News column - 19
Briefly noted at press time...
. . .
Polk’s train
has reached the end of the line. After 78 years
in the model hobby business as a manufacturer, wholesaler
and retailer, Polk’s Hobby of Irvington, New Jersey, will close
December 31, 2013. Citing a continuing downturn in the econ-
omy, the high cost of manufacturing and an overall shrinking
of the R/C and large-scale model train arena, the company
announced that the family enterprises, including Polk’s Hobby,
Aristo-Craft Trains, and RMT, are no longer sustainable. Polk's
also owns Crest-Electronics which will continue to manufacture
and market its Train Engineer Revolution brand wireless loco-
motive radio control system.
Brothers Irwin and Nat Polk established themselves as hobby
retailers in 1935 in New York City in a walk-up on Seventh
Avenue. Despite the depression, Polk’s Hobby Shop thrived and
they soon moved into a five-story building at 314 Fifth Avenue.
Each floor specialized in a different category of the hobby field
and the aggressively promoted store developed into a show-
case for the hobby industry. Nat retired in 1993 and Lew Polk
took responsibility for the family business until his own retire-
ment in 2012. Scott Polk, the third generation to lead the com-
pany, became president in 2003. Although Polk’s Hobby moved
to New Jersey in 1980, the Manhattan store is memorialized
in a scene in the movie The Godfather. A statement released
by the Polk family read, “Our humble thanks to our loyal cus-
tomers. Our apologies for not being able to keep this almost
80-year-old business going. It’s a heartbreaker for us all.”
. . .
BLMA
has announced another production run of its N
scale PS-2CD 4000 covered hopper. New road names will be
BN, CNW, KCS, and NP. Also in the mix is a rerun of an ATSF
car. Reservations are being booked this month for delivery in
mid-2014.
. . .
Athearn
plans to release three new HO scale Genesis-
series models late next March. They include ES44AC GEVO
locomotives with road-specific details for UP, CPR, and BNSF;
and A, A/A, and A/B combinations of Athearn’s acclaimed
EMD F units decorated for Seaboard Coast Line. Ready-to-Roll
(non-Genesis) models due in March include SD40T-2 diesels
decorated for D&RGW, UP, and SP in both snoot nose and
Kodachrome schemes. Also SD60s in Conrail, CSX/YN3, CN, and
CPR livery.
Athearn has scheduled both HO and N scale versions of a UTC
33,900 gallon LPG tank car for delivery in March. Additional
HO items include a 40' fishbelly flat car for GN, SCL, B&M, Erie,
L&N, and NH; 40' containers; and a 40' quad-bay open hop-
per for B&O, C&O, Rio Grande, IC, WM, and Peabody. Road
names on a 50' mechanical reefer will include PFE (UP-SP),
SFRD, Burlington, CN, NP, and NYC – all in six numbers each.
Completing Athearn’s March release is a chemical tank car in
three numbers each for Warren, Emery, Eastman Kodak, Gulf,
Hooker, and Allied Chemical.
. . .
Bowser
is working on a new series of HO scale class G-39
ore jennys decorated in various PRR and PC schemes. Both
Pennsy Crown and Bettendorf-type trucks will be offered.
Delivery will be early next year.
Briefly noted at press time continued ...
MRH-Oct 2013
