Friday, April 29, 2011

Allen Keller videos closes; no more Great Model Railroads videos and DVDs

I don't know about you, but I've been lucky enough to see some of North America's greatest model railroads: The Franklin and South Manchester; the Allegheny Midland; the Virginian and Ohio; the Stoney Creek and Western.

Well, not in person; I saw them on my TV through Allen Keller's Great Model Railroads series.

As model railroaders, we've benefitted for about 30 years from Keller's professional and enthusiastic documentation of some of the best layouts in the U.S. I certainly enjoyed watching them, and am grateful for his work.

I mention this because Keller has announced that he is closing down his business. Here's the letter he posted on his website.

Dear Customers and Friends,

For most of the last thirty years (whether for Model Railroader Magazine or Hopewell Productions or finally Allen Keller Productions) I have been privileged to visit and document some of the most outstanding model railroads in America. It has been a wonderful experience meeting the owners and showcasing what they have contributed to the hobby. Perhaps the best part of seeing all of these layouts has been putting them into a format that you could enjoy. So many customers have told me that they saw layouts they never would have seen and if they saw them in person the coverage and view would not have been as good.

A personal joy from this work is recording forever the railroads of some of the greats in the hobby. These Fallen Flags have been torn down or undergone drastic changes, but the originals still exist on Keller videos. That is a source of great comfort to me and I hope to you.

Now I have come to a point in my professional career and personal life when it is time to slow down. So I have stopped producing new shows at least for the near term and most probably permanently. I may from time to time re-edit shows using the material in the 67 Volumes I have done. But the bottom line is there probably won’t be any more new layout visits. I’m sorry for that, but all good things must come to an end.

However, I will keep the website open and continue to sell the existing shows. Janet and I thank you for your support over all these years.

Sincerely,

Allen Keller

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