chris coates

Hi all I have received a letter from Steve in response to mine. I attach it here:- Hello Chris, thank you very much for your kind and supportive message. Healthwise, I’ve been given a clean bill just before Christmas, so despite receiving many pairs of much needed socks and pants this news was the best Christmas present I received this year. LLC is currently dormant. With tooling trapped in China and no time or cash to recover it I have very few options left. I’m talking with commercial litigation agents at the moment so I shall wait to see what they have to report back. Obviously it was never my intention for any of this to happen. My greatest mistake was to try to bring back model production to the UK, and I’m not lost on the irony that the two companies I chose to produce the moulded parts decided to tool in China! The Company is not dead yet. I hope to revive it somehow and make good on my promises, both on the Ruston and 22, but when this will happen I simply can’t say. All the tooling for the Ruston exists so it's a matter of reclaiming it and finding funds to produce it. If that proves impossible I will try to find a way to refund some or all of the deposits paid for the 22. I'm afraid I have very little time to visit any forums or model railway groups on Facebook, so please feel free to post an update on my behalf. Anyone who wishes to contact me can do so on this email address. Kindest and sincerest regards, Steve

OK. Really good explanation and I've successfully removed the end stretcher. Unfortunately one end came away but broke the brake shoe section off. The other end eventually also parted but both pins sheared. Not sure if it hadn't been off before and glued. Anyway, I can sort all this out now. FYI, the problem with the bogie was an extremely unlikely one in that the wire had become detached where it was soldered to the tab...the one that screws to the bogie side for the pickups. Easy sorted now. Many thanks for your assistance Al

Update...I've oversprayed the Halfords Green with Railmatch BR green. I had to mask the yellow end which was fairly successful with a bit of seep. Looks OK now and I've fettle the yellow ends as well. It's also had the light grey side band added plus the sound module. Just a bit more to do and then I'll post a photo of the final result.

Hi. Did you manage to have a look at a class 25 as mentioned? I've had another try the other night but, although the main side pins are loose, there's no budging the ends. Don't really know what I can do and fear I will end up breaking something. Any suggestions other than trying Heljan direct who, if previous experience is anything to go by, don't seem to reply. Might anyone else have dismantled a class 25 bogie frame?

Thanks. I've Just had another look at the Class 25 but I can't see any obvious place where the ends part. There is a slight gap but, even with my smallest screwdriver, it wasn't for moving. Don't want to put too much pressure on as it will inevitable snap. The main pins are separating no problem but the ends are acting like they are glued!!

Hi. I am impressed with your work on the Heljan O gauge diesels and wondered if you could help with a query. I have a class 25/3 with a strange fault. One of the wires from a pickup isn't making a circuit and after a lot of checking it seems the wire must be broken near to where it it fastens to the pickups. It's easy enough to sort but I'm having problems removing the bogie sides. They obviously pull off but are prevented from doing this by the end brackets but I cant suss out how this separates. Whereas with the class 37 which simply pull off the Class 25 it's more complex and I'm worried about causing damage if I carry on. Any ideas??

Hi Neil I was careful to mention "legally binding" by which I do not mean crowdfunding. How this would be done I cant say as I don't have the legal knowledge but I'm sure there is a method. I understand people will not now fund something that has previously failed but if a model could be guaranteed (legally) then would people back it? If those investors are seeking no profit then the end model should surely be cheaper. Would it be offered to others, yes but at a higher price and this could then be repaid to the original investors or, if agreed, used to fund another model. I'm sure some people will say I'm talking rubbish...maybe I am...but it would superb if we could find a way to make it happen. Steve was so close and would have succeeded if he hadn't become ill. You just can't account for these things. I agree the way things were financed at LLC were quite clouded and I guess most funders thought they were paying towards a Class 22 not a Rushton. Whilst I cannot support the way this has been done I suspect we would have been completely unaware of this had things gone as planned and may well be the normal method for these things. Is all hope lost? What does surprise me is that the likes of Dapol/Heljan/Hattons etc. haven't seen the potential of what exists, purchased the design work off Steve and produced it in China...or am I just missing something?

I did copy my section (above) to LLC facebook page but also added that I personally would rather put more into the pot than not see the Class 22 appear. I would not do so without it being a legally binding contract that there would be a model Class 22 or a refund...no iffs or buts. I am sure there are others who feel the same but, if people don't come forward, then nothing will happen and we will all lose out. I don't have the skills or experience to progress this financially but perhaps some "funders" do? This may be the last chance to salvage something from this situation? One possible scenario might be to take Steve's development progress and explore a manufacturer in China. Although virtually starting from scratch, if the people who would now have shares in the company are not looking to make any profit (just get a model at a decent price) then perhaps it is feasible?

The Class 22 project appeared to be the start of a new generation of models that were both accurate and technically advanced. Had Steve not become ill then perhaps this situation would not have occurred or maybe not been as serious as it has now become. I am sorry to learn that Steve has not been able to find anyone, or any group of people, who will continue his early work. By the sound of things the project needs £100,000 injecting but, if it is viable, then surely this would be a good investment and a supporter would eventually come out on the right side of it. Its a hell of a lot of money but there are people in this hobby who have this kind of money and if we let this kind of enterprise die then there is little incentive for others to get involved in similar projects... so the whole hobby will suffer and those "long dreamed of models" will probably never appear. Steve has offered his technical experience to those who will get involved so let's just pray that someone/some group with foresight will prevent this worthy project from disappearing forever. I just wish I had the cash as I don't think it's a loser. Also bear in mind what would probably have followed had Steve not become ill. A Class 28 Metrovick, a class 24 and the large Warship were all models on his wish list and who knows what else. At least they would have been completely accurate as this was Steve's standard of excellence. Hopefully Steve, with improving health, could also continue to be involved as he obviously has a reasonable level of experience in this field having already produced the superb class 15. It's too good a venture to fail and if it could just get this cash injection to get back on its feet I am convinced its a winner.

It would be very interesting to know how many people subscribed to the class 22 project. If we take a moderate guess at 150 then there should be about £600,000 in the pot. Admittedly some will be spent on the set up but there must be a fair wedge in the bank ready to pay the manufacturers to produce the parts. Then the cost of assembly has to be accounted for and I assume there was an expected profit at the end of all this. Another factor is the Ruston diesel shunter as we know LLC money has been spent on this. It would be good to know what has happened to all funders money as there should still be a considerable amount in the bank but you suggest the accounts are not showing this.....worrying!!!

I attended the Doncaster O Show yesterday and found the Digitrains stand with loads of LLC Class 15 models for sale. It appears they have purchased all the remaining stock, presumably from LLC. What worries me is that things appear to be happening but no-one is telling the funder's anything. Has anyone heard from Steve at all? There's a lot of people's money at stake here and I think it's high time we had an update from Steve even if it's only a basic response telling us the current situation. I did consider asking for my monies to be repaid in class 15 locos rather than being kept in the dark for the foreseeable future but that's not an option now is it? Come on Steve you need to start being more communicative and telling us what's going on regularly. The quieter you are the worse this all looks. I'm praying "no news" is good news but I'm not really convinced this is the case here but please prove me wrong.

We all know Steve has put a massive amount of work into the class 22 project (and the others). Sadly it appears health problems have forced him to step back and, understandably, he has decided he needs to relinquish the responsibility he now feels LLC is putting on him. Given the problems with factories, etc that he has already told us about, I admired his determination to battle through regardless. It seems Steve has the knowledge and contacts to make it happen so I wonder if he could get someone to take most of the weight off him (physically and financially) he would feel relieved enough to continue to be involved with the project and allow it to come to fruition. Perhaps a partnership or something similar would work? It would seem such a shame that, having put so much effort into both the Ruston and the Class 22, he is unable to see it through. Both projects are well advanced and it sounds like all the hardest work has been done. I sincerely hope he can still be involved and see his locomotives finished. Good luck Steve.

Sorry if I come across as a tad blunt and I think this is more borne out of frustration at the lack of information recently. Obviously Steve's health is top priority and I wish him well. Until we all have the full story and things are clearer we can but hope that the situation isn't as bad as it might be! I just hope that, if needed, someone can come in and rescue things. Might Dapol consider picking up the pieces? It's time they did a larger diesel and this might just be the one.

I have three on order so I'm horrified at what will my loss be? It was my favourite loco so I decided I should have different varieties and never considered this project to be "crowd funding" given Steve's background and the way it was marketed. If there is no reclaim then perhaps Steve should offer us any remaining class 15 locos in stock as some compensation. The whole episode leaves me with a total loss of faith in anything of this nature and I pity anyone else trying to make any progress with this now. Like all companies in trouble, very little is reported and it seems this lack of information was in fact the "writing on the wall". All in all it's a totally unacceptable outcome.

Success my friends. For some reason both 08's 4 digit addresses had reverted to a single digit one. When I re-wrote the correct number all is fine. I shall now undertake some serious testing to make sure everything else is working fine Many thanks for your assistance