Atlas acquires Microtrains

[John]

They painting the BLMA car as TPIX?   

[up1950s]

Just to add to the list of built up MTL Z couplers wanted . Much more than just desired they are the keystone to wanting Nn3 and Z scale , as well as some N scale applications . Nothing is more important than these !

[lock4244]

Atlas Winter 2025 news on uTube

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The 5077 boxcar is of interest, assuming the couplers are bodymounted. That centerbeam is likely too new for me, thankfully, but the loads are of interest if they'll fit the Rapido car and the Red Caboose opera divider cars.

[basementcalling]

Atlas Winter 2025 news on uTube

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Do people actually watch these videos? Do companies think we have 50 minutes to be bored to tears listening to rizzless guys spend most of that time talking about products we could not care less about?  Just give me a freaking PDF, or a hot blonde reading the script. 

Feel the same way about Netflix and Prime Video chopping the text summaries of movies/shows off and defaulting to a video "trailer" style tease.  Let me read it please.  I'll be done skimming and have my info and a decision before the talking heads are done introducing themselves.

[reinhardtjh]

Do people actually watch these videos? Do companies think we have 50 minutes to be bored to tears listening to rizzless guys spend most of that time talking about products we could not care less about?  Just give me a freaking PDF, or a hot blonde reading the script. 

Feel the same way about Netflix and Prime Video chopping the text summaries of movies/shows off and defaulting to a video "trailer" style tease.  Let me read it please.  I'll be done skimming and have my info and a decision before the talking heads are done introducing themselves.

No hot blondes..   https://download.atlasrr.com/1125MCPDF/HON2025CatalogMSRPOnly1.pdf

[peteski]

Why does the U30C stick in my mind as being a "first"?  (I'm not an expert on Kato history but I remember this being notable in N-Scale Magazine for some reason...)

You are correct. It was "revolutionary" because it used the low-friction mechanism and large flywheels which allowed it to coast quite a distance over dirty track.  Both the axle-cup and pointy axles and the large flywheels were the first for Kato (and often imitated by other manufacturers).

[nkalanaga]

OldEastRR:  True, but I found it was easier to simply file the bolsters.  I installed 1025 couplers at the same time, and the lowered floors were at the right height for them.  Bought 500 pair of boxes from MT and put the truck-mounted couplers in the new boxes!

I made a simple jig on a piece of 1x3 so that I could file everything the same, and the job actually went quickly.  Doing it while I was temporarily unemployed (between jobs) gave me something to do.

[Sokramiketes]

It's funny, I have some really OLD MT's, body mounts, and it's stunned me how the MT couplers have grown dimensionally from the originals.   The old ones are more like the Z's. 

I assume you're talking about the change to "RDA" reverse draft angle making the coupler head bigger.  The early design slipped vertically, and it was an early fix to carve some of the draft angle plastic inside the knuckle to get them to hold better. 

[Mark5]

In this case, I hope Atlas retires the dimensionally challenged MTL 60' "hi Cubes" referenced in my signature. 

Just in case Atlas is reading this thread. 


Mark

[Rivet Miscounter]

Do people actually watch these videos?

I don't normally, but I they were really going overboard announcing the live stream so I thought "meh, maybe they'll chat about the MTL thing".

Maybe they did eventually, but that stream was hard to watch and I decided to punt on 1st down.   Full of misinformation about the products, a bunch of fake excitement over every stupid little thing, and half the time the slide deck didn't match up with what they were talking about.    Contrast to Athearn which does a decent job with theirs, (granted maybe not streams but just product announcement videos) and a few others too...mostly good but this was opposite of that.

I realize that video production isn't their day job, so I'll grant some grace.   But at least prepare *a little bit* please.

[learmoia]

I don't normally, but I they were really going overboard announcing the live stream so I thought "meh, maybe they'll chat about the MTL thing".

Maybe they did eventually, but that stream was hard to watch and I decided to punt on 1st down.   Full of misinformation about the products, a bunch of fake excitement over every stupid little thing, and half the time the slide deck didn't match up with what they were talking about.    Contrast to Athearn which does a decent job with theirs, (granted maybe not streams but just product announcement videos) and a few others too...mostly good but this was opposite of that.

I realize that video production isn't their day job, so I'll grant some grace.   But at least prepare *a little bit* please.

I watched it thinking there would be backlash on the MTL thing..
Turns out.. nobody was watching so very few comments... (I think max live view count got to around 15)..

The only mention about MTL (that I noticed) was if they would continue the Grit and Grime series in HO.

~Ian


 

[thomasjmdavis]

I skipped through, just to see what was what.  Atlas did devote more time to N scale than I expected, which is a good thing. BUT... since the only thing I was at all interested in was the S4 (distinct lack of transition era models), I fast forwarded to that.  And... no roadname I wanted, so another manufacturer's big release announcement that falls flat for me.  I am hoping they make the S4 trucks available as parts.  I found most of what I did watch boring. 

Oddly, I thought I was tuning in 'live'- and in fact, it started about 8 minutes in, but I found I could pick and choose my place... so ??

Oh well, I have too much rolling stock already.  So, maybe it's good that Atlas isn't offering much for the pre-1956 US railroads.

[N Scale Train Boy]

New statement from Atlas on their Facebook.

Atlas/Micro-Trains Sale Explanation
We know the past week has brought a lot of emotion for the Micro-Trains team and for many long-time hobbyists who care deeply about the brand.
A little context may be helpful.

Micro-Trains had been exploring a sale for several years as the owners prepared for retirement. Employee decisions made in recent weeks were handled by Micro-Trains itself, before the Atlas acquisition took effect. Those changes were not directed, initiated, or influenced by Atlas. Atlas' only role was expressing interest in interviewing Micro-Trains employees for potential job opportunities.

Our role now is clear: preserve the Micro-Trains product line, protect its legacy, and build a strong future for the brand. We have already begun meeting with former Micro-Trains employees and hope to bring talented people onto the new "Micro-Trains by Atlas" team.

On a question we’ve seen come up often:
None of the U.S.-based tooling is being moved to China.

Micro-Trains had some limited production in China in recent years using the same factories Atlas uses today, but all U.S.-based tooling remains stateside at the moment. As part of the long-term production plan, molds will currently be transferred to trusted suppliers in Vietnam, where quality, cost stability, and production capacity are strongest. After careful review, this is the best path to ensure Micro-Trains continues into 2026 and well beyond. Without this step, the brand’s future would have been uncertain at best.

At the same time, all drawings, computer files, research, archival materials, and selected equipment are being relocated to Atlas in Hillside, New Jersey, where research and development, engineering, logistics and overall product management will continue. We are also evaluating which aspects of production and assembly may continue in the United States as we balance quality, cost, and long-term sustainability.

Our goal is simple: ensure Micro-Trains not only survives, but thrives for the next generation of modelers."
Happy Thanksgiving  to All,
Atlas Model Railroad Co. Inc.

[signalmaintainer]

New statement from Atlas on their Facebook.

Awesome! Could not be clearer!

[packers#1]

New statement from Atlas on their Facebook.

Glad to see them bring some clarity. From what I had understood Vietnam has been the country taking in a lot of the low paid skilled assembly labor that we (and increasingly China) cant do by hand due to shrinking working age populations, expanded educational opportunities, and high end (in complexity and price) production. I’ve worked in plants that ranged from hand feeding and stacking machines, continuous run machines where operators primarily monitor and set up runs and connect material to run through the line, and am currently working for a company doing relatively low run high complexity assembly of widgets for machinery. The “no one wants to work” narrative for our country really misses the mark on several key things, several of which also affect China and are why assembly of items like model trains and vacuums:
- 1) Wage competition: where I am in the US has an insane amount of manufacturing. In my county we build everything from BMWs to F16s, plastic packaging film to industrial components, plastic vinyl components, garden hoses, and so many other suppliers and vendors supporting BMW, Lockheed Martin, and others that the workforce is stretched thin. Super thin. So thin that Walmart and fast food places pay at a rate reasonably close enough that people would rather go work those jobs than have the added demands of production for only a couple dollars an hour more (remember, it doesn’t matter what you would do, it only matters on what is important to each individual). China has slightly different pressures in that they have been rapidly spinning up a workforce for complex manufacturing and assembly, and even with the recent influx of robots for things like car assembly they still have more workers moving into those knowledge roles than repetitively putting trucks and couplers on a freight car.

- 2) birth rates are going down and have been for a while. While some Southeast Asian countries are at the edge of a literal cliff, the US is experiencing this as well. Something like the next 15 or 18 or so high school classes will collectively be smaller and smaller nationally every year, which is pressuring colleges and universities because they don’t have enough of a student pool to fill seats. This has already started leading to colleges closing, as Limestone college did locally and many other small liberal arts schools are already doing. China, while not at a cliff, is experiencing the same due to their one child policy. There simply aren’t the people to backfill the roles like there once was, and that’s only going to get worse. Keep in mind we are already dealing with a shrunk labor pool in the US from the early retirements and yes, deaths, during COVID.

-3) there are also just emerging countries where the labor pool is ready to learn a skill and the governments are opening up people getting income. Much like the US had booming factories and many returning workers after WW2 and China opening up its economy in the 90’s, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries are looking to gain value producing work to grow their societal classes. And much as is happening there now, the next cycle will be Africa. After that who knows.

The key thing is, just like my signature says, American manufacturing did not die. The menial jobs which we had grown from went elsewhere, and we started producing higher value things. We still make everything from adhesives to composites for use in making other machinery, widgets, and vehicles, and these have and will continue to become more high tech and automated as technology advances (although I’m not convinced that we will see a rapid sea change in only a couple years unless humanoid robots get *much* cheaper at scale than they are now). But a company like Micro-trains, I’m sorry to say, did not stand a chance. Especially where they were located. Part of what makes my area so ripe for manufacturing is the fact we have two great deep water ports only a couple hours away (Charleston and Savannah), as well as a massive inland port facility served by Norfolk Southern where intermodal comes in from the west coast. Medford is not in a good spot for getting product in or out. Same reason a lot of manufacturing has left the hills of the Blue Ridge around here to move north, to move to the Piedmont, or to move overseas. Having your workforce leave because of wildfires and having to compete with larger companies also doesn’t work well because you can’t match pay and benefits. And finally, if your owners are looking to retire, because of those reasons above, you’re highly unlikely to find another owner who can operate the same way with the same investments, and especially if it requires new investments.

What I’m especially interested to see now is how Micro trains in Vietnam does. If this goes well I suspect we will see more and more manufacturers move there as this Microtrains move expands the workforce from just doing injection molded kits to actually assembling freight cars.