Saluting Gustav Taus of ETS

We recently learned of the passing of Gustav Taus, owner of train maker ETS of Prague, in the Czech Republic.

 My dealings with Gustav were always professional and he was a gentleman in the classic sense. For many years the ETS booth was next to Classic Toy Trains at the Eastern Division (TCA) train meet in York, Penn. Whether the show was good or bad, he always had the same positive spirit and he was always took time with customers to explain his product line and put the trains through their paces. 

 

We reviewed five trains from ETS and all were exemplary products. The B&O 2-6-0 Mogul set was in the Nov 2000, a Sequoia Lumber Co. 2-4-4-0T steamer was in the March 2002, the extraordinary London Midland & Scottish 2-6-0+0-6-2 Beyer-Garratt was reviewed in the September 2004 issue, two and three-rail trolley car sets in the January 2005 issue, and Baldwin steeple-cab electric locomotive in the October 2015 issue.

All were good products that were made like a Swiss watch. These were finely crafted goods in an Old World European tradition. We also ran a feature on his firm, “The best trains you never heard of” in our May 2003 issue.

We don’t know what the future holds for ETS, but we know that the legacy of Gustav Taus will be one of having made cleverly designed, high-quality products that were unique to the modern toy train marketplace.

 We wish his family and employees the warmest regards from this side of the Atlantic.