Large Scale Central

Little Hustler Gears

My Little Hustler (MDC) stripped a gear the other day. Any sources of MDC parts these days?

It is called a ‘Big Hustler’. Ask Al Kramer, he used to have some parts.

Andrew

Dick, Northwest Shortline has a lot of replacement gears. NWSL.com

Dick you have to watch these little guys. Don’t over tax them, 2 or 3 standard cars MAX. And no grades or they will go south.

There’s a company that got a number of MDC parts… they were selling boxcars and I thought had parts for the speeder…

Ahh, found the email:

Hello Greg.

I viewed your site today and noticed your post about the MDC speeder you purchased. We own all of the MDC 1:32 inventory that was left after MDC was auctioned off many years ago. Unfortunately, we did not get the tooling, however, we are going to produce new tooling and upgrade the cars, etc. as we go.

That said, we have a large inventory of speeder parts except for motors. We are going to make tooling and produce the sides and roof for the speeder so that it looks more like the one you have pictured in your post. We have a CN speeder here to work from. We are now sourcing parts for the motors, and should be ready to run these later this year. If you need any parts, let us know.

We have Hustler parts, reefers, boxcars, hoppers and all the accessory parts. We also manufacture a single and double target signal and true 1:32 scale wheels.

We are always open to suggestions. Please feel free to contact us as we may be of any assistance to you.

MIDWEST COMPANIES, INC.

Joseph Novosel Jr.

Tel. 866.650.6560

Wow Greg thats great, I sure hope they do reissue the Speeder, even the Hustler. All the Hustler really needed (other than better gears) was a 1/20 or 1/22 cab instead of the 1/32 one we got.

Unfortunately I have been pinging them by email and not getting any response, so don’t know what is really up, but I also believe they have a web site… somewhere

Greg

This may be them. Similar company name.

https://www.midwestproducts.com/projects/hobbies.aspx

Andrew

http://www.hpj.com/bigbook/pageInformation.cfm?cat=1015&u=10010439

they make a product called zerkap… notice the name of the owner is the same as in the email to me…

here’s yelp saying the merriville location is closed:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/midwest-companies-inc-merrillville

the BBB has a listing:

http://www.bbb.org/northernindiana/business-reviews/manufacturers-and-producers/midwest-companies-in-merrillville-in-43396

another company in the same town

http://www.panteratools.com/Default.aspx?tabId=1228&UserProfile=MidwestCompaniesInc

Regards, Greg

Thanks for the tips, guys. I’ve converted by Big Hustler to a battery powered unit, dragging a battery car and a track cleaner.

It was cleaning oil off a live steamer track in Ione, CA, a couple of weeks ago. Ran very well, as I get about four hours of run time on a battery charge.

Then a gear stripped out! Won’t run worth a politician’s promise with only one set of gears.

After the West Coast Regional Meet week after next, I’ll follow up!