WEAVER MODELS is CLOSING

Sad very sad. Picked up a weathered steam engine from Weaver at this last York.  Most of my rolling stock purchases over the past year have been from Weaver.

Wow, I remember when they started. Always had good stuff and made in U.S.A. Makes you wonder..........

sure do like there cars...... Joe Thank You and enjoy you retirement.... you will be missed....

Just wanted to say Thank You! to Joe H. and his employees for all the great stuff I have purchased form them over the years!

 

Best Wishes,

Simon

Joe gave the SDMRR Museum a locomotive - it is still running.  MTH and Atlas give the museum gears, and we thank them for their generosity.  As far as I know, the only donation of a complete locomotive to our local museum O Scale layout was from Joe/Weaver.  My thanks to Joe, and indeed to all who help.

Congratulations on your retirement. 

Brasseur Electric Trains & P & D Hobby Shop are my local dealers, 

for Weaver Models

Your Logo says it all...........

Wow! Always wanted that Conrail bicentennial GP 38. So goes the story of  my life... A day late and a dollar short. Lots of great stuff they put out. I will miss them dearly.

I don't have a lot of Weaver items in my collection, but the stuff I do own I really like.

 

I remember when OGR did an article on Bob's home layout.  Amazing.

 

Thanks for all the great products and service!  Enjoy retirement!

I've only been in the hobby since 2003, but have acquired a lot of Weaver products. Thank you for the trip, it's been wonderful.  Here are some of Weaver's products, my layout.

Baldwin Pennsy BP20

 

Alco C630's

 

Canadian Pacific Hudson.

 

Pennsy E-8's

 

Grand Canyon #29

 

GP38-2.

 

RS-3

 

Pennsy C1 0-8-0

 

Pennsy M1a/b 4-8-2  I believe one of their first brass offerings.

 

Pennsy H10  2-8-0

 

Pennsy L1s Mikado

 

U25b

 

Alco RSD 12

 

Pennsy G5 4-6-0

 

Pennsy A5 0-4-0

 

It's been a wonderful experience.  There is also a lot of Weaver rolling stock, coal cars and accessory parts. 

Thank you,

Michael C. Thompson

 

 

 

Well, I just kept telling myself that this must be a nasty rumor! Weaver is well represented in my rolling stock. I have more Weaver PS-1's than any other single type of car. There are a bunch of Woodsided reefers in my beer train collection.

 

Thank you for the numerous cars that no one else offered. I especially appreciate the troop sleepers, drop end gondolas, B&O Wagon-tops and the Milwaukee Road cars.

 

I only have one Weaver locomotive; the N&W 4-6-2 Pacific. I kept hoping there would be another run of the 2-8-0's. I'm really sorry I missed getting one.

 

All the best in retirement. You will be sorely missed.

The OGR tours of the Weaver facility and operations were really great. We got to see the actual operation of producing rolling stock. Always sad to see the demise of a manufacture of O Gauge products. K-Line and now Weaver, not many left.

 

   Bill T

The closing-up-shop part of this news is very sad indeed.  Of course the retirement part of the story, if that is indeed the reason, is very happy news for Joe!

I'm really going to miss these guys.  Hopefully all their tooling/molds will be purchased by someone (or some companies) who will continue Weaver's terrific line of products!  Best of luck to all their employees, too!

I will also miss Weaver.  I guess I will have to be content with looking for more of their stuff at train shows.

 

I am glad that they produced such a variety of stuff that no one else was willing to do, and I am glad I managed to get on the last, or one of the last, OGR York tours to Weaver.  Great memories!

 

My thanks go out to all of Weaver's employees, and my best wishes for Joe in his retirement.

 

I may have to make the drive out on the 29th for one last visit.

 

Andy

Darned shame!  I always respected their attempt at real scale products.

 

What will happen to their ScaleCoat line of paints?

Joe Hayter and his employees were first class all the way. They were always there when I needed them. They made me fill like they really appreciated my business.
They were never to busy to talk to you. I will always grateful for what they did for me.

Thanks Joe to you and your employees.  

Gentlemen,

    Joe Hayter I wish you all the best in your retirement, and thanks for making my Masonic Train years ago.  I will miss your American made products very very much.  I hate seeing another Pa company coming to an end however.  Hope all your employees will be ok also, great people every one of them.

PCRR/Dave

Wonder what will become of their tooling?

I had been hoping for a reissue of the GTW U4B

Joe 

I am saddened.......I wish Joe a great retirement......however, we have lost a valuable niche. I hope someone picks up the name and the tradition......

 

Peter

First class people and I wish them the bast. I started buying Weaver streamlined steam engines in the late 1990's, and have several. Joe was always great to talk to and deal with, and Gary provided great service (which was rarely needed). I went through their facility a couple of times and everyone was always very nice.

 

Best to you,

   Gerry

 

Sad day for the hobby. 

Thanks for the great products!!

I'll miss ya!

 

Closing is sad news for a Top-Notch producer of "O" scale items. But have to ask, seems no one has, or missed it, WHY?

When I took my name off my consulting business, and made my final commitment to retire, I sought out and sold it.

Weaver was a successful company, a name recognized and known for quality merchandise and to not pass it on is a shame.

Congratulations on retiring, Joe! I've never had bad products from Weaver and will always treasure them.  

Sad day. I'm glad to see the reason is retirement and not a money thing. Maybe Menards will buy the tooling and expand their offerings... 

I have some of the First Engines Weaver made. AND they are still running!!

 

Fred

I'm wondering if he tried to sell the business first???  Hope somehow there's a last minute deal where Weaver will go on.   Hot Water ask about the paints, what about the employees?

Probably a pretty dumb question, but,

 

No offers to buy the company?

Sad to see them go, I hope someone picks up at least some of the product line and continues with it.  I have a number of their brass locomotives, they were always a good deal.

 

I hope this doesn't point the way to how US manufacturing is going to go, Weaver was one of the few that made their stuff here.

 

Dang!!  First K-Line and now Weaver...more and more mediocrity and the same recycling of a few expensive tunnel-visioned prototypes.  Wonder if the company was

offered for sale?  Competition breeds innovation and selection.  Not anxious to experience less, but MORE!  Bad news.  Fewer choices are not desired.

Should have sold the company to the workers. We need more companies not less.

My top Weaver favorite. Its little 2-8-0 decorated for the A&Y Ry. Thanks and happy retirement Joe.

Number two favorite is the Southern streamlined 4-6- 2#1380---"The Tennessean".

 

 

I got to tour the plant in Northumberland a few years ago.  The staff and workers were there to answer any questions we had.  Great operation and it was only 40 miles from where I live.  Gonna miss them, but hope they have a happy retirement.

Oh wow! Not good! I'm happy for Joe, but sad we are losing a great source for O Scale.

I still run my Weaver FAs. RS-3s, GP-38s, E-8s, and every brass PRR steamer they offered! I hope their dies are purchased by someone....Bowser in Montoursville, PA, perhaps? 

 

For the money, I believe Weaver rolling stock was tops for an operator. Just my humble opinion....Best Wishes to Joe and to Gary....the best repairman...ever!

like others have posted, seems the business could have been offered for sale or employee buyout.its hard to believe no one in the weaver/hayter family couldnt carry on the company.-jim

Enjoy your retirement Joe. You have earned it from the years you have made our hobby better. I will very much miss buying made in the USA. But when I looked back at all the stuff I have bought from Weaver over the years it was worth it. Now I will have many more years to enjoy it thanks to you. You now have the time to kick off your shoes, relax, vacation and enjoy family.....................Paul

Weaver was one of the key factors that influenced my return to this hobby in the early 1990's, during this period I went to the Dupage Train Shop in Wheaton,Il. During my first visit to this train shop I saw a highly detailed mill gondola car in a plain white box, asked the dealer who made these,they were the Roco Atlas cars, he also had the Roco boxcars and stock cars,I bought what he had available. He also had numerous cars built by a company named Weaver in black boxes, I never saw their cars before. Subsequently, I opened two bay and three bay ribbed and straight side coal cars and liked the detailing and graphics and purchased a few.

 

This initial purchase started my continued purchases of Weaver coal cars,boxcars, flat cars, stock cars, covered hopper car and recently the TOFC flat cars. The other selling point of Weaver to me, the cars were "O" Scale with 3-Rail Bettendorf side bearing trucks and couplers. Fast forward to today, the vast majority of my freight cars are Weaver, the remaining freight cars are AtlasO, Intermountain and Red Caboose which include the cars listed above and tank cars(Intermountain & Red Caboose) and the origional K-Line tank cars from the 1990's close which were close to scale size. All of the kit (Intermountain & Red Caboose) cars and Roco cars are equipped with the Weaver 3-Rail Bettendorf trucks.

 

Gary, a former employee at Weaver, always was a great contact person with questions over the years we had numerous discussions.

 

 

I know the LCCA and maybe other clubs would purchase Lionel product then have Weaver paint it for specific club offerings. Weaver also had a lower minimum quanity to produce exclusive offerings for the RR clubs. One less service now available for the train clubs.

 

    Bill T

My very best wishes for all those who have worked at Weaver all these years, giving us such great products and often unique ones too.

 

Weaver was some of my very first rolling stock, I appreciate their commitment to quality and being made in PA.

 

Good luck to you all!

 

Best,

Jason

A sad day for sure . . . . 

 

Decades ago there were lots of automobile companies but the inexorable march of markets and economics has reduced us to what we have today. Sadly, it seems model railroad manufacturers may be forced to concede the only path is what is dictated by the markets.

 

S**t

Like others it's sad to see Weaver go out of business. I have a few of their custom run beer cars and a couple other freight cars, maybe 11 in all. Don't have any engines as I wan not sure how Weaver trains performed.

 

Lee Fritz

Hope they can stick around under new ownership maybe?   Great resource for short line, small RR names that that MTH and Lionel would typically not do based on demand.   Sad to see them go.

 

Glad for his retirement,  well deserved..............

 

Mark

Its ashame, hopefully it gets purchased and continued

Oof!  A blow to the hobby's gut, for sure.

 

Joe...you deserve every restful...or exciting?...moment the Good Lord affords you in retirement!  Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.  Your employees are/were the best of this American industry, and I hope for them a safe 'landing' throughout this change.

 

The future of Weaver's products/legacy?  Why would anyone presume that someone as caring and astute in this business as Joe isn't working to find good and future 'homes' for the assets?  Of course they have value...to all of us.  He knows that. 

 

When Gary announced that he was leaving Weaver to pursue other passions/ambitions, I suspected that something more was afoot.  The demographics (read:aging) of our hobby and its iconic personnel/contributors has been well understood.  When a company is defined so much by the person at the helm or key personnel on the staff, and he/she/they yearn for the same long, healthy retirement that we all aspire to, these transitions/conclusions are bound to occur.  C'est la vie.

 

Finding a younger passionate soul to carry on a business of this sort for another 40 years in today's economic/market climate???....not easy.  And, not the stuff to be openly discussed and bandied about in a forum such as this, IMHO. 

 

About 6 months ago I came across the last of Weaver's past engines that had been on my wish list.  Although yet sealed in its original box, never having been run for the first time, it had a problem (old, dried gear lubricant and a funky board).  After a couple phone calls with Gary, and a 10-day round trip for the model to Weaver, it was as good as new...for a minimal charge.  I love everyone of my Weaver products.  I'm fortunate to have them all.

 

Joe Hayter... 

 

...stay healthy and happy, my friend!!

 

 

D

 

I wish the very best for the entire Weaver crew.

 

I loved dealing with you folks.

 

Please keep me in mind if you ever decide to sell that Consolidation. No rush....

visited these good folks on a couple of the o gage yearly trips. Good people and more. I wish you all the very,very best.

Good folks and Grade "A" service.  They will be missed.  Best of luck to all the employees.

This is for sure going to be a loss so hopefully the name and products will continue on in some manner or fashion.  The Weaver team, both past and current have always been leaders in the industry and supportive of the hobby.  We at OGR have been honored to have them aboard as advertisers and will miss them greatly.

 

On a personal note, when I caught the "scale bug" I snapped up hundreds of weaver freight cars and locomotives.  To date I own or have owned nearly all of Weaver's production of brass locomotives and have enjoyed every one of them.  Fantastic models!  So...here is a tip of my hat to Joe and his crew...All the Best to every one of you!

 

Thanks,

Alan

Any ideas floating about where to get Weaver steamers repaired in the future?

Mixed emotions for sure.  Mixed because like others have posted, I'm very happy for Joe for his decision to step into retirement,  but sad at the prospect of our hobby loosing yet another major player in the market.  I can only hope like others have conveyed that someone else will step in to take over the business.

 

When I began to transition away from "traditionally sized" trains back in my preteen years, Weaver was the big thing at the time who was offering more scale rolling stock apart the likes of do-it-yourself kits, the Pola-derived Lionel Standard O cars & the first-generation Atlas products.  I amassed a fairly decent amount of Weaver up until I went into the service.  Since then, I have amassed more scale cars from Atlas O, Lionel, MTH, K-Line and less so of Weaver apart from their 57' mechanical refrigerator cars, which I still think are far superior to Lionel's version, but even though my buying preferences were less in favor of Weaver to this time, I still very much credit them for further whetting my appetite for the scale/hi-rail segment of the hobby, to which I am grateful to them for even to this day.

Incredibly saddened. happy for Joe & his retirement. But, so sad to lose a high-quality (mostly American-made) model train company. Most of my "nice" engines came from Weaver. Just love them & Weaver's service too.

 

Hopefully, their offerings will carry on with another manufacturer. What about parts? I plan on running my engines for a long time to come (hopefully).

 

Ron W.

This is such disappointing news.  I just wish nothing but the best for Joe and the rest of the team.  This is not an easy business to be in these days.  I will cherish the Weaver and Quality Craft product I do have all that much more, but at the end of the day this hobby and the related businesses are about the people you have met along the way.  Joe has always been helpful, professional and friendly.  How many businesses can you name where you can call the owner and actually talk to them in person?  Just a great loss to our hobby as a whole.

Funny you should mention that.  The engine I purchased a York has some issues so two weeks ago via email I got a RA # to return the engine as this time of year I just don't have time to fix it myself and since it's under warranty let Weaver to do it.  Well I've been meaning to ship it and haven't.  Good thing to as I found this thread.  Now when I email Weaver over sending the suspected parts(which they first offered), I've gotten no reply.

 

So with that said, if it's a mechanical issue I think we are screwed, electronic there's always someone here that can help. As for my engine I might have missed the boat.

The impact of this is just starting to dawn on me!  I have used Weaver trucks, and couplers, Bettendorf and, before that when available, arch  bars, for years.  Nobody else made them, or made them easily available and relatively inexpensive.  I was lucky, recently, to pick up one of the unlettered Baldwin 2-8-0's.  Fortunate find as no more will be forthcoming, and...who else has offered unlettered locomotives? (Atlas has offered  unlettered cars)  I do need to put my decals on this 2-8-0.  I hope somebody carries on this line.

Really really sorry to see Weaver go. They make such great stuff, I own quite a few Weaver cars. Bought a few Tropicana reefers recently. Always very pleasant to deal with. The hobby will miss you. Good luck to all of the employees and owner.

Wow. Bummer. Weaver had multiple road numbers ... of the types of rolling stock I use .... of the roadnames on my layout. And, I knew when I would be getting them.

 

But, more importantly ..... I hope everything works out for all the nice folks at Weaver.

 

A very happy customer

Matt

So sad to see a business like Weaver closing.  Being from Northeast PA, they were within driving distance, which kinda saved on shipping costs.  (Haven't really weighed the difference in gas vs. shipping, but who cares).  They were great folks to deal with.  I also have the Masonic Train set, along with six of the Blue Coal hoppers.  I wish Joe all the best in his retirement.

Hopefully Weaver stays open a little longer to process all the orders we are going to give them. I have meant to buy some more Interstate RR hoppers to go with my MTH RS3s but kept putting it off. Now is the time to act and hopefully it's not too late now.

Quite a few years ago, I was trying to get an O scale manufacturer interested in making accurate railroad line (telephone) poles.  No one was interested until I spoke to Joe.  After tolerating an excessively long design process,  Joe was agreeable to marketing the poles for me.  As such, I had many business dealings with him and he was utterly honest and fair with me in all our interactions.  We became friends, and I assisted him with other projects, and he eventually bought the line pole tooling from me.

 

He was always great to deal with, and I have loads of Weaver products in my collection.  While the news did not surprise me based on our recent conversations, I will miss Joe, Weaver Models, and their employees that I had the pleasure to deal with.

 

Best of luck to you Joe, and enjoy your retirement...you've earned it!

 

Neal

Adios, Weaver Models.

 

Glad I did the Weaver Tour with OGR a few years ago. Joe was very friendly, showed me the machine they had handmade to put wheels on axles, and the paint room and more. it was cool to see an American toy train operation. Everyone was so friendly. The tour of Bob Weaver's home layout at the end, was the iceing on the cake.

 

I have nice Weaver boxcars, a nice Aluminum Pennsy passenger car set that I bought at the factory at a nice discount, and a Weaver Tour car and caboose to remember them.

 

Wondering if their tooling will be acquired by someone?

 

Thanks Weaver! You will be missed.

 

My thoughts, too. It seems very odd that nothing was heard prior to the announcement that they're closing, with no mention regarding any efforts to sell the company. Just all of a sudden, boom, we're closing in 19 days! One would think there would have been, at the very least, 90 days notice of closure.

Well, phooey. I had hopes that it was "just a rumor", but I didn't think so. 

 

If anyone out there is thinking about purchasing the company and running it as some version of what it has been, you will have some customers, I guarantee. Enough? I don't know - but I sure hate to lose 50% of my brass steamer suppliers (and the one I preferred, too).

 

I'm sure much of the tooling will live on elswhere(s), but Weaver's loss is greater than that of K-line, in some ways.

It is very sad to see Weaver close it's doors.  I was fortunate enough to visit there two years ago.  It was a great operation, small but looked efficient.  It is surprising that there is no follow on and/or no one in the wings to take over.  Probably just not profitable enough anymore with all the new federal regulations.  It was great to see a train manufacturer in Central PA!  I often wondered if Mike Wolf has a 'continuation' strategy if he decides to call it quits.  (I forget the technical term)

Well, think of it guys, who of you out there would come up with that much capital to buy a toy train manufacturing business in this day and age? Hobby shop after hobby shop has closed in the last few years, when the owner has decided "it's time to retire". The other two big players in the toy train arena have their stuff made overseas in China, and yet look at the list price of what they are asking in their catalogs. Try telling your wife you want to get (for you or the kids) a scale train engine that lists for $695.00 so they can play trains. Yeah, good luck with that.

No wonder it's hard to attract new comers in the young people who buy a tablet for $100 and sit there and play video games. We all know there are too few new ones coming into this hobby to support it much longer, if you don't, then you are just kidding yourself.

All the old timers, those of us who grew up in an era of when a toy train was the neatest thing you could be given on the holidays, are either dying off, or selling our collections so our widows won't have to deal with them. Many of my friends in their seventies are doing just that. Have you been to a local train show lately? Try selling anything over $150 and see if you don't take it home with you. Are the crowds still there or do the isles get wider each show? A true reflection on the state of the hobby.

No this is not "doom and gloom" prophesy,  this is reality.

I've met Joe in person more than once, and he is a great guy, considered one of the leaders in this hobby and rightfully so.  I'm sure he made this decision as the sharp business man he is, also considering other factors. He deserves to retire just as much as the rest of us do, and I wish him well.

Maybe the employees will buy the company, and that would be great, we could only hope so. They made a fine product for a long time, against much larger competition, and kept it in the USA, unlike others.

Kudos to Weaver, job well done!

Many thanks to Joe and to Bob Weaver before him.

 

Brad

Time marches on I suppose.  I probably have 20-25 or so Weaver freight cars and a super brass CNJ 0-6-0.  In fact these are the only freight cars on my second layout (2-rail).  Well detailed, affordable.  A loss to the hobby for sure.

You, better than most here, know the cost/value of plastic injection molds. Model car molds that were cut in the late 1950's and early 1960's are still in production today. They may have changed hands a number of times......some where even 'lost' for years only to be found at a tooling shop years later and put back into production. 

 

So good injection molds are worth lots of money.......and I hate to say it but sometimes worth more as scrap metal.....they are nickel steel. 

 

I say all this in hopes that something is going on behind the scenes to keep some or all of the Weaver product available. To me it's hard to believe that all this great tooling is not viable even in today's market. The tooling for the trucks alone are worth someone picking up.

 

I hope if there are dealings going on and it's the normal business situation that NOTHING can be said publicly until it's a done deal.....which could take as long as the Fall TCA meet....or longer.

 

So let's just hope it's not the last we see of the Weaver GREAT tooling.  

It's truly a sad day for all of us in O gauge. Weaver will be missed by all. I am with all the others here wishing that the company can be sold or someone takes over where others are leaving off. It would really be sad it Weaver just went away completely, surely someone will step up and take over the company, I sure hope s anyway. I wish the best to those that are retiring, may they have a long and happy retirement.

Some people don't get any notice when their company closes.  They show up and the locks are changed.

 

When a division of a mid-sized company I once worked for shut us down, we had two hours of rumors that morning and then we were shown the door.

 

Rusty

Joe wishing you and yours the very best in retirement. The Weaver line has been a big part of my RR. It is a sad day for the hobby but I believe in resurrection and the hope that some one will continue. And as a an added note we loose a great model builder and one more paint supplier in RRing as well with the Scalecoat line.

 

 

That's a shame when that happens, but it seems extremely doubtful that such happened at Weaver, especially considering it was a single individual owner who was well thought of with many long-time employees whom he apparently respected.

Ironically, the last Weaver car I purchased was an OGR Weaver Tour car from 2009.

 

 

Thanks Joe... and to Bob Weaver. Well done. You will be missed.

I never had any Weaver Engines but had a couple of freight cars.  But it is sad to see them close.

Joe wishing you and yours the very best in retirement.

 This is really sad news all around.

 I have a Weaver 2-8-0 that has run very well for eight years. A lot of my rolling stock was made by Weaver. 

 They will be missed.

 My thoughts are with the employees.

Douglas

"I say all this in hopes that something is going on behind the scenes to keep some or all of the Weaver product available. To me it's hard to believe that all this great tooling is not viable even in today's market. The tooling for the trucks alone are worth someone picking up.  I hope if there are dealings going on and it's the normal business situation that NOTHING can be said publicly until it's a done deal."

 

    Yeah, I hope they can keep the core of the company going under new owners. If they break it up and sell the molds piece meal the new owners will probably sit on them for way too long as they usually do. The retirement of the SHS owners was a similar situation and has not worked out well for the S scale modeler. I guess the Weaver decision will come down to who wants the molds more, new owners of Weaver or the other major O players would might try to get  them to block further competition? ...DaveB

it might be as simple as this...

you put your life's blood into a company.you build a great reputation in your field. The time comes where you're ready for retirement. Do you sell your life's work off to someone else, risk seeing your dream almost ruined, long time employee's, many you consider friends and family pushed out. This has happened before, at least once in our own hobby.

As many others have stated, I wish nothing but the best of luck and a happy and well deserved retirement! I have been a big fan of Weaver's rolling stock. Hopefully someone can revive/takeover the product line.

I just bought my first Weaver products this year, and was hoping to become a regular customer. Oh well, at least the owner gets to enjoy his retirement now.

I plan on going out to the sale on the 29th.

Jim at Weaver Models could sell all the O scale injection molds to Atlas O.

 

Atlas O can move them to New Jersey.

 

Atlas O will make the cars and do the graphics right in New Jersey.

 

Atlas O can make many short production runs, quicker release times, the most accurate schemes, and new road numbers each year.

 

Andrew

I will sincerely miss Weaver Models. They made a quality product that I will be able to enjoy on my layout for a lifetime. In recent years they created some beautiful and nicely detailed rolling stock, and I especially love the PRR BP20 Shark set that I own. 

 

Lots of luck and happiness to Joe Hayter in the future!

 

Such sad news, this and the death of "The American Dream"  Dusty Rhodes in the same day.

You assume:

 

1) Atlas would want to or is in a position to buy Weaver.

 

2) Atlas still has injection molding machinery stateside.

 

If there is a plan for someone to buy Weaver, we (meaning the OGR forum) won't be party to any of those discussions.

 

There is a big difference in what we would like to happen and what will actually happen.

 

Rusty

This is an excerpt form an email I got from one our the club car committee members from another forum. We have been doing a Weaver Club Car for over 8 years.

 

"Yes, this is not welcome news. One of the things, as you well know Donnie, that kept the Club Car viable, was the 100 car minimum. That simply does not exist elsewhere. That is unless business is so tough that Atlas or MTH would step up.

But for downright friendly service and going miles out of their way accommodation, Weaver will be hard to beat."

 

"OK, time to stop talking past tense and hope for a good tomorrow. “The sun will come out…..tomorrow.”

 Don

 

 

A very big loss , I wish all of them well. I hope the employees will remain in the industry somehow.

Maybe one of the industry leaders will buy them up. there must be a ton of tooling to use somehow.

"If there is a plan for someone to buy Weaver, we (meaning the OGR forum) won't be party to any of those discussions."

 

   They are probably missing out on their best chance at a purchase  by not offering it as shares to the model railroaders of the country :> Who else would take their dividends as product? .....DaveB

Originally Posted by AMCDave::

 

Molds are only worth more as scrap if Legal proceedings push the price too high or they are somehow ruined. 

 

From the folks I've heard from in the model market (mostly wargames, but still,)The cost of a mold is tens (sometimes tens of tens) of thousands of dollars each.  Here's to hoping someone picks up the molds and tooling, even if they do have to get shipped overseas to get back in production.  I wouldn't be surprised if your prediction is correct, that behind-the-scenes deals are being negotiated for the molds and tooling.

 

Who else would give the new management the most headaches? 

Mine may have been one of their last shipments.  I received a freight car from them this past Monday. 

I shall treasure it.

Timbo

i wish Joe all the very best in his retirement or whatever he chooses to do. Weaver will be missed. Of all the model train manufacturers, Weaver was by far the most responsive to the customer's needs and input. Joe and Gary were a great team. It was pretty clear that Weaver's market niche was shrinking and the company was winding down. I'm just glad that they made those Milwaukee Road ribside boxcars before they shut down, and that they made them here in the U.S.A., proving that it is possible to make a better-quality train product domestically. I've got 15 or 16 of them, on top of all the other Weaver stuff I have. 

 

Good-bye, and thanks for all the fish.

To all at Weaver Models:

Thank you all for your kind assistance through the years in answering my questions and accepting my requests.

Your products were well made, finely detailed and of course made right here in the good ole' U.S. of A.

Sincerely,

Ralph

The Mechanical Refrigerator Cars and the PS-2-CD 4740 CU FT 3-bay covered hoppers are great models. They need to have accurate graphics applied for more railroads.

 

Andrew

Somebody can produce the cars in their Injection Molding factory someplace on the East Coast.

 

Atlas O would be more likely to have the access to the correct data and library of accurate images and patterns for the correct data and graphics on the O Scale freight cars.

 

Andrew

Well......there is more to it than what the powers of OGR would want us to get into here. But after working in the plastic model hobby biz since the 1980's and my family at one time owning a plastic model manufacturing company......I am well aware of what molds are worth and what affects their value. 

 

No matter what the 'value' of a mold......if no one wants them, no matter what the potential of said tooling, they are scrap.....in fact I've seen some bought and scrapped only to keep the molds out of circulation! 

 

I'm not saying ANY of this pertains to the Weaver assets. NO ONE here has first hand info they can disclose.....just a general discussion of what I know about the biz end of plastic models....which is what the vast majority of Weavers items are. 

If there is anyone out there interested, contact Joe soon.

Don

 

Yes wishful thinking on my part, but in a perfect world the molds would be warehoused somewhere until such time some company or person came forward for some or all.  Once the molds are gone they're gone.  Sure they can be recreated, but then cost even more than if they were retained.

But as I said, wishful thinking.  Hard business dollar and cents will always over rule the sentimental heart as it were.

True unfortunately......

Even in storage molds cost money. A mold for a O scale car with multiple parts can be the size of a dishwasher and weigh so much only heavy equipment can move it. And if they are not maintained they can corrode and cams freeze......everything just stops working.  Then all that time in storage is for not. 

 

As I said none of this has anything to do with Weaver....I too REALLY hope someone who understands what's there will pick it up. 

Add in the masking for paint, painting equipment, and the pad printing machinery. Don't forget the equipment needed for producing the printing plates, which includes special cameras and acid etching. 

Don

Very sad. I only own a couple Weaver cars, but I really do think they are the "Quality Craft" they're cut out to be, and I hope to acquire quite a bit more. 

I love my Weaver 20" passenger cars.  Here are a few videos of them in action.

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck in your retirement Joe and going to miss you guys and i have several weaver cars and they all been great cars and one engine. You all was great to talk to and deal with.   

Re the discussion on Weaver dies/molds....

 

This thread may be the best opportunity to affirm or deny my understanding of Weaver's former production of the E8 diesels....

 

I was told that the Weaver tooling of this engine (superstructure) was sold to MTH and became the basis for their subsequent run/release of this engine.

 

Yes?  No? 

 

If yes, then I would think it speaks to Weaver's desire to seek a good future home for tooling where there might be a negotiable deal.  And that would be a more positive way to view the future of this situation, perhaps?

 

KD

I heard the same of the E8 and the SD40-2

I hope the 53' Trailers get picked up by Bachmann Williams

 I remember being told a long time ago that Mike Wolf bank rolled Weaver on the E8 molds and the also the SD40s. I believe MTH is now in possession of both sets.

 

Chris

LVHR

Actually Quality Craft Models (Bob Weaver had it back then) and Steve Horvath are the main reasons I got into HiRail. I still have my very first Weaver car which I bought at an auction many years ago. They made quality products at reasonable prices and stood behind them. I will miss them.

 

Enjoy your retirement, Joe!

 

Chris

LVHR

My first set of scale passenger cars were by Weaver.  I have many of their freight cars, passenger and couple of engines.  They all run beautifully.  This company will be sorely missed by all.  Wishing the best to all at Weaver and hoping all the best for the future to include some of Weaver's products to be carried on by someone else.

Just starting in the hobby -  been buying weaver left and right to start my collection.  Disappointed to hear there will be no new Weaver available.  I've been impressed with every Weaver purchase - real pride taken in the workmanship.  Enjoy retirement!

About 10 years ago or so I bought a Weaver tank car from my LHS. When I got it home and opened the box, I discovered one of the handrails had been badly damaged. I contacted Weaver to see about a replacement. Unfortunately, the car was already somewhat dated and there were no parts to be had or leftover cars in inventory. End of story, right?

 

A few days later, I got a call from Weaver saying they would fabricate a part for me and just needed a piece of the damaged part so they could mix a batch of paint to match. Two weeks after that I had a new handrail fabricated and painted to match my car perfectly.

 

Up to this point I had spent much of my career working in a service-related industry and thought I knew a thing or two about what it took to exceed high expectations - or so I thought. My encounter with Weaver was customer service on a level I never even imagined could exist in any industry, let alone manufacturing. 

 

Weaver is a class act of a company in my book and I am sorry to see it go. I wish Joe and his team the best of luck in the future.

Testors discontinued production of their line of Railroad paint.

 

The Scale Coat paints could be spun off to another company.

 

If not, there will be a giant hole in the model railroad paints in a year or two when the supplies are gone.

 

Andrew

I don't know anyone from Weaver but I wish them well in the future.

I have numerous Weaver freight cars on my Railroad (to many to count!) I have always liked them because we handle the cars off and on the BRHRR many times during a session and they stay together.

I have just managed to buy four US Army boxcars direct from Weaver last month most of my cars I bought from them direct and the service was superb never had a problem with them that is important for me as I live in West Australia you don't want any stuff ups with an order!

I'm really sad to see them go.

With the moulds it can be very expensive to store them not only the cost of floor space but they must be thoroughly protected from the slightest moisture contamination on the mould surface themselves otherwise if rust gets on the surface it shows on the item being moulded many moulds have been scrapped because of this.

Anyway Congratulations Weaver on a job well done over the years it's not always been easy but what business is.

Neville from West Australia

They never put the Central Vermont white and dark green scheme on the 50' Plug Door Box Cars. This means that I would have to purchase 5 undecorated plug door box cars.

 

Andrew 

There ya go!!  That's a good harbinger for the continuation of their products!!! 

 

KD

Recently there were a couple of other threads started about this same subject.

 

Please...let's keep the discussion of Weaver in this thread so we don't have several threads on the same subject posted.

 

Thanks.

I just now called them about ordering some telephone poles....but they are now sold out. Is there another source for assembled telephone poles.

 

If you are thinking about getting something from Weaver, you better call the now, or yesterday would be preferred to get your items.

That was around 15 years ago, I don't remember exactly. 

 

The model railroad and business landscape has changed since then.

 

Rusty

Good news on my defective engine.  Heard back from them and Joe said If I can get the engine back to them ASAP. They'll take care of it for me.

Definitely true.

 

I inquired about a few reefers and the Wash Away paint remover... all sold out.

 

-Dave

I wish the folks at Weaver the best in their retirement and/or other endeavours.

 

I do have, and enjoy, some Weaver on my layout as well, most notably a Reading G1 Pacific (thus far, I believe that no other manufacturer has made a scale Reading G1/G2), a B&O 2-6-0, several troop cars (I still love them dispite the warped frames), and several other pieces of rolling stock.  Still hoping to get a secondhand Reading Crusader set.

 

IMHO, Weaver offerings in locomotives (especially steam) has been pretty slim the last couple of years.  Maybe they have had trouble competing with 3rd Rail, Lionel, and MTH? 

 

Jim

Very sad news!  I took the OGR-sponsored Weaver tour more than once.. & even took my family there separately.  They were always accommodating to train fans who just showed up to tour (or made a courtesy call ahead).  I have to wonder if this is simply a "retirement" move.  As some have observed, one would think the business would have been offered for sale first.  Perhaps it was & there were no deals pending.  We can only speculate... but really shouldn't.  I feel the worst for the fine people employed there in  the manufacturing & front office areas.  They are just regular working class Americans trying to earn a living.  And, I agree... when I heard that Gary had left to do landscaping, I had to wonder.     We will miss you...  Loved your USA-made products folks!  

 

It is really sad when a hobby shop/train store closes,however this is a tragic loss for our hobby.  I am very sorry to see Weaver close.

I too called for paint and telegraph poles--all gone.  I should have ordered them years ago.  I wish the very best to the people at Weaver !

 

Norm

I have talked with the folks at Weaver a couple of times regarding an order of Scalecoat paint. They were very courteous and went out of their way to check on my order. They are still very customer service focused despite what has to be a very difficult time for them. A first class operation.

 

I read somewhere that there have been attempts to find a buyer for the company but nothing materialized. However, the closing is so sudden you have think there is more to this that has been made public. Just speculating, but maybe Joe found a buyer for the company assets and needed to close the deal right away. Hopefully we will see Weaver products under another company's name in the future.

 

Ken

I just ordered the remaining two numbers for each of these bargains!:

 

.... also, its got to be hard to compete in a market that now includes a major market retailer that has begun to sell China-made O scale gauge rolling stock for $19.99. 

While I will not say that had no affect on Weaver......doubt it really is the reason, or even ONE of the reasons they are closing. 

It's two different markets.

I may get deleted and/or blasted here......but it may have more to do with the THOUSANDS of regulations for small business that have been added in the last 6 years. More new regulations in the last 6 than in the last 40 years.....it is strangulating small business but really impacts ANY biz that manufactures and paints products in the USA. Don't take my word...search for yourself.

Google 'flower grower jailed' to start.....

 

Thanks for what you did for the hobby Weaver!!!!! Miss ya for sure.... 

quote:

While I will not say that had no affect on Weaver......doubt it really is the reason, or even ONE of the reasons they are closing.

 

Maybe the fellow just wants to retire.
How many people participating on this site are retired?

When a business closes down, and there's a buyer. Very rarely is there an announcement that the business is closing, rather a new owner or C.O. is taking over. The new buyer doesn't want to lose long time customers, nor the standing the business had.

From what I see, having started and sold several businesses, it looks like the only thing we can hope for is that someone will purchase their dies and equipment for our hobby.

I remember collectors years ago digging at the site were Marx had buried dies, etc. for their playsets. Some recovered and reused. Same for Stromberg Model, dies found and cleaned up.

Very true. I personally know several business that have, and several the will close within the coming months. Plus one manufacturer of parts, with 6 employees, shutting down next week.

As of the receipt of my most recent e mail from Joe, there are no buyers. If anyone knows anyone, let Joe know, that's what he he wrote to me.

Don

Sounds like a grand opportunity for a group of OGR forum members to pool their resources and get into the exciting world of O Scale manufacturing.

 

Rusty

I am really saddened by this news.  Over the years I have bought over 200 Weaver cars,  I have at least 80 of their 50ft flat cars.  VBG.   I have a huge fleet of PS2 CD covered hoppers also  ( BN, BNSF and ATSF ).   I also have 3 SD40's and 2 GP38's from Weaver.  The Sd40's I run and run and they keep going.    I appreciated the help they gave me when I called for buying parts, paints and technical questions.  All are really nice people.  I enjoyed chatting at York when I would look to see what was being released in coming months.     Weaver will be missed by all of us as they made a great product here in USA.

Joe had mentioned retiring a few times in the last two years, most recently at April York.

Don

Gentlemen,

     As Dave says a sad day for our hobby no doubt about it.

PCRR/Dave

 

The Weaver Masonic Train on a Christmas run!  Weaver thanks again for the years of wonderful Trains, especially this one.

Here are two of my trains: one train with all my Weaver freight cars and the other with my Weaver passsenger set.

 

-Locomotives by Lionel Legacy

-765 announcements by your cruise director

 

 

 

Well is really sad news to hear.I don,t have any of their locomotives.But i have some of their boxcars.I have a cream white new york central ref boxcar 2 swifts ref one red and one yellow.A B&O boxcar a penn boxcar a cain suger covered hopper car.A L&N hopper RF&P boxcar their may be a few more.At first I had trouble with them being to light.I fixed that by puting pennies at each end of the car.I want to say thanks weaver we in the model trains we will miss you.

I'm not just sad but shocked to see that Weaver is closing. Over the years I have added at least five Weaver steam engines (among others) to my collection. I have a brass NYC 0-6-0, a brass RDG G1 4-6-2, a die cast C&NW 2-8-0 a brass MILW 4-4-2 and a brass MILW 4-6-4.  All beautiful and all good runners.  Also I have an all metal extruded MILW set of five streamlined 1935 era Hiawatha passenger cars.  As for customer service....Those MILW passenger literally fell apart.  Gary had me return the whole set for refurbishing for free.  And believe me those cars were long out of warrantee.  I guess in view of the pride in their products that their products were never really out of warrantee.  Gosh I'll miss them.   ODD-D

Weaver had a knack for coming out with neat rolling stock and locos that no one else had done. I really liked the B&O rounded roof boxcars, the B&O headend express boxcars, the Milwawkee Road LRD boxcars, the TOFC's, BP-20, the Pennsy horizontal striped boxcars, the curve beer car, Maple donuts, obscure cabeese: items that you saw, and had to buy.

 

I have 2 E8s and the Milwaukee 261. I am dismayed. Will someone buy the company?

 

Thanks for all your good work.

 

Dick Donaway

Read all the posts about this.  I have a couple of Weaver cars and like them.  I am shocked and sad that it will not be in business for the sake of owners, employees and customers.

Ouch! Another one going by the wayside, really! This does not bode well for the future of the hobby and the ever changing demographics. I have many weaver cars that are true to scale and run great and are usually affordable. Made in America I am thinking made it difficult to be be competitive. I wish Weaver all the best, hopefully someone will purchase their dies and equipment, and not One of the Big 2. 

FYI for those who are thinking to collect Weaver freight cars-esp the special run cars, one might want to go onto the Weaver website and save to your computer the Weaver models "special run" spreadsheet!

Such sad news.

Another icon leaves the playing field...

 

I've been wanting to buy Weaver products for a while now to add to our rolling stock operation here in OZ.

I've been keeping an eye on some of their products for some time now But due to the Aussie exchange rate I've held back.

Today I bit the bullet.

And bought these beauties.

 

Toot Toot 

Cheers

 

 

From my experience WEAVER had the best customer service by far of the major O gauge manufacturers. I had a lot of WEAVER rolling stock including about four dozen of their hopper cars and lot of their TRAILER TRUCK cars- my personal favorite freight car. 

Back in the late eighties,  early nineties bought a few PRR brass engines "new" including two K4s, one L1s, one M1a and One G5.

 

MY favorite Passenger diesel was the WEAVER E8's had three sets of those.

They could pull a lot of cars.

 

Always liked Weaver equipment and always wanted a Santa Fe Valley Flyer. Sorry to see them close.

 

I agree with CTA about customer service.  Weaver people most helpful.

Very sad to hear the news about Weaver going out of business. Joe Hayter and his staff were good people and I liked the quality of their trains. Sorry to lose Weaver but wish Joe the best in retirement.

Same here. We always liked the look of Weaver stuff. Happy retirement!

For Milwaukee Road collectors like myself, Weaver was the greatest.  I am sorry to see them close.  They will be missed.

 

Bob Nelson

I've always enjoyed Weaver products; most recently the LV Black Diamond. Also,  those few minutes talking with Joe at every York for 13 years were among my favorite memories. God speed to you all at Weaver.

       
       

I wonder what the price tag would be? Fairly$$steep as this is a good sized manufacturing company. I would be interested if others were too. Good idea Rusty.

Wouldn't it be great if somehow Ross Custom could swing taking over. American made track, switches and rolling stock!

I have been in the model railroading hobby for quite some time now, but I never really got into Weaver. It is, however, a great loss for the hobby.

 

We will all miss you Weaver Models       

Some how not surprising to me it seems like some months ago there main repair man left to take on another job he like and that kinda told me it probably was something else that pushed him.

They were the best company for road names and custom runs.

Plus they have a variety of cars.

Weaver has rolling stock that no one else has so not to worry, someone will buy the molds.

I think so, too.

 

It will be disheartening to see "Made in China" on the box, though. For me, anyway.

Already did that the other day before that resource vanishes! It is very handy for looking up what Weaver produced over the years. Hopefully in time the tooling will find new owners and be put to use again.

 

Like others here I am sorry to hear they are closing up shop but do wish Joe a happy retirement!

SIRT,

I sure hope you are right.

It's not just because of labor costs or material cost they will be moved to China. 

The climate in this country is so anti-manufacturing and anti-smaller business it makes it difficult to do so in the USA. It is balancing out in some areas....but if you want to manufacture models (of any kind) and use plastic and then paint them....be ready to be regulated to death. The EPA  has thousands of regulations on commercial painting....some so obscure and off the wall you may not know you are breaking the law until you are in jail. Until things change.... 

How can I save this weavermodels page on a flash drive?

 

http://www.weavermodels.com/Ul...%20Production%20.htm

 

 

Thanks

 

Andrew

Maybe they can read your post on painting with the rattle can and maybe they will then be ok on regulations!



       

We can only hope and pray you are correct....thanks for being on my side!!!!

One option would be to Select, Copy and Paste into Excel. This is what I did. Then you save your Excel file to your flash drive.

If you have Excel, do a select all, copy and then paste special in Excel. Paste as HTML and adjust column & row sizes to fit (or paste as your preference).

 

Or if you have a PDF printer like Bullzip (or others), do a select all and then print to a PDF file. You can do a print preview and 'print as laid out on page' or 'print as selected on page'.

My only Weaver piece.  Sad to see them go.  Wish another MFG'R or Capital Group would buy them and continue the operation.

Hopefully someone grabs the molds for the wood ship cars that Weaver came with a year or so ago.

 

  Bill T.

I hope someone takes over the whole operation, and keeps manufacturing in the US. Joe was my best customer for wood chip loads.

Don