Howard's Hobby Ansonia CT


dispatcher812

dispatcher812

Member
Has anyone had any dealings with the above Hobby Shop? I purchased a set of Providence And Worcester passenger cars form this store while at the Train show last weekend. They are beautifully done. However, I did not know much about the real life cars when I bought these. They are not even close to the real thing. Wrong era cars, wrong type of trucks (the real ones are 2 axle trucks all these came with 3 axle trucks) and one of the cars is an observation with a rounded end. The model I bought has an open balcony. Anyway I have sent 2 emails and left one message and have not heard back from them. I am looking to see if I can return them for their inaccuracies. Kevin
 
I have to admit that this one bothers me. Unless you were assured by the vendor that they were prototypically accurate at the time of the sale, it strikes me that you had the pieces in your hands, examined them, liked them and made the purchase. It isn't like you mail ordered them and they came as junk or damaged.

When you are doing a show regardless of what you are selling, you have limitations on what you can get in your truck and show. Once an item is taken off the market by someone, like yourself, it isn't available to sell to someone else who might have happily bought it. It doesn't strike me that your issue is with undisclosed damage and doing your due diligence is necessary.

I don't mean to be a pill here but I'm not convinced that you have a reasonable position.
 
You are correct I did look at them and thought they were very nice. What bothers ME is he sold something that is not even close. As I said I am not all all familiar with the passenger equipment the the P&W has. I would expect that someone who owns a shop would be in position to do a little research of a particular piece of equipment, so he can purchase the item, so that it is as close to the real thing as possibly. They are out there. I however do not have the time, and certainly not the talent to be able to do custom work like this.
 
All the manufacturers have produced items that didn't exist in the real world. Even recently Athearn is producing D&RGW schemes on locomotives that never existed. I bought one knowing this and gladly run it on my layout. The producers job is to create something that interests purchasers. It's the purchaser's job to determine if the producer succeeded.

Unless there is deception involved, explicit deception, where he mentioned something being "prototypical," I don't think it's his responsibility to do your homework.
 
ianacole said:
All the manufacturers have produced items that didn't exist in the real world. Even recently Athearn is producing D&RGW schemes on locomotives that never existed. I bought one knowing this and gladly run it on my layout. The producers job is to create something that interests purchasers. It's the purchaser's job to determine if the producer succeeded.
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You bought something KNOWING it did not exist. That's fine. I might as well if it was interesting.These DO exist, thus there is a prototype to go off of.
 
I don't really think that it is reasonable to expect a vendor to know the intimate details of all the things they are selling. Sometimes I think beautiful and well made should be enough. I am CEO of the Bangor and Santa Fe after all.

I will be really interested to see if my viewpoint on this is coming out of left field.
 
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BTW i'd like to see what these non proto cars you bought look like. Any chance of posting some pictures?
 
Is the New Englander color scheme the only one the P&W ever used? The lower cars in your picture are older versions of passenger cars so that scheme might not be all that wrong. The top one looks pretty correct although I can't tell if it has a black top or brown.

I do know that with my Maine Central RR I have a choice between Pullman Green, Burgundy, Tuscan Red, Silver, and Forrest Green for my passenger cars.
 
Not knowing a thing about the 'New Englander', may I suggest it's suppose to be a model of an earlier version of the train?
Heck I purchased a CNW passenger train with a dome car and then found out they never owned a dome (other than a Superdome on their business train) I think you bought it not knowing and the dealer most likely didn't either. I would say enjoy your new train.
 
Dave S said:
Is the New Englander color scheme the only one the P&W ever used? The lower cars in your picture are older versions of passenger cars so that scheme might not be all that wrong. The top one looks pretty correct although I can't tell if it has a black top or brown.

I do know that with my Maine Central RR I have a choice between Pullman Green, Burgundy, Tuscan Red, Silver, and Forrest Green for my passenger cars.
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Some where in Amtrak paint when they were purchased. I am not sure which ones. The orange is close match but the top is more of a black then brown. The color scheme itself does not bother me that much. I know the P&W colors are hard to match. It was the cars themselves that bothered me.
 
dispatcher812 said:
It was the cars themselves that bothered me.
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Well remember the P&W has been in business since 1875 and has therefore had it's passenger car styles evolve like all their other equipment. Those clerestory roofed cars were pretty much the national standard for passenger cars throughout the 1920-s and 30's whereas the New Englander uses cars that are somewhat newer I believe.

As for the two axle trucks, that is a common mistake I often run into with Maine Central stock as well. I wouldn't really expect a Connecticut shop owner to know the difference.
 
LotoQuestions said:
Quick call 911 :rolleyes:

Personally, I think you are way off the mark.

take care ,,, ken
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I would but then I would have to answer it. (see my user name)

I can't believe I am the only one who was upset at finding out something I bought was not accurate. Beside this post was not supposed to be about the cars themselves, I asked about the hobby shop in question and the lack of response.

I do like Gary B's suggested of a different version of the train. Thank you.
 
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Well, the lack of response isn't good just from a courtesy standpoint but it could also be the case that they are not open. There is another show running in Md this weekend and a lot of Down East/ Connecticut/New England.etc people just close down in dead winter.

I would hope you could simply gain pleasure from the models as they exist now. Rivet counting leads to madness in my experience and it's supposed to be fun. If I were the store owner, I would be very polite but most likely unyielding except for potentially exchanging the items for other items of similar value without having to order things specially. I would not pay for any shipping. I don't see tons of people coming out and suggesting that you have good grounds for a complaint. I think you should let it go.
 
Pete V said:
Well, the lack of response isn't good just from a courtesy standpoint but it could also be the case that they are not open. There is another show running in Md this weekend and a lot of Down East/ Connecticut/New England.etc people just close down in dead winter.

I would hope you could simply gain pleasure from the models as they exist now. Rivet counting leads to madness in my experience and it's supposed to be fun. If I were the store owner, I would be very polite but most likely unyielding except for potentially exchanging the items for other items of similar value without having to order things specially. I would not pay for any shipping. I don't see tons of people coming out and suggesting that you have good grounds for a complaint. I think you should let it go.
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I did not know about the other show so maybe that is the case. I was not going to request he order something special and I was actually going to bring them back in person. All I wanted was a refund. These cars are still in the boxes the came in and now where did I see "ALL SALES FINAL". I was even considering doing more business with him but not anymore.
 
I tend to agree with Pete and the others on this matter. Unless the cars were represented as accurate reproductions of the prototype, for that road, in that time period then, in my opinion, your case is weak at the very best.

It sounds as if you have been in the hobby long enough to know that many manufacturers sell products that are sometimes very loosely based on a prototype used for one road, yet available in your choice of 12 different roads. Or, maybe accurate for one road, yet again, available in your choice of 12 different roads!

The one thing that I find perplexing is the lack of response to your e-mail. Perhaps there is a valid reason for that. Please let us know the outcome of this situation.
 
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