NWSL

[ScaleCraft]

After 60 years in business, NWSL will cease operations effective August 30th, 2019. The company will continue to take orders for in-stock products until July 1st, 2019. Closure is for personal reasons and sale of the business is not anticipated, although reasonable proposals will be considered.

[ScaleCraft]

NWSL just posted this. His wife passed away a few weeks ago.

"This is the post I don’t want to make but the time has come. I just can’t do this without Lynda. Following is the notice I sent to all the magazines.
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After 60 years in business, NWSL will cease operations effective August 30th, 2019. The company will continue to take orders for in-stock products until July 1st, 2019. Closure is for personal reasons and sale of the business is not anticipated, although reasonable proposals will be considered."

[rex desilets]

I'm am sorry for the owner's loss.
Losing NWSL is tragic.

[John Webster]

I placed a substantial order with NWSL in late May. I used the cart on their website and PayPal because their phone mailbox was full.

Today I got an email from NWSL stating that the products I ordered were discontinued and a refund to PayPal of my payment. I attempted to phone them but their mailbox was full.

[E7]

I placed a substantial order with NWSL in late May. I used the cart on their website and PayPal because their phone mailbox was full.

Today I got an email from NWSL stating that the products I ordered were discontinued and a refund to PayPal of my payment. I attempted to phone them but their mailbox was full.

John,

Note the date on Dave's earlier post: PostMon Mar 18, 2019 2:54 pm
NWSL just posted this. His wife passed away a few weeks ago.

I suspect in that intervening time between 3/18/19 and your order in late May, everyone and their brother put in orders swamping the guy!

Rich

[Roy]

I just noticed this thread for the first time, a few hours ago. I'm afraid the end of NWSL represents a serious loss to all scales of our hobby. I do hope someone with the requisite understanding of gear design and manufacture purchases, and continues, the company.

[bob turner]

I think they found, as have others, that the market is too skinny to warrant the effort.

Because of their demise, among other reasons, my locomotives from here on out will be unpowered. If a Mod O.6 non-tower should hit the market at the $20-30 price point, maybe I will start to rethink that.

[Roy]

There are the big train makers like Lionel, and Williams by Bachmann. As I recall, you can only get their worms pre-pressed on their motor armature shafts. There's also Stock Drive Products/Sterling Instruments, Boston Gear, etc. SDP always seemed expensive, but then, I was always thinking of one gear set at a time. I did buy the worm gear set from Atlas, which was used in their Industrial Rail Atlantic. It's a wonderful three-start worm gear set, which allows very easy backdrive. Of course, you may need to use a secondary spur gear set, to achieve your desired motor shaft/driven axle ratio.

I've looked around for DIY info on making multiple-start worms. There's lots about making single-start worms using techniques similar to cutting threads, but nothing on multiple-start worms. I suppose I could use bevel, or miter, gears.

At the very least, someone should save the tutorial information posted on the NWSL website. Especially, the stuff about which diametral pitches/modules are appropriate for particular scales.

[bob turner]

Not sure there is an advantage to multiple start gears - and buying a single gearset from Boston or Stock is a genuine loser.

For me, the 653-6 was the only gearbox for O scale steam - I did use the smaller axle versions for USH and other imports. I automatically replaced Lobaugh gearboxes, and unlike many others was very happy to replace the huge USH gearbox.

I did machine a successful worm, and do know that home hobbing an axle gear is possible.

I have very few models with electronic control, but submit that any advantage a multiple start worm could give you could easily be duplicated (or better served) by some sort of command control. My multiple start locomotives have poor low speed performance.

The best hope might be Sunset. If there is a big enough market, maybe Scott could make them available for retrofit. I believe he has standardized on a really good steel/bronze gear setup with metal gearbox and ball bearing worm shaft. And - Yay! - it is low profile!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The best hope might be Sunset. If there is a big enough market, maybe Scott could make them available for retrofit. I believe he has standardized on a really good steel/bronze gear setup with metal gearbox and ball bearing worm shaft. And - Yay! - it is low profile!

Perhaps that's a viable future option. Then again, just what might be the real sales numbers to support such a venture? How many are really building or re-building steam engines in O scale at this time? If NWSL could not make it selling its vast catalog to all scales, is narrowing the focus to a select product really going to succeed?

Doubtful that I will ever bother with another steam engine now despite having 1-2 to either rebuild or build - should just sell these off....

[ScaleCraft]

If NWSL could not make it selling its vast catalog to all scales, is narrowing the focus to a select product really going to succeed?

Not sure if the published data indicates he couldn't make it. Raoul sold because he retired. Dave sold because his wife died and he lost all interest.
We have no data to tell us how much stock he got when he bought out Raoul, and how much he actually manufactured.

My guess is some stuff he never manufactured at all, just sold off stock he'd received. Explains why over the years so many items just got crossed off in the catalogs.

[bob turner]

He definitely cast his own Mod 0.6 gearbox cases. He used a different plastic, and they needed serious attention. But they could be made to work!

If there was any profit at all, he could have hired out the day to day labor of machining, packaging, delivery, and bookkeeping. I bet there was so little profit that he was trying to do all of it. I know his wife tried to help. Nope, this is a loser, and if Scott could stock a few things like gearboxes, he would have to offset his losses by the increase in good will. I am positive that there is no real profit in gearboxes.'

Good thing I have other hobbies - Maroon and I were kicking around the possibility of finding off the shelf gears for the Adams Diesel power trucks. I think we drifted off to more productive endeavors.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

My guess is some stuff he never manufactured at all, just sold off stock he'd received. Explains why over the years so many items just got crossed off in the catalogs.

Yes, and explained why instead of the usual rapid delivery in past years turned into forever in some cases.

Not sure if the published data indicates he couldn't make it.

Still wonder then why not bothering to sell it off if someone comes forward?

[Roy]

Not sure there is an advantage to multiple start gears...

I have very few models with electronic control, but submit that any advantage a multiple start worm could give you could easily be duplicated (or better served) by some sort of command control. My multiple start locomotives have poor low speed performance.

I HATE self-locking gear sets. Invariably, single-start worms have helix angles below the critical angle, so they cannot be backdriven. No real-world automobile, truck, bus or locomotive uses such drives. Imagine taking your foot off the accelerator, and your car wheels stopping after the flywheel spins out it's rotational energy - possibly putting you into a skid. Ridiculous. I realize, of course, that I'm in a tiny minority of traintards that give a dead rat's *** about this. It's the primary reason I'm in three-rail O gauge.

The reason a locomotive with a multiple-start worm has poor low-speed performance, is that it has a higher drive ratio. A single-start worm gives a ratio of 1/number of teeth on the worm wheel. A three-start worm gives a ratio of 3/number of teeth on the worm wheel. With one more gear reduction, to reduce the drive ratio, a multiple-start worm drive will have the same low-speed performance as a single-start worm drive of comparable drive ratio, but retain backdriveability.

You don't even need command control, to simulate locomotive coasting. Old-fashioned momentum control, or a flywheel on the motor shaft, will do. But, the wheels still lock up.

[bob turner]

Or you could just reduce the throttle slowly. More gears = more noise and more friction. But if it is important to you to cut the throttle and see a non-flywheel, non-command control locomotive coast to a stop, hey - it is a hobby and you get to do it exactly the way you want. Let us know when you find an inexpensive gear set.