Hey if this has been done before, my apologies, but on the lighter side of things...for those new to the hobby: a pronunciation guide for the various manufacturers. Sometimes I hear new folks mispronounce a name and then sometimes unfortunately the longtimers will snicker a little so......
Let's start with Athearn. We're not all little Fonzies, it's not Aaaaaythearn. No long "A." It's not AT-hern. Or Athrin. Or my personal fave, Atheerion (rhymes with that show car "mysterion") The "ath" is pronounced like the ath in "math." When I first got this store one of my distributor reps told me how every once in awhile he got to have lunch with Irv Athearn. He said that Irv pronounced his last name [like it would rhyme with math-urn] and so if that's how Irv pronounced it, then that was good enough for him as to the proper way to pronounce it!
Bachmann: not Batchman. Bachmann ryhmes with rockman.
Same with Kalmbach: it's not Kalmbatch. Kalm-bock
Preiser: I've heard Preezer (close to Weezer for you youngsters) and Presser but most folks say Pry-zer.
Kibri: Heard Kih-bree and Kirby but most folks say Kee-bree.
Kato: ah, another story. I'd always heard "Kay-toe" then I started to hear "Kah-toe" and one day I found myself at a trade show in the Kato booth. A Japanese gentleman approached me and asked if I had a question. And sure enough I did. While asking the question, I realized while I was talking that eventually I was gonna have to say the name of the company! I didn't want to be rude and mispronounce the name...couldn't think of a way to get out of it so I just stopped and said "I'm sorry...is it "Kay-toe" or "Kah-toe?" He looked at me sternly and said in a serious tone: "It's KAH-toe." But then I called Schaumburg for parts one day and the girl answered the phone "Kay-toe USA" so go figure.
Walthers: make sure the "h" gets in there. It's not "Walters"...then again it's not Walt-Hers either.
Peco: Most folks say "Pee-koe" some say "Pay-koe"....I'm really not sure about this one myself...anyone know for sure?
Kadee: It's not "caddy" but Kay-dee...but it's not spelled Kaydee.
Marklin: A dude from Germany came in one day and asked if I had any McClean. "What???" McLean. "I'm sorry, WHAT?" Maaaiiiirrrrr-klin. You Americans pronounce it MARK-LYNN. "Oh."
Jaeger: It's yay-ger.
Mantua: "Man-two-uh" not Man-i-two...that's in Colorado.
Noch: I believe it's long "o" KNOWk. I've also heard "notch" and "knowtch"....not sure on this one either. "Knock?"
Paasche: most folks say "puh-shay"...but it's not pash.
Rivarossi: OK I'm only putting this one in because one day I heard "River-uh-ChaChi"...that was not correctomundo.
Roco: long "o"s....rhymes with loco. Roco "rock-oh" was in the Godfather.
Hope that helps any of the new folks some. As you can see, after all the years I've been in the hobby I'm still not sure about some of these. Just having a little fun on a Sunday afternoon. Class dismissed.
