Re: C&S Brass, Any Scale, Listed on eBay

Posted by Keith Hayes on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/C-S-Brass-Any-Scale-Listed-on-eBay-tp12787p16055.html

Mike, I talked with Darrel about this years ago. Don't get me wrong--I am really happy with what is available and my hat is off to the importers and model manufacturers who make all this stuff.

It makes sense to me that someone would import 9, 60, 71 and 74 in Sn3 (or any scale for that matter) as they all survived and can readily be measured.

Of course once you have 9, you are well on your way to the other B-3-C locomotives. And with 71, why not bring in 72 and 73, which both lasted to very near the end of operations. Of course 75 and 76 have different valve gear and the inboard cylinders, along with different domes and tenders. (PBL really did a fine job with the B-4-Fs, and each locomotive is truly an individual (except as Darrel pointed out the markers on the C&S 74 are really RGS issue.)

Since OMI imported 60 in Sn3, 58 was not much of a stretch, and creating 70 with an oil tender for the Clear Creek crowd must have led to 65 and 69, which also served to the end on the Old South Park.

This is realizing of course that really making each a unique model requires some research into the steam dome plumbing, the air tanks and some other jewelry items. In the 80s the demand was probably less than 10 units each in a market that demanded a minimum run of 50 or more.

At a certain point you saturate the market, and I recall models sitting on the shelf at Sundance for years for want of a buyer. Of course now they would be snatched up in a moment, like the PBL tank cars that seem to linger on sites for minutes before they are snatched up.  A few years ago, I saw a model of 71 painted as 72 on the shelf at Caboose in Lakewood. I paused for a moment and passed; now I wish I would have made the purchase, as it would have been an easy add to the roster. Oh, well.

Patience has rewarded me: I have just about all the locomotives and waycars needed for Leadville in the 30s. It would be nice to add 73 to the fleet, and of course 537 would be sweet. But for now I am happy and will be working on adding Bear Traps, DCC, sound and lights to two recent C-19 purchases. http://c-sng-discussion-forum.41377.n7.nabble.com/The-Leased-D-amp-RGW-C-19s-on-the-C-amp-S-Narrow-Gauge-td7242.html