Are these still in business?

To the best of my knowledge, Crescent Locomotive Works closed down a couple of years ago. I was lucky to get a few of his stations/platforms and switch towers before he closed up. If I remember correctly, he was going to switch to just making kits, but that doesn’t seem to have come to fruition. Sad… he made some nice stuff.

I received an order from Brennan's within the last month, along with a phone conversation with Dennis.  He is definitely still in business.

Harry Heike is also alive and well and he headlines the MrMuffin Zoom meeting on Wednesday’s.

Peter

I have ordered from Brennan's and Model Railroad Benchwork within the past 3 months. Within the past month I had Dave at Crescent Model Works do a custom order for me, though he still sells some things on Ebay.

@Putnam Division posted:

Harry Heike is also alive and well and he headlines the MrMuffin Zoom meeting on Wednesday’s.

Peter

I thought it was "Hieke," not "Heike?"

@NIKHIL posted:

I thought it was "Hieke," not "Heike?"

You are correct……my mistake…..Hieke is the correct spelling.

Peter

Thank you, everyone, for all the responses. I just wonder why Mr. Hieke, Mr. Peachey (the Model RR Custom Benchwork owner) and Brennan's Model Railroading are no longer at York. They are all very popular vendors!

@NIKHIL posted:

I just wonder why Mr. Hieke, Mr. Peachey (the Model RR Custom Benchwork owner) and Brennan's Model Railroading are no longer at York. They are all very popular vendors!

We live in fairly tight economic times, and York is a big expense for many after-market manufacturers, most of whom are smaller operations. Consider, too, that the York Meet itself has changed considerably in recent years, and even though it is an event well worth attending for a variety of reasons, there is no question that participation, both at the vendor and member levels, has been adversely impacted. The three enterprises noted above are all well-established, and one can reasonably assume that they continue to do quite well without active participation in this particular meet.

I know for a fact that Dennis Brennan and his company are still alive and well. Dennis stopped coming to York a few years back. He has no intentions in returning. But the business is fine. I talked with him just yesterday.

@poconotrain posted:

I know for a fact that Dennis Brennan and his company are still alive and well. Dennis stopped coming to York a few years back. He has no intentions in returning. But the business is fine. I talked with him just yesterday.

Uhhh...no intentions to return? I never saw him say anything like it on his Facebook page, website, or anywhere else.

And I know we are in tight economic times and York is a major expense for many businesses. But I do know that this is an event worth attending for several reasons. Many younger folks have started coming, and it has become a hot topic on YouTube vlogs.

Perhaps the one big factor that has heavily impacted participation at both vendor and member levels is not so much deaths - it's the pandemic! The COVID-19 phenomenon impacted multiple small businesses (including train stores), some of which had to close. Things started to pick up in Fall 2021, and I am optimistic that it will continue growing, as shown in this message from the Eastern Division president:

And I believe that businesses like Harry Hieke, Brennan's Model Railroading, and Model Railroad Custom Benchwork are great candidates for York participation.

York is big in O guage but the Big E in Springfield Ma is big in all other scales, hence the 4 plus huge halls.