Hello All,
Len Carparelli here.
Unfortunately this 'Google' topic 'Len Carparelli Out of Business?' STILL comes up, and all too often, whenever model train enthusiasts 'internet-search' my name. Even though this post is over two years old, I always believe it's never to late to clarify, or to update out-of-date information.
For starters: NO, I'm not out of business, never was, just Google my website address with all my contact info. In fact, we recently purchased ELLIOT WELZ's restoration business, as Mr. Welz retired from painting last year. Elliot was kind and gracious enough to act as a temporary consultant and help us integrate his gear into our own restoration systems. Anyone who knows Elliot knows his work is absolutely exceptional, and we strongly feel that combining his equipment, paint, silkscreens and tooling into ours will only increase the quality of our product. Elliot recently sold his last restoration, a #763-E on E-Bay, and, like all his work, was flawless.
However, in 2014 my Mother passed away and we were forced to sell the house, where my shop was located. An incredibly difficult, emotional and time-consuming move, [I grew up in that house] along with a lot of legal hoopla resulted in my being unable to take and/or deliver orders in a more timely fashion than I would have liked, which unfortunately resulted in the incorrect rumor that I was 'Out of business'. The legal issues did not help, but happily, we've purchased a brand new 3,600 sq. ft., modern climate-controlled building in an rather large industrial complex, [no more humidity problems with paint drying] and set up a truly streamlined operation which has become much more modern and efficient.
Mom - and Dad - [who passed away in 2008] would have been proud.
Regarding the post from my good friend Bearlead, yes, we settled our transaction amicably , and he was very happy with his order. Mr. 'Bearlead' is without a doubt one of the nicest, kindest and most understanding people in the train business, and was very gracious about the problems with the long delay in his transaction. The situation with Mom passing, as well as the move to our new building exacerbated a lot of orders at the time, but we're running on full steam now. While I didn't see Bearlead at York this year, last time we spoke and had a wonderful conversation for over an hour.
Lastly, I would like to wish a very Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving to all my fellow model railroad enthusiasts and their families.
All the Best,
Len Carparelli
