With the model train industry
being as competitive as it is,
MTH's business philosophy is in
part, based on providing
customers with a better quality
product when compared to the
same item offered by a
competitor.... but at a lower price.
M.T.H. Electric Trains has gone from a very small business operated out of a room in Mike's boyhood home, to a 80+ employee company with headquarters located in a fine business complex in Columbia, MD.
MTH's product line is exceptionally broad. Mr. Wolf's early experiences included the production of "Standard" gauge equipment, and he continues to offer by far the largest selection of quality Tinplate models in the marketplace. But merely large scale models they are not !!
These colorful reproductions of Ives, Lionel
and other vintage manufacturers are without
doubt the most beautiful and striking
locomotives and passenger and freight
rolling stock ever built. And, we're sure you
have guessed it by now, one has the choice
of Traditional or Contemporary versions,
the latter equipped with Proto-Sound 2.0
and the Digital Command System.
Accessories too, show how history
has influenced production of the
standard gauge "Tinplate
Traditions" at MTH. There are
many exact replicas of the Lionel
Magnetic Crane, Ives' Deluxe
Water Tower, Telegraph Poles,
Street Lighting Fixtures, Switches
in their original baked enamel
finishes, Signals, Buildings, and
much more.
As if the selections were not broad enough,
MTH has, as of 2001, produced "RailKing
One Gauge". These 1:32 proportioned
models are fantastically detailed pieces,
and the stable of items continues to be
expanded.
If it seems that we have been "diminishing" as we progress through the array of offerings at MTH, you can be confident that it is in "scale" only. MTH's RailKing and Premier 0 scale and 027 products are both prolific and superb in quality when viewed in the context of model train production today or at any time in the past. One could go on indefinitely pointing out unique details and qualities of these lines, but one can best understand the magnitude of the choices available by studying their excellent catalogs. If you do not have access to them, all catalogued products are displayed on their website: www.mthtrains.com. You can go directly to that site by clicking on the blue address just mentioned.
MTH's 0 scale offerings, as
mentioned above, are many. The
"Premier" line is for serious 0
scale modelers. All items are built
to a true scale of 1/4" equals one
foot, and any one of them would
be at home on a 2 rail 0 scale
layout if they were to be lined up
side by side or converted to 2 rail
operation.
"Railking" equipment is generally semi-scale, often approaching the dimensions, and certainly the impression, of the prototype. These motive power and rolling stock items are of the same vernacular that the other "High Rail" manufacturers have made so popular and sought after over the last 80 years.
In either format, all MTH products are extremely well built and tough; and where appropriate, are fitted with spectacular sound systems, lighting, and detail that truly capture the joy of model railroading.
( An editorial here, we think is in order: Bill Anderson has often remarked that had he gotten an O27 "Blue Comet" set as a boy of 10 or so, he would have thought he had died and gone to heaven! One can easily understand that when the station stop mode is engaged, when the cab chatter is so wonderful, when the locomotive smokes so realistically, and when the lighted passenger cars are so graceful on this beauty.)
We have not yet taken space to talk about MTH's Digital Command System; Proto-Sound 2.0. Again, the best way to gain full appreciation of its wide ranging capabilities is to click on Proto-Sound 2.0 either at this location or within their website as you browse. Whether our opinion has any influence can be debated, but we do choose to go on record as saying Proto-Sound 2.0 is the best of those sound systems currently being offered to our hobby. Don't get us wrong, we think all the systems are fantastic, and the gap between our rating is very narrow, but we are impressed with Proto-Sound 2.0 to the degree that we would recommend it.
We are an authorized "MTH Retail Dealer" and have access to all their lines and products and we enjoy their sales and promotional support as well as a relationship with their technical and repair services.
With each new catalog, M.T.H. Electric Trains conducts a Pre-Order time period through their wholesale distributors. Model Train Classics, Plus receives preprinted order forms from several of these suppliers, giving us an opportunity to offer the newest of the product line directly to you as soon as it is distributed. Keep informed about pre-order times and releases by checking our newsletter and watching other sources (including our shop) for new catalogs and special other MTH product releases.
We welcome orders by phone, but remember that supplies are always limited in today's clamor for new items, and oftentimes they are completely sold out throughout the Country after only a few weeks. So take time often to check out this website for our current newsletter, "Boarding Pass", and its updates and announcements regarding these time periods for pre-ordering.
Model Train Classics, LLC
4284 London Road Eau Claire, WI 54701
715-838-8858
TrainClassicsLLC@aol.com
Mike Wolf, owner and founder, established Mike's Train House in 1980, after having worked as a model train assembler for a neighbor who manufactured toy trains in his basement, and later in a business working relationship with Lionel.
Before long, Mike's Train House became M.T.H. Electric Trains, and as the company gained recognition in the model railroading market, it established a reputation for providing customers with "Quality in the Tradition You Remember ... and at affordable prices", as the company likes to put it.
