Trainz.com Daily Blog

Buffet, Lionel Collector buys BNSF, expands his collection

2009-11-03T15:43:00.006-05:00

Big news today in the financial world is that Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway has purchased the remaining 76% of BNSF that he did not already own for the tidy sum of $26 Billion Dollars. Liz Claman at Fox news learned that his house has a 3rd floor full of Lionel Trains. He stated all the reasons the deal made financial sense like: as the economy recovers more goods will be shipped on trains, trains are four times more fuel efficient than trucks, the barriers to entry are very high, a great management team is already in place, etc., etc.

He denied that collecting Lionel Trains had any impact on his decision to buy the BNSF collection. That however sounds very doubtful to me!

For more information see:
http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-20091103-bnsf1,0,185679.story

Lionel to manufacture new set in US

2009-11-03T15:36:00.005-05:00

Jerry Calabrese announces at the Train Collectors Association (TCA) National Museum prior to the TCA York meet that Lionel plans to manufacture a new die-cast set in Newark, NJ. To watch videos on-line compliments of TCA view http://www.tcamembers.org/netvision/lionel2.htm

There are also several other videos of the new Lionel products as presented by Lionel manangement that you can view by changing the "2" in the URL above to 1 through 8 or so.

For more information on the TCA organization see http://www.traincollectors.org/ . Scott at Trainz has been a member since 1975 and will be happy to help you become a member of the TCA. Please contact me at scott@trainz.com for more information.

Lionel offers 10% Off rebate 2009V2 Catalog - 100 Items

2009-10-22T21:56:00.005-04:00

Lionel has just announced a 10% mail-in rebate program on 100 New items in their 2009 Volume 2 catalog. You simply need to print out the coupon from the Lionel website and send it along with a copy of your receipt. They will the mail you a check for 10% of your purchase price. The coupon needs to be sent in within 30 days of your purchase and the program ends December 31, 2010. Jerry Calabrese also posted a letter about the program on the Lionel website.

Lionel 2009 Volume II is here at Trainz!

2009-09-15T13:01:00.002-04:00

We have just received in the Lionel volume II catalog and hope to have it available on our website by the end of the week. Please check our preorder link for updates. Also,we have had an inventory issue. If you see an item with no price listed please call us at 866-285-5840 for an updated price. We have found some items in our inventory we listed missing the prices.

Become a Trainz Remote Sales Agent

2009-09-01T10:48:00.001-04:00

Do you know trains and have excellent customer service and sales skills and want to work from home?

If you do, we may have the perfect job for you. We are looking for the right people to answer our sales phone lines, both during and after our normal business hours. You will be paid a commission for all the sales that you make and for customer service tickets that you open for us. You must pass our 75 question qualification test, pass our phone interview, meet our sales personality profile, and agree to work as a commission-only contractor.

If you are a star performer and want to earn a nice extra income from your home and during the hours you want to work, get started now by clicking here.

Thank you for your interest and I wish you well.

Scott Griggs
Chief Engineer
Trainz.com

Pre-Order From The Lionel 2009 Christmas Catalog

2009-08-31T16:36:00.002-04:00

The Lionel 2009 Christmas Catalog is here! We have all the items from this volume posted on our preorder website (http://store.trainzpreorder.com). We invite you to browse our website and enjoy special preorder pricing and cash in on the savings with FREE Shipping (within the USA)!

New list of items dropped by Lionel!

2009-08-28T14:35:00.002-04:00

Below are some items from older catalogs dropped by Lionel. We are sorry for any inconvience this has caused.

Lionel 11003 Holiday Tradition Train Display
Lionel 11024 Snowman Express Train Set-Batt Op
Lionel 11077 Harry PotterÖ Figure Pack NIB
Lionel 14099 Mainline Block Target Signal
Lionel 28426 Union Pacific Tie-jector

MTH Cancellation of Items

2009-07-27T15:47:00.002-04:00

MTH has announced a few more cancellations they will not be producing. We apologize for any inconvience.

MTH 30-76348 Great Northern Dep. Center Flat Car w/Transformer Load
MTH 30-75302 John Deere Airslide Hopper Car

MTH has dropped some items from production!

2009-07-16T15:08:00.002-04:00

The below items have been dropped from MTH. This means for one reason or another they will not be making these items. If you had them on preorder with us you will be receiving a confirmation email that they have been cancelled off your preorder.

20-2936-1 and 20-2936-2- Great Northern – AA06 AFB Diesel

20-2927-1 and 20-2927-2- DSB Class MY Denmark – AA06 NOHAB Diesel

20-2928-1 and 20-2928-2- GM Demo – AA06 NOHAB Diesel

20-2929-1 and 20-2929-2- MAV Class M61 Hungary – AA06 NOHAB Diesel

20-2930-1 and 20-2930-2- NSB Class Di3 Norway – AA06 NOHAB Diesel

20-2931-1 and 20-2931-2- SNCB Glass 202 Belgium – AA06 NOHAB Diesel

20-2932-1 and 20-2932-2- CFL Class 1600 Luxembourg – AA06 NOHAB Diesel

30-79239- Kansas City Southern - American Crane Car

Meet Jon Zahornacky - Lionel's CTO

2009-07-02T22:02:00.002-04:00

Here is an interesting article about Jon Zahornacky, Lionel's Chief Technology Officer. Jon talks about his company that he started and sold to Lionel and then getting the Legacy system to market and working with Neil Young.

2009 Product Video OnLine - Introduction by Jerry Calabrese

2009-07-02T17:42:00.005-04:00

See the full 2009 Vision Line video from Lionel. Catch the vision from Lionel's President and CEO Jerry Calabrese, then learn more about the technology from Jon Zahornacky, Lionel's Chief Technology Officer. We have broken the entire video into 3 parts. The second 2 parts show all the Vision line products in great detail.

Lionel repairs

2009-07-01T14:16:00.002-04:00

Lionel is combining 3 warehouses that may delay both preorder releases as well as obtaining parts for service. Acording to a Lionel represenative, Lionel will not be sending out any requested parts until August. We apologize for any delays this may cause.

Preorder Updates

2009-06-29T13:12:00.001-04:00

The following items have been dropped from Lionel's production schedule. This means these items will not be produced.
Lionel 22281 Southern FM TM Diesel w/TMCC&RS
Lionel 21707 New York Central 18" Aluminum Bus
Lionel 27628 Wabash Northeastern Caboose
Lionel 24270 Operating Forklift Platform NIB V1

If you had an order with us you should receive an email explaining this.
Thanks for shopping with Trainz!
Marsha Bolton-preorders

Lionel & MTH Freight Car Sale - Ends On Memorial Day!

2009-05-15T11:43:00.006-04:00

This week only! Save 20% off retail prices on select Lionel and MTH freight cars. The discount will be applied during checkout and expires on May 25, 2009.

We are sold out of Lionel Grand Central Terminals

2009-04-30T14:05:00.002-04:00

In case you are looking for the new Lionel 16859 Grand Central Terminal on our website, we have unfortuanately sold out. It turned out to be quite popular, and with production limited to only 250 pieces, they went pretty quick.

Tommy

Change in Lionel's Vision Line Pricing--No Rebates, Lower Prices

2009-04-30T08:16:00.003-04:00

At the York Train show, Lionel announced that they are restructuring the pricing of Vision Line locomotives and eliminating the rebate program. The 11154 PRR CC-2 now has a MSRP of $1799 instead of $1999, the Santa Fe 2-10-10-2 has a MSRP of $2299 instead of $2499, the 28306 GE Hybrid now has a MSRP of $899 instead of $999, and the 28314 UP Genset switcher now has a MSRP of $699 instead of $799.

At Trainz, these prices are now:
11154--$1399.99
11155--$1799.99
28306--$699.99
28314--$539.99

If you have already ordered one of these locomotives from us, your order will now have the newer, lower price instead of the initial preorder price. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at customerservice@trainz.com.

Tommy

Rebates on Lionel Vision Line and Conventional Classics

2009-04-24T15:53:00.002-04:00

At York, Lionel has announced the following rebate programs for 2009 items:

Vision Line steam locomotives (#11154 and 11155)--$200 each, or $700 if both engines are purchased at the same time.

Conventional Classics: $50 per set (#31784, 38310, 38311, 38312, and 38313).

These items can all be viewed on Trainz.com's Preorder website. Just click the Preorder Store button at the top of the home page.

Be sure to get your orders in today!

Ending April 15: Lionel 2009 Vol. 2 Catalog Pre-Order

2009-04-15T10:55:00.004-04:00

The Lionel 2009 catalog is here! We have all the items from this volume posted on our preorder website (http://store.trainzpreorder.com). We invite you to browse our website and enjoy special preorder pricing and cash in on the savings with FREE Shipping! The deadline to get your Lionel order in by is April 15th.

We will continue to take preorders after the deadline, unless it is released or sold out. Keep in mind that occasionally Lionel can sell out of an item before it is even released, so we can not absolutely guarantee delivery on preorders placed after April 15th

Don't miss out on all the great items Lionel added in this volume, like the all new Vision Line locomotives and new additions to the Postwar Conventional Classics line. Quantities are limited so be sure to order early to secure your order. Vision Line locomotives have manufacturer rebates of up to $500 each!!

Bookmark this link to stay up to date on current release dates: http://lionel.com/Products/ShippingSchedule/index.cfm

If you have never preordered from Trainz, we welcome you! You will find that our service and handling of your order is top priority. Our customer service is top-notch; at anytime that you have a question or concern you can always reach us promptly by email. We strongly encourage all new customers to visit our FAQ page for details about our fantastic program at http://support.trainz.com.

For questions concerning preorders please email us at preorder@trainz.com Or, you may call us at 1-866-285-5840.

After the deadline (April 15th), if you did not order something that you wish you had, give us a call! We'll add it to your existing preorder, with free shipping as long as it hasn't been released by the manufacturer yet. When you order from Trainz.com you'll receive FREE SHIPPING on your Pre-Order.

The Terms of this Program are as follows:

For 2009 Lionel Preorder, the deadline is April 15th, 2009.
You must use a valid credit card during checkout. It will not be charged at checkout time.
We do not accept Paypal for preorders.
Your credit card will only be charged when we ship your items.
Items that you order and cancel will be charged a 10% restocking fee.
Georgia Sales tax will be charged for Georgia orders.

Special Shipment Terms apply for all items sold under this program as follows:

SHIPPING IS FREE! Lower 48 United States Only.
We now ship to Alaska, Hawaii & Canada. Please see listing for shipping amount.
WE SHIP ITEMS TO YOU IMMEDIATELY upon receiving them from the Manufacturer.
Lionel Shipping Schedule

For questions concerning preorders please go to http://support.trainz.com.

Thank you for shopping with us at Trainz, we look forward to securing your preorder!

The Trainz Crew

Mike Wolf at MTH interviewed by Toy Collector Magazine

2009-04-07T14:24:00.002-04:00

MTH took on big competition and is still chugging along
Mike Wolf has heard all the gloom and doom about model railroading, and he doesn’t buy it.
Derailed interest? He doesn’t see it.
Aging collectors? Not the case.
Declining business? No way.
Wolf, the founder and owner of MTH Electric Trains in Columbia, Md., has plenty of reasons for his optimism. The MTH Railroaders Club has more than 10,000 members, and MTH products are carried by about 800 dealers.

Read the entire article on the Toy Collector Site :

http://www.toycollectormagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121:mth-the-little-company-that-could&catid=34:features&Itemid=62

Lionel Vision Locos redesigned for O54 Track

2009-04-07T14:12:00.001-04:00

Just Announced from .... LIONEL ELECTRIC TRAINS

VISION LINE LOCOMOTIVES

IMPORTANT NEWS

The Lionel design teams have been working very hard to bring you the very latest innovations and the very best features for our Vision Line products.

This just in from our design engineers - The Pennsylvania 0-8-8-0, GE ES44AC Evolution Hybrid diesel and the 3GS21B Genset switcher will now be able to run on a minimum of O-54 curve track.

These new updates will allow for expanded use of these locomotives on layouts that use O-54 diameter curves. The 2-10-10-2 Santa Fe uses O-72 diameter curves.

Preorder errors

2009-03-31T14:53:00.000-04:00

Atten Trainz customers!!!!
While making room for all the wonderful 2009 items newly offered by Lionel we had to delete some items still available from the 2008 catalogs. While reposting these they listed items that were not available. We have caught this error and are working to correct it. We apologize for any inconvience this may have caused and appreciate your patience while we are correcting this.

Lionel 2009 Vol. 1 Catalog Is Here! Pre-Order Now!

2009-03-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

The Lionel 2009 Volume 1 Catalog is here! We have all the items from this volume posted on our preorder website (store.trainzpreorder.com). We invite you to browse our website and enjoy special preorder pricing and cash in on the savings with FREE Shipping! The deadline to get your Lionel order in by is April 15th. We will continue to take preorders after the deadline, unless it is released or sold out. Keep in mind, that occasionally Lionel can sell out of an item before it is even released.

If you have never preordered from Trainz, we welcome you! You will find that our service and handling of your order is top priority. Our customer service is top-notch, at anytime that you have a question or concern you can always reach us promptly by email. Please visit our FAQ page for details about our fantastic program.

For questions concerning preorders please contact us at http://support.trainz.com. Or, you may call us at 1-866-285-5840.

When you pre-order from Trainz.com you’ll receive FREE SHIPPING (within the USA)!

Fallout Continues at Märklin

2009-03-04T07:57:00.001-05:00

Two Märklin employees have been fired in the wake of the company's insolvency and owner Kingsbridge Capital is refuting allegations it's being investigated by a public prosecutor regarding its role in the company's financial demise.

According to the German business daily Handelsblatt, insolvency trustee Michael Pluta confirmed Karlheinz Menrad, the head of Märklin's Hungarian subsidiary, has been dismissed. Reportedly, Menrad had transferred more than $127,000 to Adler Toy, a holding company owned by the Hardt Group - connected to Kingsbridge - just prior to the declaration of insolvency. Menrad is a managing director of Adler Toy.

Only the German portion of Märklin has declared insolvency.

Also dismissed was Hans Reyher, the company's head of bookkeeping at the Goeppingen, Germany headquarters. Both men were longtime employees.

The firings come amidst reports in the German media of an investigation into the fees paid by Märklin to consultants since Kingsbridge bought it in 1996. According to reports, Pluta said the company might not be insolvent if it hadn't paid the approximately $50.1 million in fees. Kingsbridge has refuted Pluta's claim and might pursue legal action against the administrator.

Authorities in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, where Goeppingen is located, are also reportedly looking into allegations that Kingsbridge and Goldman Sachs lied about the financial situation of Märklin to get bank financing and that "hush money" was paid to some employees.

One direct effect of the insolvency has been the cutting back of the number of starter sets offered by Märklin GmbH. Dealers were notified in late February the previous list had undergone "a critical analysis" and that 13 sets had been cut, along with one new item.

Lionel Pre-Order Update

2009-02-18T14:31:00.003-05:00

Today we removed all of the existing Lionel items from the Trainz Pre-Order web site in preparation for the Lionel 2009 Vol. 1 Catalog.

We will have the complete Lionel 2009 Catalog available at http://store.trainzpreorder.com within the next few days.

Phone issues

2009-01-29T09:59:00.002-05:00

As Trainz is changing to a new phone system we have had issues being able to make out going calls. Please be patient with us while we are going through this transition.