NorthWest Short Line to Close Down

[up1950s]

Wasn't some of his gears made to order ? I don't see anybody wanting to pickup the line unless it is somebody the doesn't sell a line of locos that's in competition with someone else . Maybe " That Train Place " on eBay will pick up the stock and give everybody a chance at it . He must have had an interesting machine shop . So sorry for his loss . So sorry for our loss . Might wind up with deals on locos needing parts on eBay down the road . Hmm we can fix 'em all with HiFi drive .

[rodsup9000]

  It would be nice if someone like Tim Warris (Fast Tracks and Mt Albert Lumber) could make a deal with Dave. Tim already has machining experience with a CNC mill, so I would like to think he would have some knowledge of what it takes to machine gears and other drive parts. The plastic parts like universals and the like, is I'm sure done by a outside injection molding company. What is going to the biggest loss is the knowledge that Dave has and what was past on to him by the original owner of NWSL.


  I've cut lots of racks of spur gears, but the smallest gear cutters I have is 48 pitch in imperial and .8 module in metric. For me to cut smaller gears that are used in HO and N, would require me to make the cutters. And then there is 8 different cutters for each pitch/module for a complete set.

 Here I'm cutting a rack of 48 pitch, 30 tooth,



 




 Racks after being cut








 Cut off in the lathe









 And now I have a bunch od spur gears









 I guess I don't have any photos of the boring of the center holes. To do that, I take a 5C collet the closest to the OD and chuck the gear up, and drill a hole about .030" smaller than the OD of the hole you want. Then use a boring bar to finish the hole to the required diameter (or is some cases, I bore it within about .005"  and then use a chucking reamer to finish).

[Chris333]

There is a few videos on the NWSL Facebook page showing them cutting gears.

How long ago was it they were sold?

Also on FB is many photos showing Grandt Line parts back in production along with San Juan Car Co.

[mmagliaro]

http://www.nwsl.com/about.html

Dave and Lynda bought the company in 2008 and moved it to Montana, says the above page.
I remember when it was sold that I was happily surprised that the original owners (who started the company in 1959) succeeded in finding somebody with machining experience to take over  and continue the custom production part of the business.

So it is possible.  But I bet it ain't easy.

[carlso]

Max, isn't there a pretty darned good machinist, who made you some small parts for your recent loco build, a member of TRW.

Perhaps he would be a candidate ?

Carl

[conrad]

This was posted on the NWSL Facebook page this evening 3/17/19:

This is the post I don’t want to make but the time has come. I just can’t do this without Lynda. Following is the notice I sent to all the magazines.
=======
After 60 years in business, NWSL will cease operations effective August 30th, 2019. The company will continue to take orders for in-stock products until July 1st, 2019. Closure is for personal reasons and sale of the business is not anticipated, although reasonable proposals will be considered.

My condolences.   You saved me from the infamous n scale Arnold S2 split gear fiasco.

Conrad

[randgust]

Interesting fact is that the website has not yet been changed to show the impending closure of the shop.

I noticed that too.  The best thing that can happen here, is as the news gets out, he gets an offer from someone that wants to continue it.

We thought that Grandt Line was toast, then the tooling and line got sold.   Getting value for your life's investment and someone else investing in it is the best outcome here.
https://www.grandtline.com/

That one got me to buy a lifetime supply of circus wagon wheels at least.

[strummer]

My condolences.   You saved me from the infamous n scale Arnold S2 split gear fiasco.

Conrad

...and me in 0 scale: split gears (several Roco/Atlas F9s), and 3 rail to 2 rail conversions (Weaver GP38 and RS3). In HO: Roco DB engines and FAs, both A and B).

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

Then on the other side of the spectrum, there is Aztec. They closed shop, and nobody picked up the business.

[sirenwerks]

Max, isn't there a pretty darned good machinist, who made you some small parts for your recent loco build, a member of TRW.

Perhaps he would be a candidate ?

Carl

I was tinkin' Max could take it over. Since he likes precision things and all.

[ridinshotgun]

Then on the other side of the spectrum, there is Aztec. They closed shop, and nobody picked up the business.

Was it even offered for sale?  I don't recall any notification that it was for sale or the idea even being entertained.  It was more "poof" and they just shutdown.

It would have been nice if it could have been sold to someone since I think they were the best cleaning cars out there. But no more I guess.  Sad really.

[mmagliaro]

    Max, isn't there a pretty darned good machinist, who made you some small parts for your recent loco build, a member of TRW.

    Perhaps he would be a candidate ?

    Carl

I was tinkin' Max could take it over. Since he likes precision things and all.

I appreciate the sentiment, but I am nowhere a good enough machinist to do that kind of work.
I think the fellow you are thinking of is railwire  narrowminded, the madman who was able to machine that
in-scale valve handle with 5 little holes in it!

[CRL]

There’s a huge difference, even for someone with the requisite skill level, between doing a hobby level amount of machining and trying to run a business performing the same type of work. All of a sudden, something that used to be enjoyable and relaxing is WORK, and starts to suck all the pleasure from the activity. Deadlines appear, quotas have to be established and met, revenue must exceed expenses and so on.

I was able to order and just received 2 sets of the NWSL geared replacement wheelsets for my Arnold S2 switchers. The price was about $50 per set, which is expensive, but is obviously reflective of the work required to produce. Although my original gears are not (yet) cracked, I like the locos and wanted to get better looking wheels on them. I may convert them to DCC, or I might just assign them to exclusive duty on an industrial spur area with a stationary decoder powering the area.

In any case, this was not a cost effective move on my part, but I’m still satisfied with it.