truffy Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 22 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said: I am just extremely disappointed that it all went belly-up, and the manner in which it did so. Given that it was a result of illness that ended his business, Steve would likely agree with you. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted December 16, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 16, 2019 (edited) 19 hours ago, delticfan said: I remember LLC selling the kits for the Class 04 which apart from the wheels and some fittings were basically junk as far as the etchings went I bought and subsequently sold an 04 kit and I was convinced it was LLC but found the instructions the other day and they said "right price loco". Were these companies linked or completely unrelated? Edited December 16, 2019 by Hal Nail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted December 16, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 16, 2019 Steve bought the Right Price kits before moving into rtr. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 It's not only crowd funding that is a problem - reliance on one guy https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/12/cryptocurrency-investors-want-to-exhume-ceo-who-took-250-million-to-his-grave/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post chris coates Posted January 13, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 13, 2020 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 8 2 4 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 Good to hear Steve has made/making a recovery. I will not say anything about expecting an outcome either way regarding the models, would not be correct in the circumstance I believe. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGR Hooper! Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Wonderful news! I've spoken to Steve a few times and he's always come across as very passionate. I hope he can manage things somehow. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 I am delighted to hear the Steve appears to be well on the road to recovery. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Very positive news, both in the matter of Steve's health and his renewed motivation, good to hear! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervyn Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Great news that Steve has got a clean bill of health ! who knows maybe there might be some more news yet ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrankyChris Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Yes, great news to hear that Steve has recovered well and is feeling positive and in the right frame of mind to pick up the next activities. As everyone else has said, we need to be patient to see what occurs without any additional pressures. Looking forward to see what happens. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervyn Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Has anyone heard anymore from Steve ? been very quiet . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 On 15/06/2020 at 11:14, mervyn said: Has anyone heard anymore from Steve ? been very quiet . No change there, then, really? 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fay Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Without wishing to stir up a hornet’s nest has there been any updates recently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 9 months without a whisper from those concerned. I would say the silence speaks volumes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 22 minutes ago, blueeighties said: 9 months without a whisper from those concerned. I would say the silence speaks volumes. I am not giving up hope, in fact I am optimistic, I predict Bachmann will be involved and be granted access to the Tooling and we will see the 22 and Ruston under the EFE brand 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted September 20, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 20, 2020 13 hours ago, Pandora said: I am not giving up hope, in fact I am optimistic, I predict Bachmann will be involved and be granted access to the Tooling and we will see the 22 and Ruston under the EFE brand Will they honour my payment though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 16 hours ago, Pandora said: I am not giving up hope, in fact I am optimistic, I predict Bachmann will be involved and be granted access to the Tooling and we will see the 22 and Ruston under the EFE brand I think that qualifies as rather more than just "optimistic"!!! Minerva looked at the wreckage of the LLCo 22 project & walked away. Dapol have done excellent models in 2mm & 4mm, yet their "Big Announcement" last year in O was a Class 66. It does make you wonder what it would take for a manufacturer to step up & do a 22 in O scale?? Just please.... NOT Heljan!!!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted September 20, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 20, 2020 4 hours ago, boxbrownie said: Will they honour my payment though? Unlikely unless they buy LLCo as a going concern, and I doubt they'd want to do that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted September 20, 2020 Moderators Share Posted September 20, 2020 2 hours ago, F-UnitMad said: Minerva looked at the wreckage of the LLCo 22 project & walked away They're not the only ones; several have. The design was deemed to be commercially uneconomic and unviable. 1 3 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delticfan Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 For me the days of paying up front in whatever amount for some flight of fancy are dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Cuttle Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 2 hours ago, delticfan said: For me the days of paying up front in whatever amount for some flight of fancy are dead. But he came across as genuine having produced the cl 15, what i dont undetstand is where has he gone to? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted September 29, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 29, 2020 On 20/09/2020 at 14:56, AY Mod said: They're not the only ones; several have. The design was deemed to be commercially uneconomic and unviable. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. I thought that the plans for the 22 were overly ambitious for the price. To be honest, if I were Steve I'd be more worried about protecting my fragile health in this current situation. Toy trains, viable or not can wait. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, delticfan said: For me the days of paying up front in whatever amount for some flight of fancy are dead. 1 hour ago, Captain Cuttle said: But he came across as genuine having produced the cl 15, what i dont undetstand is where has he gone to? Agree with C.C. above. The Class 22 wasn't entirely just a 'flight of fancy'; Steve had produced a decent Class 15, & as far as we knew at the time, the Ruston 48 was imminent - actual samples had been produced - and although most of the Class 22 was just CAD artwork, test samples of body components had been made. It wasn't entirely pie-in-the-sky conjecture. However things seemed to go rapidly downhill when it transpired that pre-payments for the Class 22 were being used for the Ruston instead, then it all went very quiet until this story of Steve's health came out. Where I do agree with delticfan though, is about pre-payment & crowd funding. Once bitten, always shy for me - I for one will never join in such ventures again, no matter how much I want a model. Edited September 29, 2020 by F-UnitMad Spelling! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Parker Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Captain Cuttle said: But he came across as genuine having produced the cl 15, what i dont undetstand is where has he gone to? There are lots of reasons that a business fails. In the UK, 60% in the first 3 years. You are trying to suggest something nefarious - a little digging suggests this is unlikely and quite cruel to someone who tried his best to deliver a product to meet the ever escalating demands of modellers. The project is dead and gone. Time to lock the thread unless there is anything new. 4 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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