Model Train Journal

All:

I just got this e-mail from Mercer Junction, a train store north of me in Mercer, PA. The shop was large and nicely stocked and run by a nice owner. It was almost exclusively MTH.

I am very sorry to see this.

George

Final Days
Shop Closing


At the end of 2020, I will be closing the shop for good. I do this with mixed emotions and a sad heart but also with a sigh of relief. This is NOT due to COVID or any restrictions placed on businesses. The shop has grown every year for the past 10 years. In fact, this year has seen record sales due to custom runs and some very nice local cataloged items. The number one factor for my decision is the retirement of Mike Wolf, owner of MTH. Although I believe the company will eventually be sold and product will once again be produced, it is the lack of product in the interim that has drawn me to this decision.
Most of my customers and vendors have grown to become great friends over the years. This, I believe, is what I will miss the most. I want to thank you all for the support I have received over the last 10 years. You are what has made the shop great! I am eternally thankful!

Dave


Remaining Inventory.
Although our inventory is down, there are still plenty of great items left:
• Ross Switches.
• Gargraves Track.
• Premier Engines.
• Premier Rolling Stock.
• Railking Engines.
• Railking Rolling Stock.
• Buildings and Accessories.
Please call the shop 724.662.1110 or visit MercerJunction.com.

This is unfortunate. Dave's shop was one of the best in the area. Always a super guy to deal with and as nice as they come. The store sits on the corner of the town square and just has a great feel to it. He'll be missed.

I'd stopped in there a couple of times while on the road visiting family. While it wasn't recent, and it certainly wasn't enroute, per se, it was a nice store and well worth a visit. Bought a few pieces of MTH gear there, primarily accessories.

The MTH dealer network is obviously going to take it in the shorts, especially if they were primarily or exclusively MTH in what they stocked/sold. That, of course, is stating the obvious. Have they (Mercers) really only been around 10 years? Seems like a lot longer...

Is it not possible for a dealer to change from one brand to a different one or more?
I understand his clients were MTH fans but there are other brands. My guess is the
move by MTH has given him the chance to close without a lot of to-do.
Or is it possible that Lionel, Williams and other companies would not want his business?

One horse wagons never make to the finish. His web site shows that he sells more than MTH. Probably just the straw that broke his back. If i remember right he is a rock musician.

Apparently a quite successful and skilled rock musician. The store is probably not his major source of income is my guess and with the closing of MTH it's probably just not worth the hassle of staying in business. I think his personal layout is also primarily or exclusively MTH.

This would be the time for Lionel to offer retrofits for PS2/PS3 locos with LionChief + or LionChief +2.0 electronics. Cheap and simple, reliable stuff. The gratitude would extend even to the most rabid MTH fans in the long run I'd guess. Howard Hitchcock would be a candidate for Toy Train Sainthood.

Just a thought.

Folks who make reasonably priced and installed retrofits win a whole lot of points.
High Karma.

But we ARE talking about Lionel, right?

Sort of like MyPal.

Browser....fork of PaleMoon, which is a fork of FireFox.

MyPal written for XP and updated...still.

Even Dallee's reversing units are more than helpful for gutting Mikey's stuff.
I wish QSI would get off the pot and re-introduce DCRU's and ACRU's.

Better fit and cheaper than Dallee.

ScaleCraft wrote:Folks who make reasonably priced and installed retrofits win a whole lot of points.

In chaos there is opportunity.

Rufus,

Love the Leo Rosten quote.

George

In this day and age, running a train shop is pretty much a retirement career where you're netting 5 to 10 bucks an hour after expenses to supplement your retirement checks. Especially with O gauge. Unless of course you have 10 million in cash to deal in huge volume and offer big discounts. Only then can you earn a living off it. That's just how the Charlie Ros and Trainworlds operate.

His band is named the CLARKS . they sang It's a wonderful world on the Simpson's.

robert. wrote:His band is named the CLARKS . they sang It's a wonderful world on the Simpson's.

Yeah, I think Dave's the drummer.

Really nice guy.

George

jlong wrote:Unless of course you have 10 million in cash to deal in huge volume and offer big discounts. Only then can you earn a living off it. That's just how the Charlie Ros and Trainworlds operate.

I know that TrainZ is not your favorite vendor, but you should really check out how much volume they're doing just on ebay:
Trainz - Sold Items, most recent first

Open up that link some evening, keep the page open and then reload it after about 15 minutes -- you'll see how many items they've sold in that time period. Tonight, they've sold 50 items in the last 54 minutes, just thru ebay -- they are also selling thru their own website.

Chris Webster wrote:I know that TrainZ is not your favorite vendor, but you should really check out how much volume they're doing just on ebay:
Trainz - Sold Items, most recent first

Open up that link some evening, keep the page open and then reload it after about 15 minutes -- you'll see how many items they've sold in that time period. Tonight, they've sold 50 items in the last 54 minutes, just thru ebay -- they are also selling thru their own website.

Does it matter?
All the stuff several of us have posted here from them has been A) overpriced, B) misrepresented, or C) junk.
You choose any or all of those things to describe the particular offering.

Selling 2343 AA set...right. Shells shot, chassis rusted and corroded, and one of them is a 2353.....but oh, no, some poor schmuck now "won" a mis-matched set that is gonna cost him (or her) MORE than the "win"ning bid to find the parts to fix it.
And maybe you missed the separate "sale" of decent 2343 or 2353 shells that could have fixed these.....but no.

Or listing a 24-year-old MSRP (what it says in their own "description") and claiming you SAVE money....

Think automobiles here. How much value does a new car lose the minute you drive it off the lot?

The garbage they have shown that from their photos appears to have been submerged for some period of time....mold, fungus, rust, corrosion and all.....and hidden behind poor, dark photos.

For the BIN pricing they should be serviced and tested...and guaranteed.

When is the last time you saw rusted plastic shells?