ESU Mobile Control Pro And Docking Station

ESU advertises their new Mobile Control Pro.

The Mobile Control Pro is ESU's latest answer to the question of how to combine the advantages of smartphone technology with the needs of model railway control. The Mobile Control Pro is essentially a compact Android-based tablet equipped with controls for controlling your locomotives and accessories. The connection to the digital command station is established exclusively wirelessly via Wi-Fi. A specially designed app by ESU can communicate directly with a variety of digital command stations. The Mobile Control Pro is therefore not limited to use with ESU command stations.

MC-Pro will not be available in the US until July. It replaces the MCII which is no longer in production. 

You can read about it here.

The Docking Station

The docking station is the perfect companion for your ESU Mobile Control II or Mobile Control Pro Wi-Fi radio throttle. The docking station fulfills two tasks: Firstly, it ensures safe storage of the throttle when it is not in use. Secondly, the controller can be charged directly in the docking station. No cables need to be connected: For charging, the docking station connects to the charging points provided on the underside of every Mobile Control II or Mobile Control Pro and charges the device.

The charging cradle does not have a US release date yet. 

Read about it here.

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Athearn's Response To Tariffs

 

Important Notice Regarding Upcoming Price Adjustments At Athearn, we value transparency and open communication with our customers. We’d like to inform you of an important update regarding our pricing structure. For over 20 years, Athearn has produced our Roundhouse, Athearn, and Genesis HO and N scale models at factories in China. During that time, we’ve faced increased costs from raw materials and shipping but have largely been able to absorb those expenses without significant changes to pricing. However, recent tariffs imposed on all imports from China have created new challenges. Unlike previous increases, these tariffs have had a substantial impact, and unfortunately, we are no longer able to absorb the added costs. Effective Monday, March 24th   we will implement a price increase to help offset the effects of these tariffs. This adjustment will apply to: All current open pre-orders Items in the April 2025 pre-order packet and beyond In-stock items shipping from Horizon Hobby We understand this may come as disappointing news, and this was not an easy decision. Our hope is that this is a temporary measure. Athearn and Horizon Hobby will continue to closely monitor the situation and make adjustments as necessary. We truly appreciate your continued support and understanding. -The Athearn Team <Author's Note> Here we go! If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it

From Walthers: Important Notice About Tariffs

Dear Valued Customer:

As you may be aware, the recent tariff changes are affecting many products within our hobby. While we've worked diligently to absorb as much of the impact as possible, some of these increased costs were incorporated into our pricing going forward. Rest assured, all backorders and advanced reservations placed before this date will be honored at the original price. Our commitment to maintaining high quality and offering great value remains unchanged, and we truly appreciate your understanding and continued support as we navigate these challenges together. Thank you for being an important part of our hobby community!

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Bob The Train Guy's Last Weekend! Updated 2025-03-24

Bob the Train Guy is finally calling it quits!

From Bob:

 

Store will close in a day or so!

 

The new owner is taking the last truckload of inventory today!

 

A very sad day for me!

 

The new owner will be in contact with all of you. I assured him most of my customers are real model railroaders with a lot of patience!

 

I would like to Thank the thousands of valued customers who have bought from me! My current health status is slightly better but I will never be able to hit it like I did in the past. I cannot do many shows due to my balance and overall strength.

 

Please contact me if you need your order in a timely manner, I will try to move your order to the top. I will continue to be around and will honor and special orders and reservations. Please review the website and see you find something you would like to get while still in stock!

 

The inventory is being shipped out shortly. Please order anything NOW if you want it!

Bob's inventory is moving to A and S Trains

A and S Trains

It's a shame to see him go as this author has bought quite a bit of merchandise from him in the past. At least his inventory was bought out and will, hopefully, continue to be available to the Model Railroad community.

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Some History On Atlas HO Turnouts

A poster named "Sheldon" on the Trains.com Forum has given an outstanding summary history of Atlas turnouts entitled "Some history on Atlas HO turnouts". 

It is a summary and comparison of both Code 83 and Code 100 turnouts and the reasons that Code 100 has lagged somewhat behind Code 83 in quality until recently. 

It is located here and is very much worth the read.

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