly it was not worth it, the filigree of some of our parts was so fine that we often had to return things,” said Gerhard Tastl, the plant’s production manager, during a factory tour conducted over video.
That sounds as if production in China is over.
It is not.
That article is too "wonderful" to be realistic.
Regards
Tom
---
"In all of the gauges, we particularly emphasize a high level of quality, the best possible fidelity to the prototype, and absolute precision. You will see that in all of our products." (from Märklin New Items Brochure 2015, page 1) ROFLBTCUTS
UserPostedImage
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Offline tommyheadleycox  
#14 Posted : 19 March 2021 17:01:26(UTC)
tommyheadleycox


Joined: 29/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 170
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Originally Posted by: Bigdaddynz Go to Quoted Post
I'm sorry to say this, but this is the 3rd thread we've had opened for this particular topic.

Can all members please be sure to read the forum first before posting in case the topic has already been posted and discussed. Otherwise it creates work for us Moderators having to move and merge posts on the same topic into a single topic. Thanks in advance.

Moving (yet again!) posts into the original thread.


I want to educate myself so I can help the moderators. I don't want to create extra work. So, I need some guidance on "can all members please read the forum first before posting." Can you please tell me, in order, the places I should check first? Or should I do a search? Ideally, I would like to have something like this:
Step 1: Search the xxxx field in the xxx forum to see if there's already a thread.
Step 2: If there is one, don't post.
Step 3: If there's not one, search the yyyyyy forum.
Step 4: If you can't find the thread in any of those places, proceed with posting.

Many thanks,
Tommy

PS: I'm sensitive to things like this, so I first checked the date of the NY times article. It was only 4 hours old. So I then searched HO, the place where I perceived it would be best to post. There was no thread there. Then and only then did I post.

Offline tommyheadleycox  
#15 Posted : 19 March 2021 17:10:10(UTC)
tommyheadleycox


Joined: 29/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 170
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Originally Posted by: H0 Go to Quoted Post
Quote:
“We used to contract some of our parts abroad, but we found mostly it was not worth it, the filigree of some of our parts was so fine that we often had to return things,” said Gerhard Tastl, the plant’s production manager, during a factory tour conducted over video.
That sounds as if production in China is over.
It is not.
That article is too "wonderful" to be realistic.


I agree, it wasn't clear about what "Made in Germany" really means. And I wanted to know. Badly. However, it's unquestionably wonderful to me personally that there is a 70 per cent increase in orders for Märklin. Now I have hope that they will survive through thick and thin.

Regards,
Tommy

Offline 5HorizonsRR  
#16 Posted : 19 March 2021 17:42:13(UTC)
5HorizonsRR

United States   
Joined: 05/12/2004(UTC)
Posts: 2,863
Location: CA, USA
Originally Posted by: tommyheadleycox Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: H0 Go to Quoted Post
Quote:
“We used to contract some of our parts abroad, but we found mostly it was not worth it, the filigree of some of our parts was so fine that we often had to return things,” said Gerhard Tastl, the plant’s production manager, during a factory tour conducted over video.
That sounds as if production in China is over.
It is not.
That article is too "wonderful" to be realistic.


I agree, it wasn't clear about what "Made in Germany" really means. And I wanted to know. Badly. However, it's unquestionably wonderful to me personally that there is a 70 per cent increase in orders for Märklin. Now I have hope that they will survive through thick and thin.

Regards,
Tommy



As a publicist, I can clearly deduce the key messages here from both sides:

Marklin:
- sales are up 70%
- The hobby is surging due to the pandemic, and we hope that trend will continue
- "A reminder/education about our brand" Reminding the world how storied, historic, cherished, and German it is. Remember the primary audience here is neither a train nut, nor of an age where a train set is a guaranteed chilldhood memory, at least in the USA.

NY Times:
- here is an interesting hobby and business that has surged in the pandemic
- A profile of a very interesting brand most americans have never heard of
- Good/fun content for their readers. Passion/Hobby stories, even when about the business, gather many more page clicks than a semiconductor or waste management company... It is much more fun to read about Marklin than Siemens, even if they both make trains!


The "made in" conversation leads be to believe the journalist actually did probe on the subject, otherwise they would not have gotten as granular as to discuss asian production of electronics. I'm not commenting on where markling produces or not, but there was a probe there.

As an extension of that thought, something we rarely remember ourselves is that these are becoming like cars- the pieces come in from all over the place for final assembly, and they are fairly "international" goods!

SBB Era 2-5
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Offline H0  
#17 Posted : 19 March 2021 17:53:39(UTC)
H0


Joined: 16/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 15,254
Location: DE-NW
Originally Posted by: 5HorizonsRR Go to Quoted Post
As an extension of that thought, something we rarely remember ourselves is that these are becoming like cars- the pieces come in from all over the place for final assembly, and they are fairly "international" goods!
Märklin always tell us they make all their metal parts in Germany.
However, the Asians also can do zinc die-casting. Märklin is a manufacturer, Märklin is a reseller.
I firmly believe that more than just some electronics components come from Asia. Märklin is intentionally foggy about this topic. And, for example, their relationship to Korea Brass and other companies.
Do we get German engineering from Märklin? Hungarian engineering? Korean engineering?

Regards
Tom
---
"In all of the gauges, we particularly emphasize a high level of quality, the best possible fidelity to the prototype, and absolute precision. You will see that in all of our products." (from Märklin New Items Brochure 2015, page 1) ROFLBTCUTS
UserPostedImage
Offline PMPeter  
#18 Posted : 19 March 2021 18:05:55(UTC)
PMPeter

Canada   
Joined: 04/04/2013(UTC)
Posts: 1,273
Location: Port Moody, BC
For all of those members who have replied about not seeing the topic about the NY Times article and where they should have looked, the easiest is to scroll down past all of the Forum Topic Titles to the Recent Active Discussions area. That section lists all discussions regardless of the Forum Topic category.

If you only go to the HO, Small Scale, etc. topic areas, you could miss a lot.
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Offline kiwiAlan  
#19 Posted : 19 March 2021 18:12:28(UTC)
kiwiAlan

United Kingdom   
Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8,082
Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
Originally Posted by: tommyheadleycox Go to Quoted Post

I want to educate myself so I can help the moderators. I don't want to create extra work. So, I need some guidance on "can all members please read the forum first before posting." Can you please tell me, in order, the places I should check first?
...
PS: I'm sensitive to things like this, so I first checked the date of the NY times article. It was only 4 hours old. So I then searched HO, the place where I perceived it would be best to post. There was no thread there. Then and only then did I post.



Well, there is a heading "Recent Active Discussions" right at the top of every page. I have it set up as the "home page" for my Marklin users bookmark. It will typically contain the new posts from over the last two days. This is the point I check every day, and unless I am searching for a specific item or looking to post in a sub-forum that is no longer in the "Recent Posts" bit it will be the only bit of the marklin-users site I look at.

You said the NY article was only 4 hours old when you posted, so the previous post would have been on this page.

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Offline Bigdaddynz  
#20 Posted : 19 March 2021 22:20:06(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
Originally Posted by: kiwiAlan Go to Quoted Post
Well, there is a heading "Recent Active Discussions" right at the top of every page..... It will typically contain the new posts from over the last two days.
You said the NY article was only 4 hours old when you posted, so the previous post would have been on this page.


Yes the "Recent Active Discussions" is the best place to check, either that or a quick search for "NY Times" would have found it.

The first thread was in the "Recent Active Discussions" list when the second was posted, but I didn't count how many threads were between them.

The merged thread was four threads below the third thread opened when it was opened, so a quick eyeball check of the list would have located the original thread.
Offline tommyheadleycox  
#21 Posted : 20 March 2021 03:23:41(UTC)
tommyheadleycox


Joined: 29/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 170
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Originally Posted by: PMPeter Go to Quoted Post
For all of those members who have replied about not seeing the topic about the NY Times article and where they should have looked, the easiest is to scroll down past all of the Forum Topic Titles to the Recent Active Discussions area. That section lists all discussions regardless of the Forum Topic category.

If you only go to the HO, Small Scale, etc. topic areas, you could miss a lot.



Has anyone ever considered that it might be better to put "Recent Active Discussions" at the very TOP of all the Forum Topic titles, rather than at the very bottom? Along with 7 words: "Read here first before starting new thread." I believe that would instantly make the moderators job easier. No one would have to scroll down anywhere. And of course we all would miss far less than we're probably missing now.

Regards,
Tommy
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Offline Bigdaddynz  
#22 Posted : 20 March 2021 04:25:32(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
That's a function of the YAF software and whether its features allow you to rearrange the order of topics and sub forums. Any changes required would have to be requested from the YAF developers and they would consider whether that's a feature that most YAF users would make use of and make a decision accordingly - don't forget that there are lots of different forums using the YAF software.

[Edit] The YAF software allows the subforums order to be specified but doesn't seem to allow changing where the "Recent Active Discussions" appears.
Offline ocram63_uk  
#23 Posted : 20 March 2021 07:34:38(UTC)
ocram63_uk

United Kingdom   
Joined: 07/01/2015(UTC)
Posts: 704
Location: England, Suffolk
anyway an interesting bit of the article is where it says that Marklin QA tests all models before putting them in boxes prior to shipping. To be believed?
Offline fbaube  
#24 Posted : 20 March 2021 13:37:00(UTC)
fbaube

Finland   
Joined: 12/08/2020(UTC)
Posts: 21
Location: Uusimaa, Helsinki
It's interesting tho that they chose an EU company, not American. Perhaps the Times thought to avoid charges of favoritism. So why not Roco or Hornby or whomever ? Just maybe, some train nut on the staff has been pushing a Märklin article for a while ("trad old-school hobbyist fave recovers from financial crises!") and the pandemic provided an editor an excuse to run it :-D
Offline tommyheadleycox  
#25 Posted : 20 March 2021 15:19:18(UTC)
tommyheadleycox


Joined: 29/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 170
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Originally Posted by: Bigdaddynz Go to Quoted Post
That's a function of the YAF software and whether its features allow you to rearrange the order of topics and sub forums. Any changes required would have to be requested from the YAF developers and they would consider whether that's a feature that most YAF users would make use of and make a decision accordingly - don't forget that there are lots of different forums using the YAF software.

[Edit] The YAF software allows the subforums order to be specified but doesn't seem to allow changing where the "Recent Active Discussions" appears.



This is good information to know. Thanks.
Offline hxmiesa  
#26 Posted : 26 March 2021 12:23:33(UTC)
hxmiesa

Spain   
Joined: 15/12/2005(UTC)
Posts: 3,519
Location: Spain
Originally Posted by: tommyheadleycox Go to Quoted Post
Has anyone ever considered that it might be better to put "Recent Active Discussions" at the very TOP of all the Forum Topic titles, rather than at the very bottom? Along with 7 words: "Read here first before starting new thread." I believe that would instantly make the moderators job easier. No one would have to scroll down anywhere. And of course we all would miss far less than we're probably missing now.

Hehe... Any assumption that users will actually READ something first or obey even the most basic rules and netiquette is doomed to fail, even before beginning.

I´m not saying this with anybody in particular in mind. It´s just the way all things internet works, in general.
Best regards
Henrik Hoexbroe ("The Dane In Spain")
http://hoexbroe.tripod.com
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Offline rg1911  
#27 Posted : 09 December 2021 00:23:54(UTC)
rg1911

United States   
Joined: 27/11/2018(UTC)
Posts: 17
I'm afraid I've been out-of-pocket for a while, but have my 1956 Maerklin equipment up and running (at least around the Christmas tree for now).

Permit me to make an observation about links to NY Times (and some other publications) articles. You have to be a subscriber. Unless the article is super lengthy, would moderators object to having articles copied and pasted into the forum?

Thank you,
Richard
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Offline kiwiAlan  
#28 Posted : 09 December 2021 11:19:28(UTC)
kiwiAlan

United Kingdom   
Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8,082
Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
Originally Posted by: rg1911 Go to Quoted Post
I'm afraid I've been out-of-pocket for a while, but have my 1956 Maerklin equipment up and running (at least around the Christmas tree for now).

Permit me to make an observation about links to NY Times (and some other publications) articles. You have to be a subscriber. Unless the article is super lengthy, would moderators object to having articles copied and pasted into the forum?

Thank you,
Richard


You would be violating copyright if you do, even with putting an attribution.

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Offline H0  
#29 Posted : 09 December 2021 11:31:54(UTC)
H0


Joined: 16/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 15,254
Location: DE-NW
Originally Posted by: kiwiAlan Go to Quoted Post
You would be violating copyright if you do, even with putting an attribution.
Yep. The server is located in Sweden and Swedish laws apply.
We should keep our webmaster out of legal trouble.

Regards
Tom
---
"In all of the gauges, we particularly emphasize a high level of quality, the best possible fidelity to the prototype, and absolute precision. You will see that in all of our products." (from Märklin New Items Brochure 2015, page 1) ROFLBTCUTS
UserPostedImage
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Offline rg1911  
#30 Posted : 09 December 2021 19:34:36(UTC)
rg1911

United States   
Joined: 27/11/2018(UTC)
Posts: 17
Understood. Thank you.

Richard
Offline Mr. Ron  
#31 Posted : 11 December 2021 21:09:49(UTC)
Mr. Ron

United States   
Joined: 05/07/2020(UTC)
Posts: 311
Location: Mississippi, Vancleave
It should be noted that China has the capability to make quality products. They will make anything to a quality level specified by the vendor. If you want them to make it to last 20 years, can do. if you want it to last 6 months, can also do. All depends on your specs and how much you want to pay. They are capable of sending people to the moon. Making Marklin trains, no different. People make the incorrect assumption that China is a backward country, uncapable of matching what the rest of the world can do.
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Offline dickinsonj  
#32 Posted : 12 December 2021 01:28:36(UTC)
dickinsonj

United States   
Joined: 05/12/2008(UTC)
Posts: 1,676
Location: Crozet, Virginia
Originally Posted by: Mr. Ron Go to Quoted Post
It should be noted that China has the capability to make quality products. They will make anything to a quality level specified by the vendor.


Exactly! Close followers of Märklin should already know that based on how many of Märklin's top models are Asian made.
Regards,
Jim

I have almost all Märklin and mostly HO, although I do have a small number of Z gauge trains!
So many trains and so little time.
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Offline Bigdaddynz  
#33 Posted : 12 December 2021 09:22:10(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
Originally Posted by: Mr. Ron Go to Quoted Post
They are capable of sending people to the moon.


The Chinese haven't quite got that far yet, but are certainly developing the capability. They have landed a lander and rover at the South pole on the far side of the moon, but no humans as yet.

The Americans were hoping to return to the moon by 2024, but I suspect that has already slipped to 2025 or beyond.

https://www.spaceflighti...ow-no-earlier-than-2025/

Edited by user 13 December 2021 02:51:05(UTC)  | Reason: Added URL

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Offline marklinist5999  
#34 Posted : 12 December 2021 14:07:00(UTC)
marklinist5999

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC)
Posts: 3,075
Location: Michigan, Troy
I don't think thy'll bother going to the moon either. What's the point? Bigger fish to fry.
I think they're going to develop atmosphere processors, and a star ship. Why?
If we don't figure out a way off this rock, humanity may perish. I know some are fine with that, but I think with all the divine intelligence we have as a human race to achieve what
we've done thus far both scientifically, medically, etc. we can do that. Even iof it is first on giant space stations with biosphere farming. Of course Trains will be part of the systems.
A Mag-Lev type internal transit network perhaps.
The further away we get from the sun, the better. It's life is also finite.
If a very advanced atomic warp drive isn't first made, there may this way;
This was my own conception back in the 90's. I'm no scientist or engineer, but I had an uncle whose brother was for NASA. He just looked at me with a you missed your calling look when I told him. I don't know if NASA iseven working on developing a star ship.
Have you heard of metallic glass? These materials can withstand extremely hot temperatures and flex. Then upon cooling return to their original shapes.
Wether they be gigantic bearings, blades, or a superstructure. So, with onboard nuclear powered atmosphere processors, a field of pressurized air or an atmosphere bubble could cacoon a vessel. Giant thrust utiilizing rockets could use it for combustion and, or, propulsion. As the ship flies, the next burst of atmospheric cacoon is just ahead of the ship.
Well, if you can dream it?
No, I have never done acid, LSD, mushrooms, etc.
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