There are several ways in which our business is changing, don't get me wrong we're still building railroads when someone wants one built, but we have had to find other ways to supplement and/or re-build our income and business base.
Let me share those with you now:
1. One of the first ways we're starting in the rebuilding process is to contact clubs and hobby shops who specialize in G-Scale
to do seminars for them on how they can build their railroad so it is "bullet proof".
We are asked on a regular basis how we can build a railroad and then more or less walk away from it. Well, to be honest we will never walk away from a railroad.
Any time the client needs help, we will be there to work on whatever their need is.
But for the most part once we get done fine tuning the railroad and get the client comfortable enough with their
awesome "toy" - they don't normally need us.
We are planning seminars on:
- Building roadbed and laying track (including laying wiring for any eventuality)
- Building long tunnels that are virtually impossible to derail in
- Building mountains and rocks from artificial materials
- Weathering power and rolling stock
- Buildings - Building them so they will weather any climate outdoors, painting, wiring and signing
Most seminars will be 2 days (Saturday and Sunday), cost will be $100 - $150 per seminar and you will receive written materials as well as a video of the seminar.
To make it profitable for us - we will need at least 10 people prepaid for the seminar and the club will pay for our transportation and lodging.
2. We have developed gauges for laying track, so that as you lay your track you have the ability to level, and maintain the curvature on an 8' section at a time. They work like a charm.
Price on a set of these gauges is $120.00 and we accept paypal. Just send the payment to empirebl@cox.net.
3. We've developed panels that you can build your buildings out of, and they are more or less element proof. The panels are 24" X 36" made out of rigid foam.
They can be cut to any size, add windows, doors and anything that makes a building a building.
We are taking pre-orders for these panels at $65.00 ea.
We have ordered the product to manufacture the product and will deliver panels as they are completed.
Each panel has a facade on both sides so that you can feasibly make 2 different buidings from one panel. The facades are brick/wood planking and wood panel/stucco.
Rick made a "show" building to give you an idea of how these will look as they are done. The first picture is the color they are when they come to you.
Rick has cut them to show how windows and doors will be inserted.
The next pictures are the different facades completed and mated to other facades just to who how different each building can be.
This outside facade is brick, with brick on the side, then the wood planking, the long low wall is stucco again followed by wood panel.
This is the same picture, different view. Scroll over to see the whole picture.
This shows the other side of the building, plus the stucco with the round windows.
The paint jobs are just quick, shoot it paint jobs, however you can get as elaborate as you want with these.
Once again these panels are MADE TO ORDER and we are taking PRE-ORDERS at $65.00 per panel.
So there you have it - when life hands you lemons, make Lemonade. We'll just keep on keeping on.
