BN 50' Boxcars

I have been in this hobby for a long time and have seen more small manufacturers stop production that you can even imagine. There is often a progression of want and demand that will take a modeler from doing work for own self gratification to attempting to setup shop for others. The thought of a little profit and doing what you love can be very enticing, but the reality often ends far short of expectations. Very few will be able to make the crossing successfully. Many who don't will leave the scale with resentment. Those who survive often face a decision to be a manufacturer or hobbiest. It can be a fine line the no one wins. Too many people today don't trust those in business today and always assume that there is an angle for every dead that is done. Criticism is at every turn. It can take a passion that you love and turn it sour very quickly.

The fact is, the far, far majority of us are trust worthy good people. Our intentions are very pure and we want to help expand, share and grow the scale. I absolutely love seeing what this community is doing, both for ourselves, or for others. The work is absolutely stunning. But we can't be naive. There is a long list of those out there that have truly cheated, and stole from us. I have been tracking these names for years and always watch for their reappearance.

It is easy to get caught up in the moment and as this scale grows, it presents itself with more opportunities for folks to come in, take the money and run. We all need to be a bit cautious. Be careful of those relative new comers who promise the world. There is a good chance they won't deliver. Don't prepay or only prepay enough to cover materials. I think this is fair. But as always, trust your instincts. Watch for 'vaporware'. If they can't show you a finished product, don't assume it can be done. Also if a service is being performed such as loco maintenance, only send one or two locos, not you whole collection. Keep it safe. One more tip, make sure all items being sent too and from are insured. Many are rolling their eyes since we don't want to pay the few extra dollars to ship, but it is very easy for a dishonest person to say it is lost in the mail. I know of quite a few individuals and manufacturers that have lost thousands in this type of fraud alone.

As for Ztrack, we also have been burned and have setup policies to try and protect our readers. First, we love to support new manufacturers. We will not run announcements until we have samples in hand. We feel that this is a safeguard that items are coming. If we receive reports of questionable activities, we will look into it and not work with these individuals/companies. There is currently one small manufacturer that we will not deal with since they owe individuals money. We have even contacted this manufacturer and discussed the matter, but they have not made good at this point. On the other hand, we are willing to give folks a 2nd chance and if these companies or individuals make good or try, then so will we.

All of us can fall into hard times, especially in these times. But we need to be safe and prudent. We would love to trust all, but reality can be very different. Open communication between parties will help to alleviate concerns, but once that communication stops, it is time to be concerned. Just watch your self my friends. I don't want to see any of you leave this scale because you were cheated or abused.

Rob

 

Very well said Rob. Amen

 

Hi,

I'd like to follow up here. I have not finished the cars for one reason. I don't have a shop to finish them up in. I lost my shop helping out a friend who lost his home. I then took a few months off relocating to Washington. Right now I don't have a place to spray or clear coat anything. Sure I would love to finish up the cars, but I'd also like to have food on the table next week. Once things get rolling I'd love to finish this project up and many others. As you can see I don't even have time to check the boards all but once a month.

I'm pretty sure everyone who paid me money has their money back. If not, send me an e-mail, but my records show nothing due. Most of the money Jurg was talking about was to buy some SD70Ms to detail up and weather along with the Boxcars. Thus the preorder was needed. I hope I did not loose anyones trust as I'll be back soon... one day.

If you have an issue you would like to disscuse, simply e-mail me.

 

Good to hear from you Eddie. Sorry about all the losses though. Many others out there too. I am sure though that we will see your creative side soon enough.

Drop us a note once a month . . .
.

 

Hello Eddie! How are you? We haven't seen you around these parts for a long time. I'm wondering if your situation has improved. I hope so. I've sent you a message through feeBay and here. Please contact me. Thank you, Alex

 

Ztrack had one of these for sale and I picked it up. Nice details and decaling on it. I can post a picture if anyone wants to see it.

 

Don't have a picture of mine, but here is the same car from this thread:

 

Picture of my car:



Not the same detail. Original door, different car number and no extra details on the car end. Looks nice anyway.

 

Well, I know most of you don't give a crap, but a few of you still do, so with that said....

NEWS!

Yes, NEWS! I'll be collecting the rest of my Z scale cars and parts from Califorina next month. It will be my first time back to the state since I left in Jan.

I know I still need to send a few things out. I think I have 3 or 4 things to send John. Sorry buddy. I'll be sending you something extra for the wait.

I also think, Jeff still has a few cars that belong to me... do you still have those?

I'll be colleting the BN decals I forgot as well.

What does this all mean? It means I've gotten back to a place and time where I can have fun and build models again.

Heck now that my woman left me I have the entire garage to build a large layout maybe? Also I'm not stuck paying for her car and food bills every week. The upside of ending a 5 year relationship.

I have a spray booth and desk to get back to the quality of work I had before. I just couldn't punch these guys out and have them look like crap. I still can't find my desk light I loved so much...

I also hope to start visiting this site again. I hope we can keep the problems in the past as well. I want to get my trust back.

The Pacific Northwest has treated me well so far. I don't know if there are any Z scale layouts this way? I know one or two of you are from here?

Anyways, this is Eddie saying "Hi guys, don't hang me please" :tb-biggrin:

 

duplicate post

 

Good to hear from you Eddie. You are welcome back to the fold as far as I'm concerned. It is good you have your problems behind you (correct?) and can do Z again.
Wow, to be able to do a large garage layout would be cool!
If you wanted to make a Z Bend module and join those Bayz Boyz guys would be cool too. They need more people with modules to try and keep up with our ZoCal gang

And NTS is 11 months away!
Take care.

 

Eddie !!! Yes I have your FR Maxi's. I sent an email via TB.

We will be showing Sept 17-19 in Santa Rosa at the Redwood Empire Train show (Somona County Fair Grounds, The "Home Show", Santa Rosa city)

Cascade Z scalers have ~30 modules:
http://www.tomgtomg.com/z/
.

 

Group transposition

There seems to be a bit of confusion about two Pacific Northwest groups. The address above is correct, but for Northwest Pacific Z Scalers (NWPZS) - we are Seattle-area based. Cascade Z Modelers' (CZM) home is the Portland, OR area: groups.yahoo.com/group/C_Z_M . There is plenty of sharing and intermingling between the groups (I have made a habit of showing up for the Portland-area GTE the past several times, for instance). As residents of either municipality would be quick to point out, Seattle and Portland are not the same! :tb-wink:

 

Thanks for the links guys.

I think for now I'll just build what I can in the garage. I will be able to move the entire layout outside for photos, but there is no way I could get it out to a different location with it's size.


Jeff, I also believe there are some hoppers as well. I'll e-mail you my new address. Thanks!

David, I went the other way... Socal is pretty far from Washington. Sorry. :tb-wink:

 

Eddie,
You show as being from "North California" and not from Oregon or Washington states. So I thought you were maybe close to the Bay area for the Baz Boyz to maybe play with. If you are nearer Oregon, Medford is just across the border and you could do stuff with Loren and Joe. I knew you were too far from the ZoCal area.
But still... you could build a Z Bend module for NTS. Hmmmmm.....????

 

Thanks for the heads up. It should be fixed now and showing the Washington flag.

Where is NTS next year or 2012?

 

Sacramento July 2011. Z Bend module 2' wide by 3' long - easy to transport.