This will by my third entry into the manufacturing of model trains, born out of a set of unexpected circumstances involving my real hobby, birds and parrots in particular. I needed a plastic injection-molding machine for a project for my birds, and to justify its expense revisited potential model railroad items I could make with the machine.

Coupled with my retirement and the fact that I was far better capitalized than the Denver years; the hobby had changed so much, I felt there were far more opportunities for making equipment than twenty years ago. I enjoy figuring out how to produce 50 of an item rather than build that same item for myself, scratch built once. It is a different type of modeling, I suppose.

After joining a few chat rooms, and talking with old as well as new friends via the old-fashioned but still used, telephone; I cemented the trend of this hobby in my mind as more serious 1:20 and a serious interest in 7/8" that is ready to absorb more products, providing they are serious and not toy-like. There appear to be three general areas of thrust that interest me. Industrial and Logging, the Maine 2' gauge railroads, and the Gilpin Tram.

In my opinion, Industrial/Logging says it all. What is needed is a line of detail such as cabs, earlier boilers, domes, air pumps, pipefittings, stacks, and so forth in the 7/8" scale. I plan to do all these. My first project will be Gilpin trucks and then the ore cars. I hope to have the trucks ready sometime in March 2002.

As it stands at this moment, I have en route or already here extensive woodworking machinery, lathes, mills, shears, rolling mill etc; a CNC mill; six plastic injection molding machines, a soft metal foundry and an investment brass casting system. This should allow me to produce nearly anything in house. It will be a few months before everything is in place and I am familiar with its operation.

In closing, I am willing to listen to suggestions; and, will carefully consider any suggestion made.

Meanwhile, give me a chance to get organized and into production. And if you still have small scale equipment lying around, sell it on eBay!