Hi All,
There is probably far more to this story than I can remember but here is
what I do remember. I apologize for any inaccuracies.
Jim Parker, an accountant by trade, was quite an entrepreneur in the
1960's. He started and owned North York Hobbies at 1910 Avenue Road in
Toronto. He also had a distribution company called Berkshire Models and a
model company called Park Model Products. His father, Jim senior ran
Berkshire.
Berkshire had many lines including Peco and Humbrol.
Park Models was quite innovative for the times in bringing out Canadian
brass Models when no one else other than Van Hobbies was. His brass models
included an RS18 (really a CPR RS10) in the 1960's, GMD1's early 1970's, CNR
Snowplow and CNR Flanger mid-1970's. These were all done in cooperation
with other importers. The RS18 was done with Alco Models, the GMD1's, Plows
and Flangers with NJ Custom Brass.
The last brass model he produced was the ill-fated 6400 produced around 1976-
77. He did this one with Nickel Plate. Unfortunately, Nickel Plate went
belly up before the project was really finished and only a few were
completed and brought over. Jim lost a lot of coin on that one because he
followed the usual route. You put up a sizeable amount ($20000 USD today)
for a pilot model and you get one free chance to make any changes. You
better be thorough and hope that the builder can understand those changes
and make those changes properly. After that, you pony up the rest.
Unfortunately, it was after Jim ponied up the rest that KMT/Nickel Plate
went under taking all of Jim's coin with them. As luck would have it, most
went to the states. If you have one with a black Nickle Plate box, that is
fairly common, but it you have one with a red Park Models box, that is
rare. Whether any of these models would stand up to today's standards or
the standards of the time is a moot question at this point. The point is
that Jimmy was willing to put up his money to get some Canadian models
made.
Jim did produce some wood models of reefers and a few other items like soft
metal Elesco Feedwater Heaters. I have an old CPR reefer kit of his that is
in a Park models box.
If the 6400 project hadn't turned out as it did, his next project was a
plastic CNR caboose. That would have been in 1978.
As time went on, Jim decided to cut back on his involvement with the
business sold his distribution rights to HobbyCraft and moved to smaller
facilities, first at Chesswood Drive then on Wilson Avenue. Jim retired
about 10 years ago and North York Hobbies is but a memory.
I worked part-time at the Avenue Road store from 1972 until 1977 as one of
jobs during university. The other jobs were professional studio pianist and
bass player. I found Jim to be a generous employer. Jim was/is always
willing to share information and that is why we are seeing these photos that
he took.
cheers,
Andy Malette
