E&B Valley
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I believe this company is out of business.
Did another company or companies take over their product line? Thanks. Bob Chaparro Hemet, CA |
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Andy Miller
The good news is that it was taken over by Eastern Car Works. The bad news is that they too seem to be out of business ☹
Regards, Andy Miller
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Bob Chaparro via groups.io
Sent: Sunday, March 7, 2021 1:15 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: [RealSTMFC] E&B Valley
I believe this company is out of business. |
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Wasn't Bill Glass behind E&B Valley, Robins Rails, and Bev-Bel and even contracted to do some molds for either Front Range or McKean?? My memories are starting to all mush together... :-D What happened to the E&B Valley passenger cars including the Osgood Bradley car? Tim O'Connor On 3/7/2021 1:23 PM, Andy Miller wrote:
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Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts |
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Schuyler Larrabee
Bill Glass was behind E&B Valley and Robin’s Rails (named for his daughter, IIRC). They were located in the Lower Hudson Valley, in the general vicinity of Poughkeepsie.
Bev-Bel was not (AFAIK) involved with Bill Glass. Separate company in New Jersey. Dick Waite, a local dealer, was friendly with the proprietors.
Front Range had their own die cutter, who was somehow connected, eventually, with Intermountain, if only that he cut the dies that IM later acquired. I spoke with him by phone once, and praised the fact that FR roofs were profiled inside and out reflecting how the panels were shaped. He remarked that it was actually easier that way and reduced the amount of material required for the parts.
Schuyler
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Tim O'Connor
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2021 1:45 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] E&B Valley
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Bev-Bel Corp., formerly of Cresskill, New Jersey, was founded in 1956 by Irvin and Beverly Belkin. Bev-Bel produced limited runs of road names and schemes not generally produced by the major model railroad manufacturers, along with special-appeal rolling stock, including the Holdiay [sp?], Americana and Mexicana Models series. I read that Irv Belkin and Irv Athearn were great friends, even went on cruises together with their wives. Athearn was the source of Bev-Bel’s undecorated HO scale freight cars Craig Walker, formerly of Athearn’s product development unit and now working for Rapido, told me: “Irv Athearn's nephew (Irv never had any children of his own) had in interest in trains, and was married to a woman from México. As a result of many trips there, he gathered material to produce his Mexicana Models line in a shop in Garden Grove, CA. The nephew also did some overflow pad printing for Athearn, and also did most, if not all, of Bev-Bel's printing and some painting. As I recall, Bev-Bel eventually bought Mexicana Models from the nephew, or got an exclusive on them. But at the beginning, we at the Little Depot were able to get them from a distributor in Oceanside, which was our main Athearn supplier. For Bev-Bel, I had to order them from Bev-Bel in New Jersey, and for years the Little Depot was the only shop in Southern California that carried the Bev-Bel line, and we did very well with them because they produced models that Irv wasn't interesting it doing - particularly on the Railbox car, which Irv only offered in RBOX and skipped all the colorful Per Diem schemes for shortlines, leaving those to be produced by his friend, Irv Belkin, at Bev-Bel.” Bob Chaparro Hemet, CA |
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Stan Madyda
Yes, Robins Rails was named after his daughter. The E in E&B was for his wife Ellen. They were located closer to White Plains than Poughkeepsie. Bill did paint and letter Athearn cars for Bev Bel for a while. He passed away maybe five years ago. Stan Madyda |
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Tom Madden
On Sun, Mar 7, 2021 at 03:39 PM, Stan Madyda wrote:
August 2013. Time passes faster than we'd like..... Tom Madden |
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Dennis Storzek <destorzek@...>
On Sun, Mar 7, 2021 at 10:54 AM, Schuyler Larrabee wrote:
The toolmaker at Front Range Products (AKA Tapp Industries) was Fred Brummet (sp?). He was later one of the founding partners at Intermountain. Fred Becker, owner of Front Range and Brummet's boss, liked to sell tooling services. They tooled the 50' PS-1 for Bill Glass, the 40' PS-1 for Bill McKean, and a GP-9 for some outfit called East Coast Models, IIRC. Becker liked to promote projects, build the tooling, run production all out of proportion to sales, then bill the customer, and take the tools back when the customer wouldn't, or couldn't pay. This is how both the GP-9 and PS-1 ended up in the Front Range product like. Eventually, Becker took the McKean name, too. Dennis Storzek |
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Schuyler Larrabee
Thanks, Dennis, for clarifying that it was Fred Brummet, who was the tool maker. I remember (NOW, of course) that he was in at the beginning of Intermountain. The practices of Mr Becker certainly leave something to be desired in the ethics department. It’s unfortunate that he essentially killed a couple of promising companies.
Schuyler
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Dennis Storzek
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2021 7:02 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] E&B Valley
On Sun, Mar 7, 2021 at 10:54 AM, Schuyler Larrabee wrote:
The toolmaker at Front Range Products (AKA Tapp Industries) was Fred Brummet (sp?). He was later one of the founding partners at Intermountain. |
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Hi Bob, The Bev-Bel Corp history is indeed interesting. I am assuming the same people were responsible for the “O” scale cars that carried the Bev-Bel name that I became aware of in the 80s’ . They were identical to the Atlas Stock car, Box car (PRR X43C), ore cars (DMIR?), 52’gondola (PRR G31e). Do you have any more knowledge of this? Rich Yoder
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Bob Chaparro via groups.io
Sent: Sunday, March 7, 2021 3:01 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] E&B Valley
Bev-Bel Corp., formerly of Cresskill, New Jersey, was founded in 1956 by Irvin and Beverly Belkin. Bev-Bel produced limited runs of road names and schemes not generally produced by the major model railroad manufacturers, along with special-appeal rolling stock, including the Holdiay [sp?], Americana and Mexicana Models series. I read that Irv Belkin and Irv Athearn were great friends, even went on cruises together with their wives. Athearn was the source of Bev-Bel’s undecorated HO scale freight cars Craig Walker, formerly of Athearn’s product development unit and now working for Rapido, told me: “Irv Athearn's nephew (Irv never had any children of his own) had in interest in trains, and was married to a woman from México. As a result of many trips there, he gathered material to produce his Mexicana Models line in a shop in Garden Grove, CA. The nephew also did some overflow pad printing for Athearn, and also did most, if not all, of Bev-Bel's printing and some painting. As I recall, Bev-Bel eventually bought Mexicana Models from the nephew, or got an exclusive on them. But at the beginning, we at the Little Depot were able to get them from a distributor in Oceanside, which was our main Athearn supplier. For Bev-Bel, I had to order them from Bev-Bel in New Jersey, and for years the Little Depot was the only shop in Southern California that carried the Bev-Bel line, and we did very well with them because they produced models that Irv wasn't interesting it doing - particularly on the Railbox car, which Irv only offered in RBOX and skipped all the colorful Per Diem schemes for shortlines, leaving those to be produced by his friend, Irv Belkin, at Bev-Bel.” Bob Chaparro Hemet, CA |
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