Another Icon bites the dust!.....

Probably a victim of the new age of model railroading where we buy everything store bought new, pre-built and remotely controlled. 

Change of times. Great scale lumber source. It will be a loss to all.

I have no idea about their business details, or what it takes to supply what they do, but let's hope someone steps in and "buys the tooling" (or whatever the scale-wood-model-business equivalent to that is).

Sometimes these things end because the owners just get old and want to go home, as did those of us who drew a paycheck from someone else. Weaver, I understand, was financially viable. It doesn't always mean that the world has changed entirely. Dimensional scale lumber is, and would still be, purchased.

And Atlas just bought BLMA

Who "BLMA"?

I used them many times professionally, sad loss.

http://www.njbiz.com/article/2...ires-blma-models-inc

I've just begun scratchbuilding my own rolling stock, and I have been using a lot of their products, ie: roofs, floors, and siding. This is a huge loss to me, not only for their scratchbuilding products, but I believe that LaBelle and Ye Olde Huff-n-Puff use their products as well. I could be wrong about that, though.

This is going to make things difficult for the 5 or 6 of us that are building our own rolling stock.

I wonder if scratch building supply outfits are seeing a drop in sales because I really don't see people scratchbuilding like they used to.

Heck, I recently showed my layout to someone and he was extremely surprised that I only had two kit structures on my layout (Grandt Line) and only one prebuilt one (Woodland Scenics gas station, but highly modified) and the rest were scratchbuilt. "Wouldn't it have been easier to go with pre-built?" he asked. When I explained that nobody makes what I was looking for and prebuilts would have to be taken apart for repainting anyway for RR-related structures.

he still didn't get it.

Sad to hear - there was a time when NorthEastern was mentioned in every scratch-building article you would see. I wonder if the milling equipment is being considered by another business such as the dollhouse/architectural producers. That nice passenger car roof stock might be gone forever.

BLMA Best Looking Models Around made HO, N, & Z scale rolling stock, detail parts and signals.