Very Interesting - wrt Cooper-Craft

[George Stein]

Fascinating news. What's been the UK reaction?

http://www.cooper-craft.co.uk/

George
North Carolina

Otherwise, Merry Christmas

[Dad-1]

News to me.
Cooper-Craft got a bad name as the previous owner was taking money
and not delivering the goods. A friend of mine got bitten twice, once
could be a mistake, twice ...... ?

So perhaps good news at a time that businesses are closing as no longer
viable in today's financial climate.

Geoff T.

[Bigmet]

The reaction is 'hopeful' as the businesses concerned are of good reputation. The state of the tooling will be the big question, my specific hope, the very useful Kirk LNER items such as the KX suburban Quadart sets will be usable. (These have long been the easiest way to build representative late GNR and LNER vehicles, cannot have enough of them for an East Coast steam period model railway.)

[Richard08]

Good to see others prepared to buy the production equipment, presumably they think there is a future for the range. The fact they have bought the equipment only and not the goodwill (the business itself) is, I suspect, significant.

[Bigmet]

Good to see others prepared to buy the production equipment, presumably they think there is a future for the range...

They are in with a good shout on the KIrk LNER coach kits. The teak gangwayed stock was very varied, and only Hornby have attempted a small selection of (poorly chosen) subjects, redoubling on this with inaccurate reproduction, you couldn't make it up, really.

The end result is that despite the superfluity of RTR OO GNR and LNER design express traction, the only authentic express train formations available for the pre-WWII GNR/LNER period from RTR, are relative rarities, a couple of Pullman car sets (from Hornby's extensive range). (Hornby are about to redouble on the exotica front with a streamlined Coronation set: very welcome, but again a rarity.)

So simple to assemble polystyrene kits of the everyday vehicles are very welcome to us drysiders...

[6C]

On the Kirk coach kits, it says this on the latest news link :

"Also please visit https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/news/kirk-lner-coaches for news of the Kirk and Mailcoach coach kits."

No expert - the nearest I go to LNER coaching stock - is a SO to Llandudno from West Yorkshire hauled by a B1!.

My experience of the Phoenix site is favourable though and the link works. The page also give contact details for Coopercraft items ordered under the old management.

HTH
Pete