Latest update on Carolina Castings (foundry)
Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 9:51AM As far as our request for permission to produce this kit, Kalmbach Publishing is “considering” our request. This leads me to ask some maybe provocative questions. From a the comments on this blog and other places, it seems that the common understanding by you, my audience, is that “They have this statement in the magazine, or just call so and so and he will give you permission”. I would really like to know if any of you out there have actually ever seen a kit, manufactured by anyone, that has secured permission from Kalmbach. Personally, I don’t know of any. The reason I am asking about this, is despite all of the information (rumors) you have heard, as of our request, Kalmbach says that they have NEVER had ANYONE ask for permission to manufacture a kit based, loosly or otherwise, on ANY plans published in any of their RAILROAD publications. So what does this mean? Well, one thing is that again, we are trailblazers, like the crew of the starship Enterprize, boldly going where no one has gone before. Another, and this is probably MORE IMPORTANT, we model railroaders, live in a world where many of our “facts” are based on rumors and “I thinks”. Now if someone comes up with a kit based on a Kalmbach article that HAS recieved LEGAL permission to manufacture, I will gladly eat these words. Just as a side note, did you know that there is an Administrative Assistent in the Copyright Department at Kalmbach, whose job is to deal with stuff like this? Well, there is and he/she is a very nice person and very helpfull. He/she (I will not divulge their identity, but it is public record on the Kalmbach website.) doesn’t think that there will ba an issue and thanked me for approaching this the correct way. So in conclusion, when you folks suggest that we can do things faster, or you don’t see what the big deal is about this or that, just know one thing. There is a lot more going on behind the scenes that you never see on this website. We WORK (used to be a fun hobby) HARD to give you the best product we can at prices that JUST BARELY keep the doors open. So keep the constructive comments coming, but if you have a better way of doing something, I encourage you to start your own business. Then you can enjoy this hobbey even more. OK, my soapbox has folded (it was made of paper) and I have fallen back to Earth.
