Model Railroading > What happened to LBF?

What happened to LBF? Are they still in the model railroad business? If they are out, does anyone know if someone else is going to pick up there product lines? They had some pretty cool HO modern freight cars. Thanks for any information.

SantaFeRuss

LBF sold to the following company. All is well.

http://www.hubertsmodelrailroadcorp.com/

brfriedm Wrote:
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> LBF sold to the following company. All is well.
>
>http://www.hubertsmodelrailroadcorp.com/


Any hope for more wood chip cars?
Noticed the popular SP cars do not have links to photos.

So what happened to Mr Becker and Mr McKean?

fbe Wrote:
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> So what happened to Mr Becker and Mr McKean?


Fred Becker had a fairly serious heart attack and is still recovering. I think it was time for him to focus on his health. Only time will tell what this new company will do. I do know they have switched to Kadee couplers and Atlas trucks with metal wheels on his new releases so that is good. If you have questions on releases, you can contact them on their website.

Bruce

What about the Boeing and Lockheed cars, I did not see them on the website?

Does any one know?

Thanks

Tom

Tom Daspit
Morgan Hill, CA
Tom's Trains

Where does it say anything about LBF on link provided?

Northridge Switcher

No need to say LBF, a look at the website tells you this is the former LBF rolling stock.

Bob

TCnR Wrote:
> Any hope for more wood chip cars?
> Noticed the popular SP cars do not have links to
> photos.


Also, watch that scale. The only smooth side cars that he had available were all N scale.

Just checked and the website is down, shows the ISP info instead. Not a good sign, or maybe they're just updating the info?

...and they're back again. Funnel Fan has it right, all the cars I was looking at are N-scale, not good for me.

Sounds like LBF is running from the IRS again.

///
Foamer

New people entirely this time. Probably take a while for the line to re-emerge and get back into production.

foamer Wrote:
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> Sounds like LBF is running from the IRS again.
>
> ///
> Foamer



Sounds like you don't know what your talking about.

Bruce

The rumor around the hobby for years was that every few years the IRS was looking for the owner, and so he was moving around and changing names. Sounds like now we have a good company at that we can count on.

...
Foamer

Come on now. Read what you are writing. IRS looking for him and changing names? Fred never changed his personal name and ran companies that were publicly known. How does he hide? Did his companies possess some type of stealth technology that masks him from the IRS? I know a person that works for the IRS and they can track down people very easily. Fred Becker was a good person who had average business skills and made some business mistakes. In each case, he picked himself up and started over. He was a hard worker and did not let barriers stop him. He accomplished plenty in this hobby and he is to be commended. I do not know Fred at all. Met him twice at train shows and spoke to him at length. I wish him the best with his healing and may he enjoy some golden years.

Bruce Friedman


foamer Wrote:
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> The rumor around the hobby for years was that
> every few years the IRS was looking for the owner,
> and so he was moving around and changing names.
> Sounds like now we have a good company at that we
> can count on.
>
> ...
> Foamer

Bruce - let me introduce you to some folks that got burned by Fred and his companies. Some people sent drawings and paint diagrams for projects that were never returned and were "lost" in the transition between companies. No appologies and no thanks for the irreplaceable items.

I do hope the former E&C and LBF 13 panel tubs are available again - could use another tub trainset in the future. HOWEVER - Huberts will be in a tough spot. The RTR Walthers cars are available at $79.95 per six pack with their average detail/features and the Athearn cars at $99.98 with state of the art - wire details. I've been told the Hubert (ex-LBF) RTR cars will add Atlas trucks and a resin coal load, but will retail for $22.95 each. That's more than the new Athearns! - and they feature E&C casting details that are very shallow (ribs, grabs, etc)- less than the Walthers tubs! Will be a tough road to sell these IMO.

I've heard some of the stories on the net. Most are BS and some of it is very true. I can also introduce you to some people that have been burned by other manufacurers and magazines. I am not trying to crown Fred as a saint. I openly stated he has made mistakes. I was specifically addressing the IRS comments. Can't we leave this dude alone? I also will be the first person to agree that Fred's work in most cases was very average. He was not a leader in building state of the art cars. I just think it is time to stop taking shots at Fred. Especially people who do not know the facts. Good conversation.

Bruce

PS - One thing I like that Fred did introduce to this hobby is big multiple #'s on runs. When he started selling coals cars with 48 numbers, it educated the industry that modelers want this.

CSXT4447 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bruce - let me introduce you to some folks that
> got burned by Fred and his companies. Some people
> sent drawings and paint diagrams for projects that
> were never returned and were "lost" in the
> transition between companies. No appologies and
> no thanks for the irreplaceable items.
>
> I do hope the former E&C and LBF 13 panel tubs are
> available again - could use another tub trainset
> in the future. HOWEVER - Huberts will be in a
> tough spot. The RTR Walthers cars are available
> at $79.95 per six pack with their average
> detail/features and the Athearn cars at $99.98
> with state of the art - wire details. I've been
> told the Hubert (ex-LBF) RTR cars will add Atlas
> trucks and a resin coal load, but will retail for
> $22.95 each. That's more than the new Athearns!
> - and they feature E&C casting details that are
> very shallow (ribs, grabs, etc)- less than the
> Walthers tubs! Will be a tough road to sell
> these IMO.

CSXT4447 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bruce - let me introduce you to some folks that
> got burned by Fred and his companies. Some people
> sent drawings and paint diagrams for projects that
> were never returned and were "lost" in the
> transition between companies. No appologies and
> no thanks for the irreplaceable items.
>
> I do hope the former E&C and LBF 13 panel tubs are
> available again - could use another tub trainset
> in the future. HOWEVER - Huberts will be in a
> tough spot. The RTR Walthers cars are available
> at $79.95 per six pack with their average
> detail/features and the Athearn cars at $99.98
> with state of the art - wire details. I've been
> told the Hubert (ex-LBF) RTR cars will add Atlas
> trucks and a resin coal load, but will retail for
> $22.95 each. That's more than the new Athearns!
> - and they feature E&C casting details that are
> very shallow (ribs, grabs, etc)- less than the
> Walthers tubs! Will be a tough road to sell
> these IMO.




I, for one, had nothing but good interaction with Fred and a few of the people that worked for him at LBF. I will miss the company.

And Bruce, I still don't think the other manufactures get it yet. With cars that run in unit trains, you need many numbers. Look at the Walthers stone cars. Only 3-4 different car numbers. I did like how LBF gave you at least 48 different car numbers for unit train cars.


Brian

Very well put Bruce!

As an N-scaler, Fred brought some interesting models to the scale. Some had some flaws, but in all cases I think he helped N-scalers...

Let's hope the new owners continue the good stuff and improve in the areas that need improvement...

Lou

Now that LBF and now Hubert's are history, I wonder what happened to the tooling?