Large Scale Central

Polks

General Discussion
#1

Got this e-mail this morning.

Polk’s Will Close Its Doors 12-31-13

October 1st, 2013

Since 1935, we have provided service and innovation to the Hobby industry. In this latest downturn, we cut back staff to the minimum required to survive. Then the government battle over the debt ceiling drove the consumer market down even further.

We’ve managed to stay in business, but the continued depression for the consumer has caused us to fall into debt that is unsustainable. We have put several million dollars into product development over recent years, but the need for customers to cut back on non-essentials has caused this investment to be lacking in returns.

We have seen leisure activities like golf courses plunge in popularity, as funds for such recreation have dried up. It seems to be the same for hobby time investments. Our products are no longer inexpensive as they were in the 1930s-era Depression. The cost of manufacturing along with minimum production runs and long lead times has caused a lack of ability to continue as a sustainable entity. It’s no longer a business!

It has been a pleasure to help our creative consumer base to enjoy their hobby and we have no regrets in doing so. Our business grew every year until the 2008 as the recession caused a shrinking of the mindset to stay active in our large-scale model train arena. We know that smaller scales have remained viable, but the higher cost of Large Scale trains and the space required to run them have not maintained their share of the market. Our airplane R/C portion of our business was lost when our patented frequency changer was lost to the 2.4Ghz portion of the marketplace, with no frequency compounds needed any longer.

For 80 years, the Polk family has made a fair living in the Hobby industry. I can’t help but remember the scores of co-workers that have helped make this organization as special as it was. Thanks to them all, but notably: Gil Rose, B.M. Song, J.K. Kim, Sam Kimm, Tom Flynn, Cliff Crane, Charlie Binder, Marvin Binder, John and Sherry Shievdayal, Aixa Lebron, Joe Bamberger, David Newell, Walter Matuch, John Mikesh, Navin Shievdayal, Marguerite Hubert (Rose), Michael J. Vickey, Jonathan Polk, Scott Polk, Fred Polk, Irwin Polk, Nathan Polk, Maryann Polk Bob Calandra, George Adams, Michael Hauptmann and so many others, it would take a book to list them all. While I can’t list all the hundreds that were part of the team, they remain in my heart and mind.

Our humble thanks to our loyal customers. Our apologies for not being able to keep this almost 80-year-old business going. It’s a heartbreaker for us all.

All the best,

The Polk Family

Polk’s Hobby
698 S. 21st St.
Irvington New Jersey 07111
United States

#2

I got it also. Can’t say that I am surprised, but I still hate to see it happen.

#3

The US government shuts down and Polks shut down Oct 1 2013 is certainly a Bad Day in history.

#4

Their brown pants and red shirts werent so covincing, hopefully Bachmann or another company will pickup some of the product lines.

#5

Maybe now the haters will shut up, well nope they wont now we get to hear months of I told you so and speculation on who will buy the brand

#6

Well, that’s a damn shame. I wasn’t a 1:29 diesel fan, but I sure don’t like seeing that happen.

RIP

#7

This is sad news for the “G” scale community.
Hopefully Crest / Revolution will survive.

David

#8

Or maybe the faithful will see that poor quality control and poor decisions will kill a company eventually, despite trying to create an alternate reality that no axle ever slipped on a Mikado?

Mark Dash said:

Maybe now the haters will shut up, well nope they wont now we get to hear months of I told you so and speculation on who will buy the brand

#9

A sad day, indeed.

-Kevin.

#10

If you hate them or love them, this is not good for any of us who enjoy the hobby.

Nico

#11

Good…I for one am glad to see them go.

#12

One wonders if Bachmann’s entry into the 1/29 market a while back had any correlation to this?

I know I will miss the products… the heavyweights were unique, and while they may have fallen on their faces time and again, you can’t say they didn’t try to expand the hobby as much as they could.

#13

Yeah its a sad day, but I cannot say I am surprised given how things have been going the last year or so. Dam there go my diesel kitbashing bricks!

I do find it interesting that the release specifically says “Polk Hobby” and NOT Aristocraft, I hope that means someone is going to step in and take over the Aristo product line. I wonder what this means for the RMT line in O? I believe they were spun off the same way Crest was.

#14

Get ready for price gouging on eBay.
Parts and repair service? Prolly not.

#15

Sadly a sign of the economy and our hobby loses another manufacturer!

#16

The loss of competition is never a good thing for quality or variety. With only USA trains remaining as a larger american owned manufacturer I certainly hope the Chinese owned Bachmann doesnt bury them as well.

#17

Greg Elmassian said:

Or maybe the faithful will see that poor quality control and poor decisions will kill a company eventually, despite trying to create an alternate reality that no axle ever slipped on a Mikado?

Mark Dash said:

Maybe now the haters will shut up, well nope they wont now we get to hear months of I told you so and speculation on who will buy the brand

Or we the diesel lovers will be forced into a non competitive market to buy USA trains with motor blocks and suffer cracked gears, No problem there huh…

#18

J.D. Gallaway said:

One wonders if Bachmann’s entry into the 1/29 market a while back had any correlation to this?

I know I will miss the products… the heavyweights were unique, and while they may have fallen on their faces time and again, you can’t say they didn’t try to expand the hobby as much as they could.

When I saw Bachman introduce the 1/29 project, after hearing directly from the Bachman man himself, that they had 0 intrest in the 1/29 market only 5 years ago, that it was writing on the wall that China was about to take over the 1/29 market.

Sad to see Polk go, I still would like several RS3’s and some Uboats. Greg might ppoint out problems with their Mikado, however the Rs3 and Uboats were beasts, those motor blocks have performed well.

#19

LGB all over again… How many years will it take for the molds to resurface? :wink:

I guess the ‘faithful’ couldn’t see the handwriting on the wall.

I wonder if what the Polks have to say about this on the Aristo forum? Not that I care.

Personally it doesn’t affect my modeling purchases. I’ve never been a fan of Aristo products for various reasons. But it means one less modeling company in the G gauge market. It will be interesting to see what Bachmann comes up with… Maybe the SD9 will finally emerge?

#20

The scary part of this notice is: (Quote) “One year or until the parts run out.”

WWW.CREST-ELECTRONICS.NET
RM. 230-231
32 NOBLE ST.
NEWARK, NJ 07114

October 1, 2013

Dear All,

New Crest Revolution deliveries just arrived, including sets with either steam or diesel sounds as well as receivers with either sound. Also just arriving is the Li-On batteries from Sanyo and our Guardian board. Don’t forget our companion auto cutoff charger is already in stock. We are fully committed to continuing the Revolution line and next year will add H.O. boards and new software. Please see our new website at www.crest-electronics.net. (Remember to use the dash in the domain name)

Crest Electronics will be relocated to the above new address after December 1, 2013. All package deliveries for repair will go to that address after that date and the 698 South 21st Street in Irvington, NJ 07111 until that date.

I will be doing the sales for Crest and the repairs for Aristo-Craft Trains for at least one year or until the parts run out. I’m also the product manager for Crest Electronics and will be the support person for the Revolution line.

Please no visitors to this facility, as this is a private mixed-use commercial building. I will see you at public train shows as often as possible.

Thank you for your patience during the transition. A new phone number has not been assigned yet, but we will notify you when it is.

Navin Shievdayal
Product Manager
Crest Electronics
www.crest-electronics.net