Kohs PRR GLe project update

Availability: This project was long ago sold out, if you are interested in purchasing a GLe model, please let me know using my contact information and I may be able to meet your needs. Also, be sure to check out the Roundhouse page for a listing of available Kohs & Company produced models.

12/06/19 - A new information heading has been added to this page to make it easier to identify what model versions are still available for purchase, see the listing immediately above this post.

9/27/07 - Be advised that we again have one of our GLe class cement hoppers available for sale, it is a version 2P. Get in touch for further details.

5/06/07 - Be advised that the two GLe cement cars mentioned above are sold, it took less than 24hrs for the two models to sell. This should be an indication to anyone interested in selling their GLe model that they should not give it away on eBay or else where.

4/21/07 - We are happy to advise that we have two GLe's available for immediate shipping. We have one version 2S and one version 2P, they are being sold at the original price of $375 plus shipping, both models are absolutely new.

2/17/06 - Just a brief update to let it be known that we have just received a surprise from our builder, we have one more GLe available for sale, a version #2S. The price is the original $375 plus shipping, if you are interested let us know right away before it's gone!

11/02/05 - We have posted a new brochure to the 'Downloadable Files' page of this project site, this brochure is intended to document this project in terms of exactly what was produced and how many of each version. We hope that you find this information useful and interesting.

2/23/05 - As of this date we have only two (2) GLe cement cars still available for sale.

2/18/05 - As of this date we have only four (4) GLe cement cars still available for sale from the small quantity recently secured from our builder's personal inventory.

12/18/04 - Just a brief update to advise that we have just acquired a hand full of brand new GLe cement cars that we will be offering for sale at the original price of $375. We actually talked our builder out of these cars which he built for his own use, we have had a number of requests for cars and we aim to please! There will be at least one of each version that we produced and two of some. If you are interested get in touch with us right away as these will not last long.

4/19/03 - For those waiting for the P-48 version cars, we are waiting for the availability of P-48 trucks from Keystone Models as we will use their components to resolve our ongoing situation. We will advise shortly by mail what the status is regarding shipping.

12/05/02 - It has come to our attention that a special mailing that was done for the Proto:48 reservation holders on this project was not received by several customers, we have no explanation. We have sent out new letters as of today updating our Proto:48 reservation holders.

11/11/02 - Just a brief update regarding the delivery of our GLe cement cars; with the exception of the Proto:48 versions of this project, all of our existing orders have now been shipped. There has been a letter sent to all customers that ordered a P48 car with an explanation for the delay in their delivery, a brief explanation has been posted under our general news update section. We have been very pleased with the overall response to this project and many of the versions are now sold out, we do have a few of the basic versions still available in small quantities, make sure that you inquire before ordering.

10/24/02 - The shipping process is well underway at this point and we hope to be caught up with our orders by the end of this month, which is only a week away! As we have had the opportunity to present our finished cement cars at recent shows, we have managed to turn the heads of those hobbyists which up to this point have strictly collected locomotives. What a fun concept, to put together a complete 'train' one car at a time, a train that has cars with the same quality and level of detail as the best locomotive available. Our remaining supply of GLe's is very limited at this point and when their gone, their gone. If your interested in purchasing one or more of our GLe's please contact us directly to determine availability.

10/1/02 - We are shipping this project..............finally!! Many thanks to our customers who have exercised great patients in waiting for the completion and delivery of our cement cars, we feel certain that you will find that the wait was worth it. We have posted photos of all the versions that we produced, you may check out the versions by clicking here.

9/12/02 - The cement cars are complete and are on the way into the country at this point and we are very happy to say that our patients has paid off, we couldn't be more pleased with our first rolling stock project. Can we do it better the nest time, that is always the goal for us, but I do not believe that there has been a finer piece produced to date. We showed the production samples for the first time at the National Narrow Gauge Convention last weekend and the response was outstanding. We made the decision to produce 100 extra cars over and above the reservations that we had at the outset and over have of those cars are already sold before the delivery has started. Several of the versions have only one or two cars still available, if you have an interest in this project we suggest that you get with us very soon before the balance of the cars are gone.

8/01/02 - We are finally reaching the end of the GLe cement car project! Shown below is the final stage of production in Korea, where the graphics application is being inspected for position and alignment. The final notices are being prepared and will be going out this weekend for those with reservations already booked. Once again the fine workers at Sun Jin Models have done an outstanding job of recreating in miniature our chosen PRR prototype, we couldn't be more pleased with the results of our first rolling-stock project. As mentioned above, we have produced a few extra cars, so if you are interested please get in touch with us directly to confirm the availability of your chosen version. The GLe brochure has been updated to include images of the production cars and to reflect the modified data of the final production, it is available through the link above or by going to the GLe download page.

7/18/02 - Shown below are two production samples of our GLe cement car, the 'structural' side-stake 'K' brake car in the foreground and the 'pressed' side-stake 'AB' brake car in the background. The production is finally wrapping up and we can assure you that ever effort has been made to make these cars as faithful to their prototypes as our locomotives are. No corners have been cut and we have gone the extra distance to deliver a finished product that we can be proud of. Our goal at the outset was to deliver the finest piece of rolling stock ever offered in O scale and hopefully in your judgement we will have succeeded.

We have faced a variety of hurdles in bringing these pieces to market, the latest being getting our hands on the tiny ball-bearings used in the truck assemblies. Our original supplier decided to quadruple the price at the last minute which would have cost us $68 a car, obviously unacceptable for more than one reason we had to go searching which again created delays, but we were successful and the image below shows just how small the bearings used in the trucks are.

A complete new photo portfolio of the production samples is in process and will be posted shortly. We will also be providing a delivery schedule in the next few days pending our final flight arrangements for the freight. We feel certain that the patience of those with reservations will be rewarded with the final product.

6/26/02 - A completed 2D-F8 truck in freight car red.

6/4/02 - Pictured below is the side frame casting for our 2D-F8 truck.. This is representative of the parts that will be used on our production GLe's and they will be equipped with miniature ball-bearings for ultra smooth operation. This casting was developed from the master tooling shown previously on this page.

5/14/02 - Here are the latest images showing the preproduction GLe's in the two basic configurations along with some detail . The top image shows the 'structural' side stake version equipped with 'K' brakes. The second image shows the 'pressed' side stake version equipped with 'AB' brakes. The third image shows the bottom detail, everything from rivets to reinforcing ribs that belong on the model are there along with complete piping and brake detail. The fourth image shows the top detail including the real wood walkways. The hatch detail is complete, including the operating locking bar assemblies. Additional images will be posted as they are completed.

4/26/02 - The image below should illustrate how serious we are about getting it right when it comes to our rolling stock, we see no difference in what the level of detail should be for any piece we produce. There are significant reasons why no one has offered correctly detailed 'complete' freight trucks in O scale, it's a lot of work for the return. It has taken us longer than expected to get our GLe project to the point we're at, but we feel the effort and wait will be worth it. Our rolling stock is the only offered that will be ready to run when delivered and we are doing it at a price that is more than competitive with the Chinese imports once you have them painted/decorated, put trucks on if you can find the correct ones and add couplers. The bid difference when it's all said and done is that our pieces are accurate, correctly detailed and high quality.

The truck side frame shown below is the master tooling for the cast production parts. To give you an idea of the precision involved, the lettering on the side frame is only 0.026" tall. As you mite guess, the side frame was machined from a solid brass billet the remnants of which you can still see attached at both ends

The image below is a shot of the two pre-production samples, one a 'structural' stake car with 'K' brakes and the other a 'pressed' stake car with 'AB' brakes. Both cars have the real wood walkways installed on their topsides. We will be posting the additional promised images shortly so you can view the complete detail.

4/13/02 - Now that our Y6b project is out of the way production wise, we have serious progress to report on our cement car production. The production sample models have arrived and they look fantastic, those of you with reservations will have your patience rewarded we feel certain. We are in the process of photographing the samples and will be posting the photos as quickly as possible along with more detailed delivery information. Please check back soon!

12/17/01 - While it is nice to be working with what we believe is the best model builder in Korea, it does present some problems. When one of our projects gets bogged down for any reason, they all do! Our N&W Y6b project has been a hand full right up to completion and using the same builder for the GLe finds us wanting for completed GLe's. With the Y6b now complete, this project will progress quickly and we should be delivering shortly after the first of the year. Our only consolation is that when the project is complete, we know it will be a good one.

8/30/01 - Just a brief update regarding the missing confirmation notices for those that submitted reservations, we finally determined why most everyone did not receive their notice. By being very persistent we were able to find out that there had been a break-in at the drop box where the notices were mailed, there is seeming a message here! The notices have been reprocessed and are back in the mail finally. We apologize for this problem.

8/19/01 - We have received a number of calls from customers that have submitted reservations for the GLe and have not yet received their confirmation letters, because of the number of calls, we are investigating the situation with the U.S. Postal authorities to try and determine what the problem is. In the meantime, we are redoing the mailing for everyone so you may receive a duplicate letter if you have already received your confirmation. We apologize for this situation even though we are not certain at this point what the situation is! We'll keep you posted.

8/3/01 - Just a brief update to let everyone with a reservation know that the confirmations are in the mail. We anticipate the completion of this project by late October, but we will continue to update the progress as we move along.

7/9/01 - For all of you that have sent in reservations, we have not forgotten you, the confirmation letters will be in the mail shortly. Our attention has been briefly diverted by pushing the final production of our Y6b project forward. Although we have just passed the deadline for reserving one of our GLe's, we are going to extend the deadline until after the two upcoming shows, the NMRA National Train Show and the O Scale Nationals. There have been a number of requests for this action to allow those trying to make a decision one last chance to sort out the facts. The response that we have received is helping us tailor our future plans for rolling stock and we are excited by what lies ahead!

5/15/01 - Reservations are open and the forms will be in the mail to everyone that has expressed interest this week beginning with our existing customers. The order form which specifies what variations will be produced is available as noted above. We are offering paint schemes and configurations appropriate for time periods from 1931 to well into the sixties, a total of ten (10) choices.

The price for a complete car including trucks, paint, decoration and couplers is $375, that also includes domestic shipping. There is a $100 deposit required per car at the time of ordering with the balance due when the completed models are ready for shipping. We feel that price of our GLe is a very good value especially when compared to other available rolling stock which sells for $200 and more, without trucks, paint and decoration. Additionally, our rolling stock is researched to as great a degree as our locomotives with every effort made to assure the accuracy and ultimately quality of the finished product. Do the numbers on competitive products and see how their finished and ready to run price compares to ours, then consider the overall quality and accuracy of detail, we are very happy to be able to offer our GLe at the quoted price.

The production is limited so if you want to be sure to have a confirmed reservation, order early.

4/18/01 - It is timely that we present a brief update to explain the basic versions of this project that will be offered in the forthcoming reservation mailing, we will be posting photos and diagrams to illustrate these variations shortly.

There will be two basic car configurations, one which uses a structural steel channel as the car-body side support and one that uses a more typical pressed steel support. For each of these types there will be three paint schemes, the early 'ball keystone', the 'shadow keystone' and a maintenance-of-way paint scheme. Multiple car numbers will be offered in each paint scheme to allow operators to run strings of cars without duplicating the same number.

In addition to what we have already finalized, we are considering the addition of a 'K' brake version which would be appropriate for the earlier operators. We will try to determine the level of interest in this addition as we move forward with our reservation procedure, if you would be interested in the 'K' brake version, please let us know.

4/11/01- If you are one of the many interested in this project you may wonder what we have been doing about moving this project forward! We have completed our correction list which wound up being a 23 page document, this may surprise those that have seen our sample, but just as with our locomotives, we take all of our projects very seriously. The version details are being wrapped up now and the official offering is imminent, we are working very hard to make certain that the time period information we supply is as accurate as possible. If you have expressed an interest in this project you will automatically receive the offering information. If you are interested and have not let us know as yet, please do so and we'll make certain that you have an opportunity to review the offering and place an order if you so desire.

2/18/01 - The anxiety seems to be growing regarding the sale of our GLe, please be patient we are almost to the point of taking reservations. Once we have closed out the Y6b reservations we will start the process for the GLe. We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for this project, our first piece of rolling stock and as we have mentioned before we were somewhat apprehensive about move into this market, but it seems that are plan will be a welcome one............thankfully!!

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