MTH buys S helper, enters S scale model railroad market
MTH Electric Trains purchases S Helper S scale assets
Published:
May 22, 2012
MTH Electric Trains has purchased the tooling and production related assets of The Showcase Line and the S-Trax System previously produced by S Helper Service Inc. of Cliffwood, N.J. The sale includes designs, tooling, marketing and trademark assets related to all of S Helper's 1/64 model railroading products.
All in-stock inventory and the general business assets of the company will remain with S Helper Service.
“We are pleased that the S model railroading products of The Showcase Line and the S-Trax System will be continuing with a company whose standards of prototype accuracy, prototype detail, state-of-the-art technology and high quality are commensurate with the standards we had set for ourselves with the products we have delivered to S model railroaders,” said Michael Ferraro, president of S Helper Service.
Don Thompson, Vice-President of S Helper Service, said, “As Michael Ferraro and I approached retirement age, we sought alternatives for the continuation of the line of S scale model trains, track and accessories that we had developed over the last 20-plus years.” He added MTH’s resources, particularly in digital sound and train control technology, will elevate the models to a new level. “The infusion of features like synchronized puffing smoke, LED lighting, CD-quality sound, remote uncoupling and a host of unique operating functions will make S more exciting than ever before and that has been our hope for the products we created.”
S Helper Service was formed more than 20 years ago. Its Showcase Line of locomotives, rolling stock and model railroading accessories includes eight locomotives, 18 freight cars and a variety of accessories. The S-Trax System includes 13 sectional and flextrack components along with accessories. Additional products in The Showcase Line and S-Trax System were under development at the time of the sale.
MTH manufactures model railroading products in 3-rail O gauge, 2-rail O scale, HO, One gauge and O, as well as producing standard gauge tinplate reproductions. Its S scale products will be announced later this year for delivery in 2013.
Today, M.T.H.’s and its line of onboard Proto-Sound® digital sound and command control locomotive modules comprise a technology package considered the most versatile in all of model railroading. Proto-Sound 3.0, the latest onboard package found in all M.T.H. locomotives, will be incorporated into M.T.H. S Scale products in the 2013 product line which will be unveiled later in 2012. For more information visit www.mthtrains.com.
Read other MR Express articles.
|
