To anyone using LBF wheelsets;
I am wanting to conduct head-to-head trials against the various wheelset makers to equip my fleet. So far, the only trouble I am having is getting LBF wheelsets. Their website is not working, and I don’t know how else to contact them. So first, does anyone have any of the information on their wheelsets? I am going to try 33" flatback metal wheelsets in HO scale. Price, availability, contact information, long-term use, and anything else would be useful to me. Second, what is your impression of their product? As good as, better than, or not as good as another manufacturer? And last, if anyone has a set of 4 they would be willing to sell or trade for a different brand, it would save me some hassles, so please e-mail with details. Thanks in advance for the assistance.
I have amended this to add in the Reboxx wheelsets also. Their website is working, but I would be more interested in a trade of 4 for some other brand until I can decide if they are as good as any others. If anyone can help me on these, I would really appreciate it!
I have over 300 LBF wheelsets on my rolling stock. Last year, I went through everything and replaced every wheelset except Atlas, Kato, InterMountain, or Proto2000 with LBF’s wheelsets, both 33 and 36 inch; and I recently purchased another batch of 100 for future use.
Even Kadee trucks roll much better if you put LBF wheelsets into them. The brands mentioned above are the only ones comparable to LBF in rolling qualities.
I have used 33 and 36 inch LBF wheels. excellent results. they work very well in everything that I use. I can no longer locate them either. As always, when something is good it disappears. good luck
Did E&C Car Shops change its name or was it bought out? I noticed LBF’s website (http://www.lbfcompany.com/) has been down all weekend. I wonder if it is maintenance.
Eric,
And the site is still down today. Entering what I thought was E & C Car Shop’s URL: http://www.ecshops.com/
gets diverted into a train set search site. What’s up ?
Bob
NMRA Life 0543
E & C Shops went belly up, and the owner(Fred Becker) started a new company(LBF). I think LBF stands for ‘Loads By Fred’. This guy has had his fingers in McKean & Front Range as well, and we all know where they are now…
Sorry for the misinformation in my post of the other day. All information stated by me for LBF wheels should have been for the “Jay-Bee” wheel sets. Sorry if my error caused any confusion.
My LHS has Jay-Bee, NWSL, and P2K wheelsets all in stock. He ordered me the Intermountain and Branchline sets, which should be in this afternoon. When I go in to pick them up, I will see if he can also order me the Walther’s wheelsets. That still leaves me needing LBF and Reboxx for the trial. I tried calling the phone number listed for LBF yesterday 6 or 7 times, but all I got was a machine. I guess if they are out of business, there is no use testing them out.
If LBF is going out of business, I hope somebody picks up their tooling…they had some unique HO car bodies nobody else offers.
Now, that would be a good company for the Borg (Horizon) to buy up, especially if they made some improvements to the line like they did with the old Details West shells.
It is starting to look like it is down for the count. I am not an IT type, however I would say that it is not actually down, they are just not allow the public to access it.
Not 3 weeks ago, I was on the LBF web site deciding on which wheelsets to try out. I ended up purchasing some from cchobies.com. I got them about 10 days ago and installed the first ones in my rolling stock last weekend. So far so good. Lousy timng if they are now out of business. I hope not, as the wheels seem to be a good product.
When I purchased my Reboxx tool, I also purchased wheelsets. They are nice and are the 088 narrow tread. They look great and track just as well.
I visited LBF’s website. Seems to be operating.