Cottage Industry Structures

Cottage Industries are fading fast. It might be said I am a member of that group. i have been designing and manufacturing structure kits for O scale since 1973! way back when, it was a good little business. Nowadays, it is much less. I still manufacture limited run kits in O scale, however, advertising is a luxury i cannot afford these day; sales are so few and far between. In fact, it is hardly worth it for me to waste my time these days manufacturing. That's why I have more or less switched to custom building. i have loads of resin factory parts cast in resin. Several new storefronts for AmeriTown structures so all are not the same. My kits are resin and Hydrocal construction and are very detailed. probably the most accurate on the market today. But do any of these sell? No. All one has to do is email me at tomyorke@bellsouth.net or go to one of my blogs at thomasayorkeoscalemodels or thomasayorkedesignstudio and check things out.

Then of course we have the influx of Chinese products. I cannot compete with them. Even they are gradually going up in price. Pretty soon we'll have to go to Lower Mongolia for model railroad items! 

Ever since about 2008, Yahoo groups has been very silent and many manufacturers have bitten the dust. I have said it for years and I will say it again, we are the last generation of model railroaders. When we are gone, those over 50, there will be few to pick up the banner. 

This isn't sour grapes. It's just what's happening. Instant gratification and computer games have taken over our youth. Just go to a restaurant and check out how many people, not only children, who are on their iPods. Nobody talks anymore. They would rather text. Even at the same table!

How to make a million dollars as a model railroad manufacturer? Start with two! Let's enjoy our trains while we can. And buy from cottage industries...

Having built many kits and also like to scratch build I have acquiered many kits while I was building my layout. Now that it is nearly finished I find that a lot of them did not work out for one reason or another.

I really wonder how many have done the same???  

I also feel that it is pretty hard to compete as an unbuilt kit at maybe $ 100 when you can buy a ready built scenicked and detaild kit such as the Menards bldgs. for approx the same money. Yes I know that there is a big difference in a well built kit scene.

Gary G           www.cherelvalleyrailroad.com    Take a look !

If those buildings were built in the US they would be much more than $100. They are made in China and those people make far less than Americans. 

Tom please don't give up the ship. just so you know i bought one of your early kits off the auction site which didn't put any money in your pocket and paid WAY MORE than you originally sold the kit for. so i don't sound like your ad agency or your best friend i think your kits are one of the best out there. i have built many of them and wish you would still offer more.

my son (31 years old) just got into the hobby about a year ago and he is making buildings as well. he plans to offer kits and trust me he admires the workmanship your kits have. i agree that times have changed as most can't see the value of building anything just their credit card bill from their ready made purchases.

      i think the key that i noticed recently is that OST ran an article about building old car kits and i have noticed that the kit prices have gone up so maybe a few people have taken the hint. also stoney creek ran 100 of the oil well kit with all the separate buildings it was a $700. deal and he is offering another 25 because he sold out in 2 weeks. i feel that if you seen 1 factory built building you have seen them all.

      lastly i think there is still a lot of young blood out there that are into trains there are a lot of young families going to the train shows in ne ohio and i have seen dave from mercer hand a young visitor to his shop the keys to a genset diesel on his store layout and with lionel offering iphone controls for the layout i feel that there will be longevity to the hobby.

Tom:

I think you are absolutely correct about going the custom structure route. I sure wish you well and hope you stay with us.

See you at York?

What I quickly saw when I first got on this forum was that a lot of people were radically kitbashing and modifying Plasticville....this after I had been to some train

conventions where the layouts had, literally, acres of out-of-the-box Plasticville.  The same thing would affect me if I picked up a Menard's building....I would have to modify and repaint it to keep me from thinking it was like zillions of others out there.  My

favorite Tom Yorke kit I have built is one of a Michigan grain elevator...sorry, I modified that, too, with a taller elevator tower.  But that is the point about these kits...you can tweak them to suit yourself and get something very individualistic.  The

down side is that it will take you a while to fill your real estate.  I did talk to a kitbuilder who had made a number of now hard to find kits....he said he just got tired of stuffing small parts in boxes.