Ted Nyerges the Screw Supplier

For the first time that I know of, Ted missed the April 2014 show.

He is normally in the Orange hall.

I buy all my screws through the mail. His shipping fee is very reasonable.

Show of hands: how many go to York to get screwd?

Farmer bill, your a bad boy.

No York trip is complete without a stop at Ted's screw, hardware and parts tables. Ted's always been very helpful and is a great asset to the train collector community. When I spoke with Ted last year he told me that he was stricken with a very serious illness that may signal the end of his trips to York. Ted is truly one of the nice guys in this hobby and at this point all we can hope for is for Ted to feel better and hopefully make some kind of recovery. I will pray for Ted.

If Ted was at the show, I missed him.
Hope he is doing OK.

 

I missed seeing Ted as well. That corner doesn't look the same without him.  If I may share the bad news with all (and hope that Ted doesn't mind); Ted is suffering from Cancer. I do not have an update on his condition.

 All we can do is extend our best wishes, prayers and hope that the chance for Ted's recovery from his illness is optimistic.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ted lost his battle with cancer this past Saturday 6/6.

Thank you for posting this information.

I was a regular mail order customer, and will miss dealing with him.

Oh man, my sincere condolences to his family. I was getting a screw order together when I read this today.

Chuck

Thank you for letting us know. Our condolences to his family.

I can remember getting screws from Ted back in the 80s at York.  He truly was a credit to the Toy Train Hobby and humanity.  Really what we all should aspire to be.  Super nice, and helpful no matter how large or small of a customer.

Sad day.  Condolences to his family.

Have had the tables across the aisle from Ted ever since the Orange Hall was opened.  He was a wonderful "neighbor" as well as a helpful source for replacement items.  We have been hopeful that he would be back in October, and I share deep sadness with his family.

I read the bad news late. Very sorry to hear about Teds passing. He was a gentleman one of the good people in the hobby, a friend, key supplier and one who was always very helpful. His knowledge of where every screw that he sold went on every train was amazing. Condolences and prayers to Teds family. Entering the Orange hall and not seeing Ted and his huge display is sad. Ted was there for so many years and will be sorely missed.

Am pleased to be the bearer of good news. In addition to his restoration painting services,  Len Carparelli has become The Screw Guy and will be continuing Ted's business.  We will have to wait to see just where he will be set up at York.

Despite the sadness that goes with losing a long time Orange Hall vendor; life goes on so its good to hear that Ted's business will carry on in his memory.

Screw hunt Oct 2015 - A smashing dissappointment. Foolishly I imagined the tables to be set up as in the past with all the little plastic containers holding every screw possible to hold Lioneville together. This was top on my list for this York. A great grand opening was not to be. I walked by twice without realizing I was missing it. There was barely a quarter of the display I was accustomed to and the majority of booth space was shared with other stuff. I asked the woman guarding the screws if they were ever going to have the full array on the tables in the future. The terse reply was something to the effect that it all had to be cataloged first. Me an another guy made faces, rolled our eyes, and walked away. I'll wait to see what April brings - surely they'll have it together by then.... 

quote:

Screw hunt Oct 2015 - A smashing dissappointment.

 

Maybe you would have better luck writing them about what you'd like to purchase.

I rarely purchased screws from Ted at the York Train meet. I felt my time was better spent elsewhere. I ordered screws through the mail, usually twice a year.

(I have not ordered from Len yet)

 

Folks might like to read this announcement from Len.

I visit the booth when I'm done at the meet, but do not want to leave without one more dip in the proverbial pool. I save my list of fastener needs for this part of the trip and used to spend a solid hour picking through the little containers. I go to the meet so I can put my hands on what I want to buy. It's a pleasure to do it this way rather than by mail order or internet. That's what going to an event like this is about for me.

 

quote:

I go to the meet so I can put my hands on what I want to buy.

 

Nothing wrong with that. I prefer to see what I am buying as well. But Ted was an extremely reliable supplier, so I had no reservations about ordering though the mail.

 

 

That's not encouraging news. I sent Len a large screw order with payment 6 weeks ago. He stated he would have it sent out before York. No screws yet.

Give Lenny a chance. At least he is trying to continue a business that we find important to the hobby. We have to be aware that the hobby isn't the same as it was, anyone trying to keep parts (screws) available is a plus and Lenny will get better as he works through the rough spots. We can't afford to lose any more suppliers.               Lenny J 

 

Hello all,

I joined the OGR forum so I could inform my fellow train buffs about the latest information about my purchase of Ted Nyerges' screw business and news from YORK, but also to respond to fellow member Big0426's comments of a "smashing disappointment" and how he and his friend "made faces, rolled our eyes and walked away" - and his experience at my booth. 

 

First, let me say that Ted and I were great friends for over FORTY YEARS, and his passing affected me deeply.  Like almost everyone who knew Ted, I share the sentiment that he was one of the best guys in this hobby.  Not only because of his calm and easygoing demeanor, but also because of his tremendous knowledge about LIONEL repair, and of course, his unchallenged experience with all the fasteners that held these great trains together. Saying Ted will be missed is an understatement; for me to try and fill his shoes, obtain and dispense all the knowledge he garnered about his business over the years, an impossibility.  That being said, both my wife RuthAnn and I are working very hard to bring the screw business back up to speed.

 

While most of you know Ted only from York and his displays there, purchasing his business was a major undertaking and his stock exceeded over 2,000,000 items - yep. TWO MILLION.  Now of course, Ted knew exactly where everything was, whether in his home or at the train shows, but unfortunately, he did not use a computer and there was no inventory list for us to follow.  We spent months organizing and entering the entire stock onto computer; but before that we had to unload the massive inventory and re-box most of it; and please keep in mind, that we still needed to get out our restoration orders in time for October 2015 YORK!

 

With regard to Bigo426's comments, it was clearly impossible for us to set up Ted's entire display inventory in the short time we had since we purchased it, ; further, Big0426 may not be aware of this, but Lionel F3, FM EP-5 and GG-1 (among other) diesel and electric body shell restorations is our main business; (the "other stuff" he mentions) we could not possibly abandon our customers there and only sell screws; we only brought out some samples to let people know that we're up and running, and, like any business it will take time to become fully operational. We are also working with the meet directors to  try and get more side by side space; after all, we are now essentially running two businesses.

 

I'm sorry Bigo426's experience with us was such a "smashing disappointment", but he can always send in an order to us and we'll fill it.  Ted also did a lot of mail order.. but perhaps he will visit our booth in April and, with luck, we'll have more of Ted's screws and parts at that time.  I cannot promise that we'll have more space, as that is up to the meet directors, who all do a tremendous job in getting the show to run smoothly, particularly for us vendors. It was our first time at the show with Ted's business,  Bigo426, so please have a little patience with us while we get it fully operational. 

 

I'm happy to say that 99% of the comments, and dialogue with members at York regarding our new venture was inspirational and extremely positive, and we sincerely hope to continue Ted's legacy with the very important service he provided our great hobby.

 

Lastly, thanks to my buddy, Lenny J, for the kind words.

 

-Len Carparelli

 

I just want to pass along that I did receive my order from Len last week, so it looks like Len is getting a foothold on Ted's inventory.

Glad to read that things are moving along.

 

I was accustomed to ordering screws from Ted about twice a year. It's a little past when I'd normally send out an order.

 

Len: Can I place an order using Ted's last screw list?

       Or should I wait a while longer?

Yes, we are finally getting rolling.  Anyone who wants to order from us can use Ted's final 2015 list, as we are not changing his prices at this time.

 

The only changes on his list are that increases in postal costs now require us to charge $5.00 for shipping per order; and, we no longer sell individual screws - minimum 1 dozen of each (still $1 dozen).  I'm pretty sure we have everything in stock. We are still fine-tuning our inventory for ease of operation, and, hopefully, to get orders out sooner.  Thanks to all for their patience while we make this transition.

 

Thanks also to our dear friend Ted who offered such a wonderful service to our hobby.  I will do my very best to keep his legacy going..

 

Call us anytime with questions, or check our website for more info.  Ted's list will be posted there shortly.

 

-Len Carparelli

 

 

Does anyone have a soft copy of Ted's 2015 screw list that they could send to me?

Hi aussteve,

 

If you would kindly send your name & address to my e-mail ( lionellennyrestoration@gmail.com) I'll put a copy of Ted's final 2015 list in an envelope and get it out to you in today's mail.

 

Thanks for your interest.

-Len Carparelli

 

 

Len,

 

I'm very grateful to see Ted's business up and running again.  My big hands and the tiny screws weren't working out so well placing the screws into the envelops.  Your wife was very helpful assisting me as I had about 15 envelops to fill.  Keeping Ted's name on the screw business is very thoughtful of you!

 

Side Rod

Instead of bearing the cost of mailing out the list, why not post it on your website and post a link on the forum?

Hello to Side Rod and RJR,

 

Thanks, Side Rod, for your kind comments and your valued business. We're here to help, and it was a pleasure to help you at York. Looking forward to seeing you in April.

 

To RJR: Thank you for replying, and yes, we certainly will post a link on our website very soon.  However, I'm not really a "computer guy" - so I have a web manager who does the 'heavy lifting' for me when it comes to the bytes and gigabytes and changes on my site-  he's in Pennsylvania, and I've already got him alerted.  Probably in a couple of days or so the list and the link should be posted on my site. However, I've got no problem sending out an envelope "snail mail" for those who would like 'hard copy'. Stamps are still cheap.

 

Thanks for your interest. All the best,

 

-Len Carparelli

 

Len, assuming your price list can go for an ounce, that's still a half dollar plus printing.  Rhetorical question:  how much do you have to sell to make that half-buck?  Multiply that times the number you'd have to send out.  Overhead, like cigarettes, can kill. 

I visited Len's booth in the Orange Hall.

On different occasions, I talked briefly to both Len and his wife.

They were very nice and courteous to me.

 

I think the market place has a choice:

- wait until someone else steps in and fills the gap left behind by Ted's absence or

- give Len a chance to get what was a large cache of repair parts inventoried

and into a computer system that can be managed.

It will be quite a challenge for Len to maintain his original restoration business and pick up Ted's business.  It may take a while, but I think that Len has every intention of being as customer oriented as Ted was.

 

Personally, I will wait for Len.

HI aussteve and RJR-

 

Aussteve - thanks for visiting us at YORK and yes, it is a challenge to maintain both businesses.  However, I have two additional people working for me besides my wife and myself, and that is my computer expert who also helps us out with shipping, packing, and shop incidentals, and my 'web guy', mentioned earlier who manages my site.

 

The new computerized inventory has helped us tremendously, and little by little, we'll be fully 100% operational.  Ted had a whiz-bang computer mind (I don't!!) and he easily knew everything he had and exactly where it was.

 

And yes, I intend to do my level best to run Ted's business as well as he did, and if I find can't do this, I will stop.  But we're quite excited about keeping Ted's legacy going. 

 

RJR: Thanks for your reply.  Let me say this: Back in the 1970s when I worked in the music business, the major record labels like RCA, Capitol, Atlantic, etc., all had a program called "loss leaders", where they sold (or gave away) their poorly-selling artists' records at a loss, but with the intention that people could simultaneously check out the other artists on the label.  The idea behind the program was simply an advertising hype put to work, knowing that the stronger artists on the label would get them their profit, and get new sales to consumers that may not have seen other ads, or, may not have heard of the so-called 'better' artists.

 

Basically, it came down to their advertising budget; they knew they had to advertise anyway, and this seemed to be an efficient way for them to do it.

 

Same with the lists.  I need to print them anyway, to hand them out at meets, because, yeah, there actually still are people who refuse to use computers.  But they do like to spend money on trains.  So, since I need to print these lists anyway, for the 50c postal charge, I can offer that service to my clients as well.

 

Is it more efficient and cheaper just to post it digitally on computer? Of course it is! But since I'm new to the 'screw business' I need to reach out to as many people as I can, including those without computers, to let them know I'm here! It'll be on my site shortly.  But for anyone who'd like it right away, I don't mind spending the 50c to expedite it to them.  I've found that most train guys who request information (unlike so many other businesses) are very serious about purchasing!

 

Anyway, thanks to all for reading through my little 'soap box'. I'll be sure to post a flash here on the forum as soon as the list is up on the site.

 

 

 

Thanks to all..

 

-Len Carparelli

 

 

 

Len, I've known you for must be since the early 80's. I will always remember you for the great paint jobs on the Jersey Central FM's. I would just like to wish you good luck with your new venture. See you at York in April. Ed G. in Portland, Maine

Thank you, CW.

Just want to say -

 

I sincerely appreciate everyone's comments, suggestions, and certainly all my customer's and future customer's interests in our new venture. 

 

We'll do our very best to make Ted proud of us!

 

Thanks!

 

-Len Carparelli

 

I put an order for some stuff in the mail the day before I went on an eight day trip. My package was waiting for me when I returned. I'd say that is a fast turn around.

Thanks Len!