General News Updates 2021
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12/24/21 - On the eve of the biggest annual holiday, I would like to wish all that have supported Kohs & Company or even visited this website the happiest of holidays and a very Merry Christmas. I hold the sincere hope that we are all able to experience some degree of normalcy hearkening back to the good-old-days most of experienced as kids. Enjoy family and friends while remaining safe! 11/02/21 - A brief note of thanks to those who have offered their feedback concerning my post regarding attendance at the TCA Fall York Meet. It is helpful to know what the general thinking is regarding shows and attending them so it can be factored into future planning. The consensus was that the decision not to attend was a good one and in the aftermath reporting, it seems that little was lost by not being there.....which is unfortunate, but where we are in the whole COVID experience. As a side note, I was invited to take part in a Zoom conference hosted by Spielwarenmesse, the producer of the Nuremberg Toy Fair and several other important European shows. It was interesting to hear what this very professional organization was planning for the future as a comparison to what I have experienced in the past taking part in several of their shows in Germany. I have to say that they have a very robust digital plan in place to host those companies that choose not to attend or that are not allowed to as a result of government regulation. I'll be watching this development closely with an eye towards taking advantage of digital conferencing to potentially communicate with Kohs & Company clients in the future. Regarding shows in general; as I have disclosed in the past, the vast majority of my clients have never attended a model train show of any type. Prior to the COVID situation an effort had begun to determine what changes could be made to a typical model railroad show to draw more people in, particularly individuals with the demographics I typically encounter. That effort was cut short by COVID, but that thinking has not been forgotten and will be part of future planning with the hope of reinvigorating the model railroad show experience, to be more than piles of boxes that get moved from show to show. Shows were in trouble pre-COVID and if they are to survive, new thinking is required. Project updates will be forthcoming shortly, so please check back often. 10/20/21 - As those with an interest may have noted, I have been scheduled to participate in the TCA York Fall Meet in York, Pennsylvania. Participation has always been contingent upon the current-day COVID situation, keeping in mind the importance of staying healthy in order to continue the struggle to meet current client commitments working through the devastating impact that COVID has already had and not doing potentially risky new promotion. In making a final decision regarding participation, I have reviewed the latest COVID data from the CDC and I find that not only am I living in one of five worst states in the country for new cases of COVID, I would need to travel through and to two of the other five worst states in the country. Further, the county in which the York Meet is to take place is among the eight worst counties in that state for new cases. The desire to meet and greet long-time friends and clients is certainly real, but to do so behind a mask and socially-distanced is not what I had been hoping for. A risk-benefit analysis makes the decision not to attend seem pretty logical to me unfortunately. While the above thoughts do take into account the perceived relative value of attending the show, in this case it is not the primary consideration as it is in evaluating a number of other possible shows that I have attended in the past pre-COVID. I'll continue to evaluate opportunities to meet with friends and clients in the future and as I have been doing regarding foreign travel, hoping for improved conditions. 10/14/21 - In my continuing effort to let modelers/collectors know the most current information about my efforts, I have to again pass along the latest information from the United States Department of State that has just issued their latest proclamation regarding international travel, specifically to South Korea. In short, the alert level is back up to level 3 and the quarantine requirements remain in force. A new very interesting twist to the situation is that health insurance companies are now warning that if you should contract COVID while traveling internationally in a country with an elevated alert level, you may not be covered with insurance for your health situation. My efforts to deal with the overall situation are ongoing and are considering every possible option. Additional relevant information will be provided in forthcoming updates. In the meantime, you can read the complete alert message immediately below: Reconsider travel to South Korea due to COVID-19.
10/05/21 - Rather than reiterate information here about my current project efforts, I would direct you to the Big Boy Project Update page which will explain my current and ongoing efforts to make plans going forward. I have had several individuals raise the specter of business impediments resulting from political decisions, but that is a subject that I will not address and will stick only to the issues that I face regardless of the cause. I do not have the time or an interest in moderating the back-n-forth that would surely result, especially when it would change nothing. The COVID situation has certainly created a mess for most all businesses, but I do have to note from personal experience that it has also been used by some as an excuse for prior bad business decisions. All businesses related to the model railroad hobby that have an overseas reliance are certainly struggling to see daylight and some have already given up for the most part. While this is certainly the most trying time that Kohs & Company has faced, it will survive and in a manner without compromising core standards and commitments. After more than thirty years, a 'little' thing like COVID will not stop the effort! Be sure to check out the special offer on the Library Page. 8/13/21 - Just a brief administrative update regarding the function of the mobile portions of this website and the page titles for several of the General News pages. When using mobile access to the General News pages, several of the yearly update pages were displaying incorrectly or the wrong pages were displaying. In other instances, both the desktop and mobile General News pages were displaying the incorrect year although the page itself was correct. Hopefully all of these issues have been caught and corrected. 8/03/21 - I just received the August 2nd STEP notification from the Department of State concerning travel to South Korea and I am including that statement in this porting. You'll note that the CDC has raised to the health advisory to level 2 again and the fourteen (14) day mandatory quarantine remains in affect for travelers to South Korea. The statement follows: Exercise increased caution in South Korea due to COVID-19. Read the Department of States' COVID-19 page before you plan any international travel. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 2 Travel Health Notice for South Korea due to COVID-19, indicating a moderate level of COVID-19 in the country. Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine. Before planning any international travel, please review the CDC's specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers. Visit the Embassy's COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 and related restrictions and conditions in South Korea, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine which remains in effect. If you decide to travel to South Korea:
Last Update: Reissued with updates to COVID-19 information. My efforts to determine the earliest opportunity to return to Asia continue and these Department of State statements are fundamental to these efforts. At the same time, I continue to work on workarounds for project oversight so that the integrity of Kohs & Company projects is not compromised in an effort to expedite our production. Stay tuned here as this situation is continually updated. 7/22/21 - Just a brief update to advise that I am no longer maintaining a dedicated fax number. Since email became the dominate means of non-verbal communication, the use of our fax capability has been non-existent. In the event that someone needs to send a fax communication, with prior notice I can provide instructions for how to accomplish that. With the passing of one form of communication Kohs & Company is working to expand other means of more advanced communication to make providing information to clients and interested individuals more exciting and useful. More information regarding these advances will be provided as we move forward. 7/01/21 - Just a few brief comments regarding the appearance and function of this website; the basic 'construction' took place over twenty years ago and the technology and software have made huge advancements during that time. In the days of dial-up Internet connections a great deal of attention had to be paid to things like file sizes and image quality in order for a website to realistically function and be accessible to the general public. In recent months when I have gone back and looked at the pages related to early projects the photos in particular have been very disappointing for their lack of clarity compared to more recent postings. With that in mind, a while back I began to upgrade photos, many being the same image, but resized and adjusted based on more current standards. I mention this now, because several people have noticed a difference in some of the images and were curious if there were issues with their computers or Internet service providers on occasion that were affecting what they were seeing. The older pages are present as a resource for those project owners, people looking to acquire an example of a past project in the secondary market and to chronicle our past efforts. This will be an ongoing effort that will take some time since there are well over 4,000 images on the site. If nothing else, I will be more satisfied with the presentation of our early years. 6/26/21 - I am again updating all that are interested regarding the situations Kohs & Company is facing in dealing with South Korean and Chinese builders. I continue to maintain development conversations with builders while we mutually wait for the travel requirements to normalize. There are hopeful sign regarding South Korea with the advisory level now being lowered to Level-1 from Level-2. Unfortunately, the fourteen day mandatory quarantine requirement remains in affect regardless of vaccination status. The situation in China remains unchanged with the most daunting issues being more political in nature. The latest postings from the U.S. Department of State are included at the end of this current update. The continuation and completion of our Big Boy project is the primary focus for the immediate future. The development of my next locomotives and a series of unique and interesting rolling stock projects, prototype subjects seldom or never before seen in O scale, are also taking shape. As we get a bit further along and closer to enacting our plans, more details will be made available and opened up for discussion and consideration by our client base. The status of existing projects will be updated over the next couple of days, so be sure to check back if there are projects of interests to you. As always, I sincerely thank everyone that has expressed interest in what I am continuing to work on. I can report that the number of visitors to this website on a monthly basis has never been greater in our twenty plus year history. If this level of interest can be met with some model deliveries, all would be well! South Korea Travel Advisory: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 1 Travel Health Notice for South Korea due to COVID-19, indicating a low level of COVID-19 in the country. Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine. Before planning any international travel, please review the CDC's specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers. Visit the Embassy's COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 and related restrictions and conditions in South Korea, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine which remains in effect. If you decide to travel to South Korea:
Last Update: Reissued with updates to COVID-19 information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- China Travel Advisory: Reconsider travel to the People's Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws. Reconsider travel to the PRC's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.
U.S. citizens traveling or residing in the PRC, including Hong Kong, may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime. U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention without due process of law. Foreigners in the PRC, including but not limited to businesspeople, former foreign government personnel, and journalists from Western countries, have been arbitrarily interrogated and detained by PRC officials for alleged violations of PRC national security laws. The PRC has also threatened, interrogated, detained, and expelled U.S. citizens living and working in the PRC. Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC government. The PRC government does not recognize dual nationality. U.S.-PRC citizens and U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage may be subject to additional scrutiny and harassment, and the PRC government may prevent the U.S. Embassy from providing consular services. Propaganda: A PRC propaganda campaign has falsely accused individuals, including U.S. citizens, of fomenting unrest in Hong Kong. In some cases, the campaign has published their personal information, resulting in threats of violence on social media. Read the country information page for the PRC and for Hong Kong. If you decide to travel to the PRC, including the Hong Kong SAR:
4/23/21 - I have been writing frequently about my efforts to stay in touch and consider all of the available information looking to get back to a productive posture with existing and future new projects. Yesterday I received the latest updates from the Department of State pertaining to conditions and considerations for travel to both South Korea and the Peoples Republic of China.(PRC) so I thought that I would again share that latest information as shown below. For anyone interested in the future of brass railroad modeling and modeling in general, these STEP statements will provide some insight into what importers and producers are dealing with. I will continue to provide the latest information possible and correlate what it means for Kohs & Company going forward. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Korea Travel Advisory: Level 2, Exercise increased caution, April 22, 2021 Exercise increased caution in South Korea due to COVID-19.
Last Update: Reissued with updates to COVID-19 information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- China Travel Advisory: Level 3, Reconsider travel, April 22, 2021 Reconsider travel to the People's Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws. Reconsider travel to the PRC's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) due to both arbitrary enforcement of local laws and COVID-19-related travel restrictions.
In most cases, U.S. citizens only become aware of an exit ban when they attempt to depart the PRC, and there is no reliable mechanism or legal process to find out how long the ban might continue or to contest it in a court of law. Last Update: Reissued with updates on COVID-19. 4/11/21 - As the ebb and flow of the COVID situation continues with the vaccination effort progressing and the number of new COVID cases rising again, job-one here remains staying healthy and available to move ahead with the earliest opportunities to get model production back to some sense of normalcy. There is talk and planning again for the return of train shows as early as this weekend, during the coming summer and heading into fall. The participation of Kohs & Company will depend on a reasonable evaluation of the circumstances present as each show date approaches, but I reasonably do not expect to participate before this coming fall at the earliest all factors considered, despite the promise of increased vaccinations country wide. On the subject of production, I've heard during virtual events and read Online the ruminations of many individuals questioning the availability of future new models, particularly brass......these are typically people with little or no direct experience in the process of producing models, brass or otherwise so are they correct? I won't pretend to know what the future holds for the numerous suppliers in the hobby, especially with many of them remaining silent leading up to and throughout the COVID situation. I can tell you that the situation has been obviously difficult for everyone and for most businesses including the overseas producers who are now even fewer in number then a year ago. The expectation and plan for Kohs & Company is to return to producing the absolute best models we can and at an even higher level of quality, detail and performance than ever before. Communications with our friends and associates overseas have been and remain ongoing as we all try to work through the challenges presented. In terms of new projects, the hope has been realized that two capable builders are willing to share the risk of project development from afar as I do everything possible to gain direct in-person access. What I do know is that had my previous efforts to foster mutual cooperation among a hand-full of importers worked long term, producers would be in a much stronger position with better bargaining power among suppliers and the hobby in general would also be stronger with a more predictable supply. Had we an organized collective of importers that builders could rely on, builders too would be in a healthier position going forward. Many people and I dare say most, could never understand why I actively promoted and aided the work of other importers going as far back as Henry Bultmann and his Car & Locomotive Shop efforts which started at the same time as Kohs & Company. My intent was not unique, even though I was not aware of the Associated 'O' Scale (ad below) efforts, the thinking of those involved was much the same. Invested individuals and companies working together to build a hobby community while still pursuing their individual aspirations and goals. The ad includes some long-lasting names which is a message in itself and it appeared in this instance in Model Railroader magazine, date uncertain.
Efforts like those of Associated 'O' Scale and mine have given way to partisan bickering often fostered by companies or individuals closely associated with them in an effort to gain an advantage when unable to compete product to product. As a result, it should now be obvious that we have all lost something! In short, with all of this said, from my perspective the best is yet to come from Kohs & Company and I and everyone associated are working with that mutual intent. 3/08/21 - Since the 2/28/21 post I have had a couple of people ask to know who the 'offender' resellers are which misses the point or intention of my post. Rather than calling out specific resellers and starting a social media war, the intent is to offer assistance in successfully purchasing Kohs & Company models from whoever the seller may be, this is something I have done routinely when asked. Quite frankly, there are some buyers just as bad as some resellers, individuals that seek out 'deals' based solely on low prices and then cry when the model they receive is not the pristine gem they were hoping for among other practices. Establishing purchase parameters up front in dealing for a model makes it easy for everyone, particularly what the return policies are if there has been some misrepresentation about the item being purchased. For example, if a model will not operate or is functionally deficient upon receipt and the seller has indicated that the model will be or has been track tested, what is the established recourse? Make it simple and request the policy in writing prior to payment. Not wanting to be a policing agency for model resellers and buyers, my only interest is hearing from happy new owners of Kohs models and avoiding the hard feelings and disappointment when I am contacted to make bad situation 'right' and I cannot accommodate the request. 2/28/21 - The resale of Kohs & Company models is always a serious discussion with typically a good deal of money involved in the sale and and resulting purchase. I have written in the past about problems with some resellers delivering models to customers that were functionally damaged falsely claiming they were rail tested prior to shipping, the result being me receiving a phone call from the buyer hoping to make the situation better. This has happened so many times with several resellers that I will no longer provide support for models purchased from these individuals or companies and I have made this information available to anyone that wants to make the effort to know more about who they are potentially buying from. I have encouraged buyers in these situation to return the models or request corrective action on the part of the seller, but some times it boils down to hearing from the buyer that 'the price was so good I hate to return the model', in which case please do not call me! With the importance of the secondary market continuing to grow as a result of the COVID-19 situation, knowing who you are buying from is extremely important. A particular case in point is a current ebay listing for a Kohs & Company produced PRR GG-1 locomotive. In another cut and paste effort from my website, the seller describes the listed model based on the original project intent without making reference to the subsequent project updates that indicate that the model he is describing does not even exist! There are a couple of resellers that have worked very hard to develop a very good base of knowledge regarding models they sell, but this individual certainly isn't one of them. Misrepresenting the rarity of a particular model within a production run has happened numerous times with sellers even with the largest, but representing a model that doesn't even exist is a new low, whether intentional or otherwise. 2/22/21 - I wanted to offer a few lines here to thank everyone that has been in recent contact with me to express continuing or new interest in our projects. The last several months have obviously been extremely difficult for all concerned and the impact on the model train world has been staggering to say the least. That said, the number of visits to this website are at a new level and there seems to be a great deal of enthusiasm looking forward. I believe that Mark Twain made a comment at some-point about the pending death of.....I think, the model railroading hobby. As usual, the modeling blogs are littered with commentary about the situation from people that don't have a clue about this or much of anything else quite frankly. I have previously written at some length about the situation overseas as reported by friends/builders in both South Korea and China. From the outset, as I explained to everyone with which I have had direct contact, I have maintained three goals from the outset of the COVID-19 situation; first and foremost to stay healthy, without accomplishing that not much else matters both from a personal as well as a business perspective. My entire family has remained vigilant in observing recommended precautions, I have personally been test for COVID multiple times and have also been tested for the COVID-19 antibodies, all results have been negative thankfully. Secondly, to make good use of the extra time created by the COVID delays to improve the final results for all affected projects. Finally, to maintain a communication network with builders and friends around the world to better understand the ongoing status of possible production and to avoid the pitfalls of trying to rush through the problems created and ultimately compromising our final project results. For anyone starving for modeling news and ideas, there have been and are ongoing virtual gatherings to share modeling projects and even virtual train shows. I have taken part in a number of these events and while they are not without problems, there has been some great information shared about modeling in general as well as prototypes. Hindsight 20/20 and NewTracksModeling.com are two of the groups involved in regularly scheduled events. In addition, some of the regular large train shows have begun to organize virtual events to replace their canceled in-person shows. As I said, they are not a perfect answer to a difficult situation, but the people making the effort deserve a great deal of credit. If there appears to be enough interest, I'll do a listing of virtual events that I am aware of. As always, I will continue to update everyone one interested in Kohs & Company with the latest information that I can put together. 2/07/21 - Updating my comments from the 2/4/21 post; seeming, Brasstrains.com has acknowledged their impropriety by removing the prototype descriptive text from their 'Queen Mary' flat car listing. Enough said.....until the next time. 2/04/21 - Just a brief update to again call out the business practices of Brasstrains.com. On two previous occasions the owner/managers of this business entity have been informed of the illicit business practices of the builder that created models they have again chosen to represent, in this case an O scale PRR FD-2 'Queen Mary' flat car. Being very familiar with this project having produced the same model with another builder after E.K. Models attempted to defraud Kohs & Company, the model Brasstrains.com is selling is substandard in quality although their price is nearly what Kohs & Company has charged for the same model which was built to a much higher standard. The final insult is that Brasstrains.com has cut and pasted, word for word, their model prototype history from the Kohs & Company PRR FD-2/FW-1 project web page.........at least they did not make reference to Kohs & Company in their listing this time...........caveat emptor. 1/27/21 - The listing for sale of unique, one-of-a-kind and rare items has begun. The first small batch are things related to the years that I worked on the Lionel trains projects with Fine Art Models, the listings can be accessed on the Collectibles portion of this website, more specifically at the following LINK. There will be more to come as time allows to get items listed so stay tuned if you are interested. 1/16/21 - Just a brief heads up that I have been in the cleaning/organizing mood for the last several weeks and have come to the conclusion that it's time to clean up my archive and storage area which means that a variety of sample models, parts and printed materials of all sorts will be offered for sale in due course. This will be done as time allows and quite frankly as I am able to make the difficult decisions about what should go. Please do not write and ask about the availability of specific parts or models, I will not be able to respond to those types of inquiries. I can tell you at this point that the items to be evaluated/offered date back to my involvement with Fine Art Models and the Lionel Smithsonian projects. I have yet to decide where on the website the items will be offered, but further information will be provided as decisions are made and items are organized. 1/01/21 - Happy New Year to all, wishing all of our visitors a prosperous new year and happy modeling. With the new year comes the hope that daily life will begin to return to some degree of normalcy which will allow the projects of Kohs & Company and others that have survived the COVID experience to begin to move forward without further delay and loss. I will be beginning the new year with project updates for all of our active projects in the next few days, so please return for another visit to learn the latest about our projects and plans. |
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