Just got an email from Chooch.
The owner is retiring and no mention of a sale or continuation of the business.
Bummer.
Rich
I may have a few items from Chooch. The down side to many small companies, as well as hobby shops, is they are single owner and owner eventually retires. Hopefully the product line will be taken over by another and products will continue to be made. Otherwises it’s going to be treasure hunt time.
Nooooo! [:'(]
I can’t believe someone wouldn’t pick up that line of business.
I have a lot of Chooch loads and a couple of tunnel portals. I have not been happy with their flexible walls of late.
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American Model Builder’s loads are much better.
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There are already other companies making products similar to what is in the Chooch line, and there is plenty of Chooch product at train shows.
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This is not as bad an NWSL leaving last year. That could have been a real hole in the product line.
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-Kevin
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You won’t know it going by the their web site.
Mike.
PS. OOOPS, just seen the announcement on facebook. Never mind.
Time to make a shopping list again
Dang, I really like their flexible coal loads. Time to stock up.
It may be a bit late - I just looked at the HO freight loads, and most of the products were listed as OUT OF PRODuCTION (with a majority of the remainding loads listed as ‘Currently Out Of Stock’, including the coal and ore loads.
Odd, because I thought they were recently introducing new items like the ‘Clamshell Road’ (I saw a mention in MR, and it’s mentioned as new on their website), although items like Portals, Walls, and roads seem to be available.
Dealers still have them, at least. For now.
I got the same email from Chooch. I’ll miss seeing and chatting with Mike at Trainfest.
I have used several of their products such as their resin cut-stone retaining walls. The hard solid resin ones: like one of the other posters above, I am not that impressed by their newer flexible, rubbery line of products. Chooch has gone through many iterations over the years - at one time they had O scale rolling stock if memory serves. So the tooling they’d have available for sale would be varied and considerable.
Sometimes these announcements are made, with no reference to selling to a new owner or even shopping the product line to new owners, but it happens anyway. NWSL is an example. Boley is another.
But to my surprise I believe the tooling for the Jordan line of vehicles and carriages is still sitting idle. Kind of surprised Walthers has not acquired it and shipped it to China for production.
Dave Nelson
I’m still hopeful that Dave Tichy would somehow pick up the Jordan line. That, to me, would seem to be a better fit in the “target market” scheme of things.
Regards, Ed
Where I seen the anouncement on Facebook, it was from an online retailer, who goes on to say all of the Cooch line can be bought through them, as long as supplies last.
I can’t find the add again, or the name. Probably just a ploy to get you to buy from them anyway, even though they seemed to have a personal connection to Cooch.
I’ve never used much of their stuff, as it mostly deals with the transition era.
I guess their rock and wall casting would be usable, no matter your time frame.
Their web site is still up, so I guess if you want something from them, better get it now.
Mike.
OK, this seems like a good place to mention something I heard at the Tichy booth at this past weekend’s Amherst Model Railroad show. In line to purchase several detail parts, another customer was talking with one of the two people manning the booth (I guess Don Tichy & his wife/girlfriend? The two were there last year). Regardless, Mr. Tichy said not only would they [Jordan Estate] not sell him the tooling, but to the best of his knowledge the tooling had been destroyed. They begin speculating on why, but I just kept quiet, paid for my detail parts and left.
sure its their right, but that is terrible.
Wow if true on Jordan that is such a shame- the last anyone had heard the family wanted a lot for the tooling. (At least that was what was floating around months back) It sounded a lot like that in the recent case of Rio Grande Models and that the tooling was going to be destroyed. That
You can easily make your own coal loads. Just cut foam pieces, paint it black and add crushed foam on top. Easy, fast, and cheap!
Chooch never made any (can’t live without) items, so no big loss (I do like their loads and inspection pits though).
My favorite items in the Chooch line have not been mae in a long time. These were the small branchline structure kits.
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Chooch made a lot of great products through the years, and a lot of it was short run.
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-Kevin
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Got a notice from Chooch Enterprises today that the business has been sold to Walthers.
Rich
Regarding Rich’s post . I saw a Walthers ad saying they are acquiring Chooch.