I know model train catalog season is upon us, with Lionel, Bachmann, and other model train manufactures getting ready to release their 2026 catalogs, but in the meantime why don't we go down memory lane and see what MTH was up to with their 2009 volume 1 and 2 catalog.
Volume 1:
The rail king (aka traditional O gauge) section started off promising with a 4-6-4 royal Hudson being offered, with the promise of passenger cars as well.
The good news: MTH did do the 2-8-8-8-2 triplex in traditional O gauge. The bad? It still needs a bigger curve then 31. Honestly I'm just impressed that MTH even tried this to begin with. For those who don't know, the Triplex is a pretty long steam engine. The fact that MTH was able to at least shrink it down to fit a 42 curve is impressive and great for those who don't have room for the o gauge version which takes a 72 radius curve.
I can't help but fall in love with MTH's Southern Pacific Rail king. It looks great, and the passenger cars it and it's Freedom Train scheme come with look amazing.
Therapist: Rolling Rock switcher isn't real, it can't hurt you.
The milky way, snickers, and 3 musketeers hopper cars are much appreciated. With the exception of Lionel it just doesn't seem like we're getting as many candy based cars as we used too, and I'm sorry but even if it is just an advertisement to convince us to buy those sweets and treats that will rot our teeth's out, I'd love to see them make somewhat of a comeback.
The 3 car fright sets are pretty nice. Sure, most of them are for companies like rolling rock and 7-up, but I do like the idea of a 3 car pack with a box car, gondola, and tank car.
Love the Harley Davis streamline cars by the way MTH.
O scale has it's decent selection of steam trains as well. The 4-8-2 Mohawk being one of them.
The Yellowstone 2-8-8-4 is a favorite of mine in the "big steam engines" category and MTH really did it justice here.
The Russian Decapod is anther favorite steam engine of mine. In spite of how short the engine is, it takes a 72 radius curve.
MTH offered a twin stack fright set for Union Pacific and Florida East Coast, and I'm sorry but if they really were selling those sets for $699 back then, that is an absolute steal.
Our friends over at Lionel would sell this same set for at least $1000.
I have a soft spot for the wooden passenger cars in general, and was glad to see MTH offering them in this catalog, alongside one that's for Strasburg Railroad. Either I'm looking in the wrong places, or Strasburg just isn't that represented in the world of model trains.
Rounding out volume 1 is some buildings for scenery, and though it's not much, I do appreciate what MTH offered. I also do really love the operating transfer dock.
Volume 2:
One thing I will highlight about the railking section of MTH's volume 2 catalog were some of the sets they were offering. Some of these sets look really nice and are something I wish Lionel would offer as traditional O gauge sets (though I know the price for them would be expensive.
I also wanted to point out that MTH had made the George H.W Bush train for their railking line as well. I mentioned way back in my MTH HO scale catalog that I thought it was nice that MTH made a funeral train for that scale as they had done so for O.
One final set from MTH to mention was the Areotrain set. I don't really have anything to add outside of "this is nice" and "I wish someone would make this in traditional O gauge". Forgive me for yet anther petty shot at Lionel in this blog, but it would be nice if they toned down the "Halloween and Disney" trains a bit to give us train sets like we see in this catalog.
European trains showing up in these catalogs is a running theme I don't mind. The 2-3-1E Chapelon Pacific looks great (even if the cab drivers look a little off) and the Duchess class are two engines I hope those who wanted to model European got.
No. 999 Empire State Express was a nice surprise. I do have a soft spot for older steam engines, and clearly MTH does as well as they put a lot of detail into this train.
The 3GS 21B Genset diesels were a new offer for this catalog.
Like in the railking section, MTH offered some train sets for their O scale premier line, and I really do like some of these sets and wish I had the money and space to get them. To Lionel's credit they do something similar in their own modern day catalogs where they offer big boy (not referring to the steam engine, referring to the boxes and packaging they come in) sets for O scale.
Final thoughts:
Part of the reason why I can't quite get over MTH going away is because I like how much of an alternative they were to Lionel. The company really tried and succeeded in bringing their "A" game to keep up with Lionel, and I think they did better then them in some cases.
A part of me kind of wishes MTH had just stuck to O gauge or at the very least O and HO. Yes MTH, I did like seeing the One gauge stuff you had to offer and even some of the standard gauge stuff as well, but I can't help but wonder if over expanding into other scale markets is what killed you in the long run.
It's easier said then done to work on multiple scales as a company, and even Bachmann seems to struggle with that with their bread and butter clearly being HO and N while G and O fall to the wayside (at least before they started making more modern trains for G).
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