I just got off the phone with Ron Sebastian of S Scale America, the supplier for the 2010 NASG National Convention Car. Ron has received back most of the tooling and some unassembled small plastic parts from Sanda Kan, the Chinese builder originally contracted to build, assemble and paint the car. As most of you are aware, Sanda Kan pulled the plug on many model railroad manufacturers choosing to work only with a small subset of the larger companies. With tooling received back, Ron had a sample of the box car body, including the Creco door, created here in the USA. Unfortunately, the tooling for the base of the car, including the underbody detail, had not been created. Ron then contracted a USA firm to do the tooling for the base. Ron received the first pass base sample and it was found to be the wrong size (too long). Hopefully, a new corrected sample will be available in the next couple of months. The trucks and couplers are the final pieces that will establish when we can finally begin to ship the convention cars. Sanda Kan has been unable to locate the tooling for the AF compatible knuckle couplers. The small parts received back included un-assembled wheel sets (no axles) and some parts for the trucks. So I am still unable to set a date for when you, who paid for these convention cars, can expect to receive your shipment. Please note that the Pines and Prairies S Scale Workshop still guarantees that you will receive either your car(s) or your money back.
Thank you for your patience with this very long wait. Walt Jopke
