02/02/2026
I know everyone has questions and assumptions about the business. Rumors running crazy. No real facts. All he said she said.
Facts: I own Little Engines. I bought the business in 2018. In 2019, I officially Trademarked the name. No one else can use the name Little Engines in anything for anything without written consent from myself. Just like all the big named companies out there. If you do so, you will be prosecuted under trademark infringement.
No locomotives and/or projects have remained in my custody if they have been paid for or the owners of said locomotives and/or owners have willingly left them in my custody for completion.
Most people understand why I took a hiatus. I strongly believe in God first, then family. Life always changes, as did mine. I got married, had kids, at the same time the economy declined, and business drastically slowed. I decided to change career paths, to provide consistent income for my family and to serve others, and have been working as a firefighter. The position required me to become a certified paramedic; I needed time for school, work and family. It took 1.5 years to complete school, then I had to clinicals in the ER, followed by 'paramedic ride time' where competence was measurable. Throughout this journey, my wife still needed a husband and my kids still need a father - Both are more important than anything else.
In between working full time, which is 96 hrs a week, going to school, being a husband and a father, going to my kid's baseball games, dance recitals, etc., I have been reflecting on what went wrong vs. what went great. I have completely re-designed and made new designs of locomotives while moving twice and working on building a new shop and house. Besides the personal feats, multiple foundries have closed, and prices of castings have greatly increased. In my limited spare time, I researched other resources to provide exceptional products. Finding new foundries as well as looking into starting my own while looking into sources of US made materials.
In 2009 I started my own business. Things quickly progressed. Not having any responsibility but my own, I could work around the clock and burn the midnight oil to get things done. Everything was rapidly progressing. I bought the first part of LE in 2016 and securing the rest of business in 2018. Relocated to rural area to better my family's well-being. Very isolated, not having the abundant resources as Las Vegas, things began to slow and get more expensive. Covid obviously hindered progress. My daughter was born. Life began to change. I tried to keep the wheels of progress rolling, bit off more than I could handle, and needed to step back to reset.
The businesses were closed giving me time to reflect. 2 years came and went in a blink of an eye. Despite being busy with life, I still had a burning desire to re-open the doors. 100s of hours have been spent in design work, business operations, vendors, etc. I learned a lot of what to do and what not to do. What works and what does not work. I spent many hours reminiscing on how the hobby used to be....it was a fun family-oriented hobby where people helped each other; there were more builders than buyers. Times have changed. People got used to buying something on Amazon and have it on their door step the next day. Most of the builders have passed on. People quickly forgot what goes into these fantastic locomotives. How much money, time and space it takes to operate in hopes that the phone rings with an order.
With that being said, I will eventually re-open. Realistically, likely not until 2027. The shop is being built, and the dream is moving forward. I also have had enough of all the negativity from the few bad apples out there. Most people understand. However, others like to hide behind a keyboard stir up discontent; unfortunately, that is what the world seems to be falling into these days. Where people have lost the love and dream of the hobby and have instead fallen victim to ignorant negativity. As stated in previous posts, we reserve the right to refuse services. If you are one of the negative people out there spreading misinformation, are rude, negative and inpatient, you will be placed on a list of whom not to do business with. The list already has names. I never thought I would have create such a list, but some people are just too toxic to work with. And if your name was on the same list, that has passed down from owner to owner as the business has changed hands, yes... you're still on it.
With all that being said, I look forward to the next adventure. New locomotives, new friends, and providing the best American Made product. Cheers.
