While I was sojourning in north Texas six years or so ago an elderly fellow
showed up at one of Brady Maguire's O scale get-togethers with a Ma&Pa4-4-0
which he'd bought from the Hill Country operation. He couldn't get it to run,
so I offered to see what I could do with it. The superstructurewas not
entirely awful, although well below what we commonly expect from either imports
or top-quality custom builders; the drive was appalling:very small Sagami can
which would just about move the locomotive and tender on a flat right of way,
poor electrical contact. I was able to do a fewimprovements ("first do no
harm") for him, but unhappily no silk purse.I suspect the majority of such
failed operations are not deliberate scams, at least when they start out, but
well-intentioned and ill-conceived (and usuallyunderfunded) dreams. When the
operator finds he is in over his head he has mostly spent the deposits and
still cannot deliver. A good thirty years agoI invested in Bill Jensen's
Two-Foot Cyclopedia; another case of big plans and not enough planning.
Happily I did get a full refund eventually. It did makeme more cautious.The
post from John about Omnicon gives me pause; from what I've been reading in
past issues of the journals, apparently the owner brought the MP 2-8-0and the
Erie 4-6-0 to market at some financial sacrifice to himself but was planning
additional imports when he died unexpectedly. If I understand what
happenednext, some other S scalers came to his wife and offered financial
support to complete at least the PRR I1 (the "Group of 100"--which suggests to
me that a hundredof the Hippos were produced). Since that seemed to succeed,
other projects were initiated--which must be what John alludes to. I'm not
sure I had heard thatthere was embezzlement involved at that point.
Jace Kahn
General Manager
Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.
300 in 1976 would be 1255 and 27 cents today. YOW.
So sorry to hear about all the woes you all are having.
Mike
Ever hear of Hill Country Train Shop, New Braunfels, TX? That one cost me
$300 in 1976 dollars! At least that debacle made the pages of MR! I think Jan
Lorenzen (Locomotive Workshop) went to the bankruptcy auction to buy nickel
silver bar stock...
You're right George - there is a real feeling of
family with the charlatans' of our past!! <G>
Jim
--- In mailto:S-Scale%40yahoogroups.com,
"gsc3" <gsc3@...> wrote:
>
> One good thing about these kind
of posts is I don't feel alone. (8-)
>
> George Courtne
>
> --- In mailto:S-Scale%40yahoogroups.com,
"John" <armstong5717@> wrote:
> >
> > Where is my
$865.00 that Omnicon still owes me for a Pennsy J. ?
> > Heard they
skipped to Mexico!
> > John Armstrong
> > ----- Original
Message -----
> > From: Alex Binkley
> > To: mailto:S-Scale%40yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 4:43 PM
> > Subject:
Re: {S-Scale List} Status of Kaslo Budd Passenger car kits
> >
>
>
> >
> > 
> >
> > Good point
John, but thinking about things like that just speeds up insanity. I've made
worse investments.
> > cheers___
