David, I am looking forward to seeing what your new layout will be and following its progress! Yours, Joh
David, As John mentioned, we are all going to be following with great interest your next creation. It will be wonderful I'm sure. In time, the pain of the past experience with UPS will diminish and it will fade into memory, only to be replaced by something much better......that we can count on.
This is a tragic loss of a great piece of art. I hope you get some seed money to build a new layout from the insurance. I was looking at the photos of the damage on the James River Site. Even in its current state, it is a far better layout than any that I will ever produce. A true testament to the original craftsmanship. I am currently looking through the track plans on the James River site for planing my next layout. Your sites are a wealth of information for anyone interested in modeling Thank you for everything you do to promote the hobby.
David, please tell me that the magnificent barber pole building will make the transition to the new layout.... I'm still in awe of that design.
Probably my biggest concern is that David's tiny working train in the Z scale window display finds a new and worthy home to show off. the engineering is incredible. This is all so sad.
David I was indeed lucky to see this layout in Denver and you were so gracious to remove the cover to let me take photos. This is just terrible news. If I have anything this valuble, I will not trust UPS to ship it. Better to buy an extra seat on the airplane and strap it next to me. I'm so glad you have done extensive documentation on your website. Terl
This brings back an old memory. One of my cohorts was carrying a legal tire -- i.e. a tire involved in a lawsuit. It was way too valuable to ship so he bought a first class ticket for both the tire and himself. This was in the days of free drinks. When the stewardess came by he told her what HE wanted to drink and said "My friend will have the same also". At first she protested, but heck the tire was a full fare passenger -- so he won. ...don
Hal an I are sad because the train James river branch was so damage. I never get to see the James River but have talked about how good it look in pictures with my partner. We will be soon legally marry in a State that allows our union. My grandson Hal will be my best man and Hal is going to bring a breefcase layout to our ceremony. It will be simple layout but the train running on it will have a flat car and on it will be two Z scale men and a tiny Z scale wedding cake. The reason I post this on this thread is because my partner's name is James an that remind me of James River.
David, so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I do hope you will keep the JRB website alive for all of us to enjoy and as an endless source of inspiration and tips and instructions. Best of luck with the new Z venture! Matt
Hello everyone, and thank you so much for all of the heartfelt good wishes. It has indeed been a difficult couple of weeks, but things are improving. I invite you all to a revised website featuring a new project. Please note that all of the original content will remain intact. Also be sure to hit Refresh to see the new content. http://jamesriverbranch.net/
Hey David, It's sad how such an art piece is handled by UPS. Have you heard anything from them yet? Robbert
I had a roughly two-hour shouting match with UPS. Bottom line: the tracking number on the original waybill, which indicates the insurance coverage and special handling instructions, does not exist in their system. Evidently, at some point after leaving the hotel, a new waybill was created to replace it, one that had no insurance coverage or special handling instructions. Naturally, UPS cannot explain who created the new waybill or why; however, because the new waybill was the one used to control and track the shipment, it meant that the layout had no (zero) insurance. Clearly UPS did something very, very wrong here, but it would take someone with very, very deep pockets to find a lawyer with the strength and guts to tackle UPS, which itself is armed with enough legal power to conquer a small country. It was plainly evident I wasn't going to get anywhere with this case. The most I could hope to expect out of them was "I'm sorry" from some nameless administrator with no clue as to what the loss truly represented. And even if there was the slightest hope of mounting an offensive, it would have meant leaving the layout as it was in its crate for months, or possibly even surrender it to UPS, for whatever good that might have served. If it had actually been insured, as I had instructed, I might have had a slim chance of getting somewhere, but by whatever means they had at their disposal--legal or otherwise--UPS made sure they would not be shipping anything of substantial value for the likes of me. Once it became clear there was no hope whatsoever, I salvaged what I could from the layout, then quickly and utterly destroyed it--in a matter of about twenty minutes, it was reduced to a small box of salvaged items, and one trash bag to deposit at the curb. And so the JRB is no more. You can read more details on the blog: http://1-220.blogspot.com/2012/06/cowardice.html and http://1-220.blogspot.com/2012/06/it-was-over-quickly.html
Wow. I can only view this as UPS being either completely inept or simply downright crooked. From my past experiences with them, I never send anything out via that company and discourage people who wish to ship to me, from using that venue.
All the best David. Your work is about the best out there. You have helped and motivated me, and I can only hope you continue what you do. I am not worried about the layout, because I know a perfectionist like yourself will only make it better. Take care friend.
It sounds to me like the hotel screwed up and didn't follow your directions. I've never had these kinds of problems with anything I've shipped or received via UPS in the 40 years I've been involved in shipping & receiving. I'm still sorry for your loss, though.
Feel for you David, had the same thing happen to me with Greyhound. My head man in Oklahoma had just replaced the valves in my Race car head. When I got it back they somehow had bent all the studs and broke one off plus had a 2 inch long dent in the mating surface that was so deep you could not surface it that much, So a 5 grand head junked they offered 35 bucks said not their fault not packed good enough lol. See you in Medford rich
