The ten-year licensing arrangement between Lionel and MTH for the production of Lionel Corp. branded toys expires in 2019, and MTH has announced that their production of those will end. See here:
https://mthtrains.com/news/618AI suspect sales of reproduction tinplate have fallen to levels where it's no longer economically viable to produce it
and pay Lionel its licensing fee. If production continues, it will most likely be branded "MTH Lines" as it was in the past. That's actually fine with me, because that's what it is. It would be great if MTH could muster up the where-with-all to produce some unique stuff, i.e. a 600E (4-6-4), or a tin SW-2 or something, but I suspect the economics of creating new tooling has passed.
Life goes on...
Healey