Just for the sake of conversation Rooster, why do you doubt it? Chuck’s narrative would seem to support a strong case if they were LAST produced in China, then that’s where the molds are.
BUT, you see I capitalized “LAST”… any evidence they were last produced somewhere else?
Greg
Don’t hold me to this, just going from old memory. When the factory stopped producing the bridges I believe there was an attempt to get the molds so the bridges could be produced elsewhere, but it was unsuccessful. Too bad.
Well Gents, if I can procure a 6" section, I will be looking at having a 3D print shop that can redraw and produce them.
Or… take on the unenviable task of making them from scratch with Micro Engineering plates/nails and make uprights from code 215 track
Glad to amuse you in such dire times for model railroading.
Best regards,
Mike
@Michael F. Thou not currently being produced or sold, They are still under copyright protection, and reverse engineering a copyrighted item is a violation of that copyright.
Making your own from scratch, would be the best approach.
$.02
Dave
Dave,
Who is left to enforce that copyright?
Curious that after all this time the GMM website is still up and running. Even the e-mail appears good.
A simple phone call could answer many questions. The number is on the site.
Greg
This was on GMM WEB SITE UNDER NEWS
March 1, 2013 We have sold all remaining stock consisting of 24" and 46" Deck Girder Bridges to Bridge Masters of Placentia, California. They will be your source until, if and when we ever get our missing tooling back from Kador in China. Below is contact information for Bridge Masters. They are a first class act and a pleasure to deal with.
Bridge Masters
1077 Promenade Ave.
Placentia, CA 92870
714-985-9007 www.bridge-masters.com
Kader!!! They seem to have a hold of the large scale world by the _______!
Ah yes Bridge Master, I remember now they are the distributor if any ever shows up again. Strange story
Jerry
I see what the problem is, they misspelled “Kader” and the Chinese are mad… he will need to apologize… see what they did to Scott Polk because they were mad at Lewis?
Just kidding… (but not about Scott & Lewis)…
Greg
Paul Burch said:
Kader!!! They seem to have a hold of the large scale world by the _______!
Paul
Years ago a company called Sanda Kan was a very key company for a significant part of the model railroad market. It specialized in making small runs for the model railroad industry and companies like Garden Metal Products relied on it.
Unfortunately they were bought by a financial investment company which bled it dry. They lost significant money in the process and started selling off assets including the tooling needed to make the products. In 2008 or so Kader Holding Company stepped in bought what was left. Had they not stepped in Sanda Kan would have gone out of business entirely.
In an effort to salvage what was left they dropped all the small production runs which had a significant effect on companies like Garden Metal Products. Looking at what financial records are available it appears that the Kader investment was not a profitable one and today not much is left.
The economic changes that have occurred around the world in this century have had an impact on our hobby.
Stan
And the result is that Kader is about the only game in town, and has raised prices and held people hostage (again, ask Scott Polk)… it’s their way or the highway… the little guys are screwed and the big companies have higher prices…
Greg
There is always a positive note, if anyone were to look at it.
In earlier days of Model Railroading, the hobby was healthy and growing. “Stuff” didn’t always come in a box, ready to plop down and run on or use.
“Healthy” in just about every sense of the word.
Model Railroaders, used to model what they saw in real life, and discovered in books or magazines, or through real honest to goodness, research. They sought out materials, and actually built things; while doing so, they gained experience in so many areas of life…healthy, as in gaining a very diverse knowledge of things needed to help them through life, along with the great enjoyment they had while doing it. Their chosen “Hobby” grew with them all through their lives.
Today, hobbies seem to be less interesting, and rather trendy. People jump in; play with a hobby, until it gets boring, or their friends sucker them into some other latest trend.
A lot of the replacements for the old fashioned hobbies, are just activities, usually competitive, and short lived due to, a persons aging, or purchasing power.
We seem to just buy things, play with them for a while, or until they get boring, then throw them away and go on to other things.
With the failing of this business, that provided bridges (And I have several of them), maybe when we need a new bridge, it will be a great new, and educational experience for a lot of us, to learn how to build one our selves.
Fred Mills
I don’t know if you are on the facebook g scale swap and shop, but there are 4 box’s of them for sale right now.
Here’s the link to the post. I don’t think it will show up unless you are a member of the group.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=275077186259671&set=gm.1215189888517126&type=3
Here’s the guy who is selling them. You might be able to message him directly:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012721755073&fref=nf&post_id=1215189888517126
Fred Mills said:
There is always a positive note, if anyone were to look at it.
In earlier days of Model Railroading, the hobby was healthy and growing. “Stuff” didn’t always come in a box, ready to plop down and run on or use.
“Healthy” in just about every sense of the word.
Model Railroaders, used to model what they saw in real life, and discovered in books or magazines, or through real honest to goodness, research. They sought out materials, and actually built things; while doing so, they gained experience in so many areas of life…healthy, as in gaining a very diverse knowledge of things needed to help them through life, along with the great enjoyment they had while doing it. Their chosen “Hobby” grew with them all through their lives.
Today, hobbies seem to be less interesting, and rather trendy. People jump in; play with a hobby, until it gets boring, or their friends sucker them into some other latest trend.
A lot of the replacements for the old fashioned hobbies, are just activities, usually competitive, and short lived due to, a persons aging, or purchasing power.
We seem to just buy things, play with them for a while, or until they get boring, then throw them away and go on to other things.
With the failing of this business, that provided bridges (And I have several of them), maybe when we need a new bridge, it will be a great new, and educational experience for a lot of us, to learn how to build one our selves.
Fred Mills
My Gawd, if I am reading your post correctly you are advocating the use of imagination, creativity and learned ability to produce something that will fill hours of your hobby time during the building and provide years of enjoyment in the future. Geeze what’s next, ranting about book research, obscure magazines and maybe even radio? You really must move forward with the times and become emersed in face book, twitter and all that other cra-- err, stuff.
Good post by the way(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Rick
Rick Marty said: Geeze what’s next, ranting about book research, …?
You mean, like 70 year old books? (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
IMG_4759
It saw active reference use in December and will tomorrow, Thursda,y for assembling an Oregon Rail Supply signal kit, though in HO instead of G.
Sorry to revive this old thread, but does anyone have photos of this product? I’m interested in trying to replicate it.
Or, even better, would someone lend me a section to measure it?
Disregard. Their web site is still up, and has both photos and drawings.
