[N] Unofficial Micro-Trains® Release Report Sept 1998
George Irwin
September, 1998
(Not affiliated with Micro-Trains Line, Inc.)
Copyright (C) 1998, George J. Irwin.
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Hello again, everyone, and hold onto your keyboards,
this is a long report! We have five new releases for
September... and one, uh, for July? Plus there are
three reprints, a brand new Nn3 car, a Z reprint, and
a big Z loco announcement. And, for the first time
in these bytes, a guest commentary on a release!
So let's get right to it!
N SCALE NEW RELEASES:
38250, $15.25 - 50' Plug Door Box Car Without
Roofwalk, CP Rail. Green sides, black and white
lettering including black and white "Multimark."
Reporting Marks: CP 80781. Approximate Time Period:
mid-1980's through present.
Let's start with the data from the Irwin accumulation
of Official Railway Equipment Registers (ORERs): The
series shows up in the April 1976 book, from 80000
to 80966, for a whopping 920 cars. They're of 50
foot 6 inch inside length and 57 foot 10 inch outside
length; which indicates nice long draft gear on the
couplers and doesn't make M/T's model wrong. In 1986,
after the 1984 date M/T gives for this paint scheme's
appearance, there are still 892 cars. And the October
1996 book gives us 862 cars with a classification flip
from the standard "XM" to "XP" denoting specialty
service. That would be newsprint.
I had mentioned last month that the spinoff of the St.
Lawrence and Hudson from CP Rail proper severed the
long, long mainline across Canada that was once all
under the CP banner. Well, as it turns out, that
wasn't the half of it. For more, here's the very
first UMTRR guest commentator, Charles Bury of
Birchton, Quebec.
"In fact, CP has torn up or sold off virtually all
its eastern lines, and no longer operates anywhere
east of St-Jean sur Richelieu, about 20 miles
southeast of Montreal. The new players are Irving
Oil of Saint John, N.B., and Iron Road, of Washington
D.C.
"Irving's New Brunswick Railway (NBR) owns the new
shortlines New Brunswick Southern, running between
Saint John and the Maine border, and Eastern
Maine Railway between there and Brownville ME.
"The Canadian American Railroad between Brownville
and Sherbrooke QC, the Southern Quebec Railway between
Sherbrooke and St-Jean QC and between Farnham QC and
Sainte-Rosalie QC, as well as the Vermont Northern
Railroad between Farnham and Wells River, VT., all
now operate as part of the Bangor and Aroostook System
- all of which is/are owned by Iron Road.
"All these new lines enjoy much more traffic than the
top-heavy, bulk-minded CP had seen since World War II.
"The former CP line linking Quebec City, Trois Rivieres,
Montreal and Hull-Ottawa has also been sold and now
forms the Quebec-Gatineau Railway, whose ownership I
do not know.
"A deal is now pending to sell CP's last significant
trackage east of St-Jean - the long abandoned and
decrepit Quebec Central Railway, between Sherbrooke
and East Broughton QC, between East Broughton and
Vallée Jonction, QC, and between Vallée Jonction
and Lac Frontiere, QC. The would-be buyer is the
trucking company Marco Express, of East Broughton,
near Thetford Mines. But owner Jean-Marc Giguere has
apparently delayed the signing several times. Unlike
the other CP sell-offs in Quebec, this line has no
active customers and few potential ones, and would be
very costly to rehabilitate."
Thanks, Charles, for a great update! Charles had
sent me this data as incremental to last month's
CP releases, and I thought it would be great to use
it the next time a CP car was issued. I am a bit
surprised that it turned out to be this soon!
So, how about more guest commentaries? Obviously,
we won't know what lines are going to be honored
ahead of time, but if there's a favorite railroad
of yours that you'd like to talk about "generically,"
feel free to write up a couple of paragraphs and
send them over to me. I'll then use them, with full
credit, of course, at the next available opportunity.
45200, $8.85 - 50' Flat Car, Fishbelly Sides,
Burlington Northern. Green with white lettering
including reporting marks on left and road name
in center. Reporting Marks: BN 612765. Approximate
Time Period: late 1970's to late 1980's.
This car is classified as "FM" which translates in
the Association of American Railroads listings to
"Ordinary flat car for general service." Somehow
that seems vaguely insulting! Ordinary, humph!
The ORER issued at the very beginning of the BN's
existence, in April 1970, doesn't show this series
yet, which isn't surprising. Since they were built
in 1965, I assume that they would have belonged to a
predecessor road. The repainting began sometime
between 1970 and 1976, as seven cars in the series
612700 to 612894 show up in the April 1976 Guide.
That figure climbs to 47 in the October 1981 ORER
then slips to 40 for the October 1986 book. Then it
crashes to a single car in the October 1991 book.
Unfortunately, the whole series is listed there,
so I can't tell you which car actually survived.
I can tell you that rivet counters will be complaining
again; the prototype car is shown at an inside length
of 53 feet 6 inches and an outside length of 56 feet
11 inches, so the model is a bit off.
There are a total of just four major body styles
of non-TOFC flat cars issued by Kadee and M/T; with
this release, the BN is the only entity for which at
least one of each has been painted. This is the
fishbelly side flat. 44070 was the BN straight
side flat car, done in three numbers in 1978, 1987,
and 1994. 53010 was the center beam flat car which,
when issued in both January 1995 and May of this
year, blew right out of the factory. And finally
there was a six-pack of bulkhead flatcars of catalog
number 54010 brought out in October 1986. If you
throw in the TOFC cars, by the way, no one entity
spans all the way across the body style roster, though
I think Trailer Train comes the closest.
65430, $18.80 - 39' Single Dome Tank Car, Richfield
Oil Company. Black with white lettering and blue,
orange and silver "shield plus eagle" logo on right.
Reporting Marks: ROX 670. Approximate Time Period:
early 1960's, see below.
Oh, no, another private owner, I thought as I scanned
the new releases for the month. But wait, this was
for Richfield Oil. Could that be, as in "Atlantic
Richfield"? Now known as "ARCO?" Yes, indeed, as a
trip to the ARCO website-- http://www.arco.com ,
as you might expect-- revealed. The Richfield Oil
Company was founded in 1905. Its first filling
station, built in 1917 in Los Angeles, sported the
then new eagle trademark. The Great Depression brought
five years of receivership, but the company survived.
In 1942, the company's Elwood Field near Santa Barbara
was attacked by the Japanese military! That, says ARCO,
was the first foreign attack on Continental United
States soil since the War of 1812. In 1966, west
coast-based Richfield merged with east coast-based
Atlantic to form Atlantic Richfield, now ARCO. That
company took over another fabled name in gasoline in
1969-- Sinclair. (Which also had a Kadee tank car
release, catalog number 65140, in 1980.)
While the eagle motif was a constant for quite a
number of Richfield's 61 years, the exact design
varied. I happened upon a 1953 ad in the magazine
Sunset, which sported a different looking eagle and
a different slogan: "The West's Only Rust-Proof
Gasoline." Somehow I think "The Gasoline of Power"
featured on the tank car has a bit more pizazz.
The ORER, for once, doesn't let us down, as there is a
listing for Richfield Oil in the February '64 edition.
However, while a roster of 200 tank cars ranging in
capacity from 6,000 to 12,000 gallons is shown, car
number 670 is not one of those 200 cars! The listing
skips from 669 to 671! Ouch! Bummer days! What could
have happened? Well, maybe there was a train wreck...
literally. That would take it off the roster! Another
possibility is that the car was painted and used in
commercial service for a while and was then retired to
in plant service or even a display. So, technically,
the approximate time period window for this car is less
than three years, from 1961 to 1963. But I have a feeling
that a car this good looking isn't going to be tied down
to the prototype operating period by most accumulators.
67110, $20.75 - 45' Trailer, Burlington Northern "Kansas
City." White with multicolor "city view" mural across
side. Reporting Marks: BNZ 237895. Approximate Time
Period: early to mid 1990's.
As already mentioned in the "Special Report" I sent
earlier last month (another benefit of subscribing via
e-mail!), this was actually released in mid-July via an
announcement at the NMRA National Convention in Kansas
City. (Well, where else to introduce a "Kansas City"
trailer?) The answer to the question "Why wasn't this
in the August UMTRR?" is simple: I didn't know about it
either! So while this is a July release, I will repeat
a paragraph from the Special Report:
"This is the second "City View" trailer that has
been produced by MT; the first one was the "Chicago"
from way back in January of 1993. However, the BN
has done thirteen of them, so there definitely is
an opportunity here for more if this one does well.
Given that the "Chicago" has been available for more
than five years, that's not a sure bet. (Yes, although
it's appeared numerous times in aftermarket auctions,
the Chicago, catalog number 67080, is in fact still
available from M/T.) The multicolor artwork is
eye-catching, and the price is a bit breathtaking as
well. But as we already know, multiple colors mean
multiple digits on that little yellow sticker!"
How about a lookup in the ORER? Well, no, that's not
where it would be. Up until about the start of the
1970's, trailers were listed in the back of the
Official Railway Equipment Register; but later, they
were spun off into their own book, called the Official
Intermodal Equipment Register. The OIER? Yeah, it
doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it? And I don't
own any of them. However, "HW" over on the Intermodal
mailing list (betcha didn't know there was one!) notes
that he believes that these trailers were folded into
the Radon leasing company's fleet and thus probably don't
display the city views any longer. Thanks to Kelly
Cruise for forwarding that info to my attention.
93050, $22.10 - 3 Bay ACF Center Flow® , Round Hatches,
Western Pacific. Gray with black lettering. Black,
red and white "Feather River Route" herald on right.
Reporting Marks: WP 11832. Approximate Time Period:
early 1980's to at least the early 1990's (for this
paint scheme).
Well, I'm a sucker for any WP issues that carry that
famous "Feather River Route" herald. But did you know
that the Feather River Route was actually surveyed
more than forty years before it was completed? Arthur
Keddie was the Scot who first brought the potential
path through the Sierras to the attention of the
railroad... the Central Pacific Railroad, that is! But
no, politics won out over practicality, and the more
difficult, steeper and higher Donner Pass routing was
selected for the first transcontinental line. Keddie
lived to see his dream come true, though, as he was a
witness to the first train into Quincy, California
in 1910. And he also got a Wye named after him... which
happens to be one of the most photographed railroad sites
in America. Even if UP yellow has replaced WP orange and
silver.
This is the first center flow that's been done for the
WP by M/T, and the first in the 93000 body style since
the now infamous Sclair car of December of 1996. (You
had to bring that up, didn't you, Irwin?) Seems to
me that this has got to be one of the latest uses of
the classic square herald; by this time the more
modernized versions of the feather were in general use.
The ORER shows all 25 cars of the series 11826 to
11850 lasting at least through 1981. 21 cars were
listed in the October 1986 book and 14 in October
of 1991... under the Union Pacific, however. I feel
obligated to stop the approximate time period at the
UP takeover, since unlike other railroads with which
you may be familiar, UP repaints quickly. So 11832
might still be wearing WP reporting marks, but a
Union Pacific shield instead of the square herald
that honors an engineering achievement in the Feather
River Valley.
106010, $12.10 - 50' Steel Covered Gondola, New
Haven. Oxide red with white lettering including
roadname on left and "McGuiness" NH herald on right.
Reporting Marks: NH 62005. Approximate Time Period:
late 1950's to at least the late 1970's.
Yeah, I know, when I was writing up the Special
Report on the Kansas City trailer, I should have
been catching up on my model train magazines instead.
Then I would have seen Page 100 of the September issue
of Railroad Model Craftsman with its rendition of
this car! Which would have been an increment to the
Special Report, oh, well, one cannot do everything...
Anyway, since there was some advance notice on this
car, we have some incremental information right away.
On the other hand, if it's included in the main
commentary, can it really be incremental? At any rate,
Stan Horzepa is a very big fan of the New York, New
Haven and Hartford, and as soon as he saw Page 100 of
September's RMC, he went to work. Using the 'Net to
contact other NH fans, Stan was able to tell us: "The
consensus of the New Haven Internet Modelers mailing
list is that the gondolas were assigned to The American
Brass Company in Waterbury. American Brass was one of
the big three brass companies in Waterbury (the other
two were Scovill Manufacturing Company and Chase Metal
Works) and was a subsidiary of Anaconda." (Which was
later bought by ARCO... aha!) Stan later added that
Waterbury was known as "The Brass City" because of its
concentration of that industry. Thanks, Stan!
The January 1964 ORER shows all 15 of these cars in
the series 62000 to 62014, and notes that they had Evans
DF loaders, which is the first I've heard of their use
on a gondola. The April 1970 book has all fifteen making
it to Penn Central, and I'd bet with the same paint scheme.
Eight lasted until Conrail in 1976, and three were left in
March of 1981. The covers were included all the way
through the life of these gons.
This brings to a lucky seven the number of New Haven
paint schemes released by Kadee and M/T as regular
runs. (There have also been a number of special runs
that were commissioned by Brooklyn Locomotive Works,
back in the time when Kadee was doing prototype schemes
as special runs.) All of the previous NH cars were box
cars. 20029 was one of the "Class of 1972", released
in December of that year and then reprinted as a three
pack in May of 1995. The 1972 & 1973 iterations are way,
way down from their all time highs but still are worth a
good bit more than their original list price of $3.00.
20029 is box car red with the white lettering and script
herald. Other NH releases include: 40 foot box car 20350,
from 1982, black and red with the large McGuiness
herald, a highly sought after piece; 40 foot box car
20830, red with white McGuiness herald, which came in
a single car in 1987 and then a six-pack in 1988;
32190, a fifty foot plug door in red and white, from
1988; 22160, the famous "State of Maine" car in red,
white and blue (yep, the NH had 'em too!) from 1991;
and finally, the most recent M/T before this, 21250,
in reddish-brown with white McGuiness herald, from
just last December.
N SCALE REPRINTS:
20070, $10.00 - 40' Single Door Box Car (Narrow Rib
or "Youngstown" Door), Union Pacific. Box car red
with yellow lettering including roadname on left
and "Be Specific" slogan on right. Reporting Marks:
UP 190576. Approximate Time Period: 1960's (because
of the paint scheme). Previous Releases: 1972,
road number 124239; 1973, road number 124244.
Hmm... I mention "Be Specific" as a UP slogan used
prior to "We Can Handle It" in last month's column
and this month it shows up? Conspiracy, perhaps?
Uh, no; actually this is the return of the 25th
Anniversary Series after a short hiatus. This car
hasn't been released since way back in 1973, and when
it was, it had the "unrationalized" catalog number
20089. It also had two different body and lettering
colors! You had a choice of either yellow lettering
on a more brownish box car red, or white lettering
on a more reddish box car red, in the road number
124244. Or you could go with white or yellow on
the light brown box car red on road number 124239.
The aftermarket says you'd have been better off with
the 239 in yellow and the 244 in white; but unless
they're new in box I wouldn't worry about that since
runners of this car have historically gone for much
less than collectible copies.
Through a goodly bit of research M/T has really
narrowed down the prototypicalness (new word) of this
reprint: This exact paint scheme was being done only
between 1958 and 1962, based on the use of yellow,
the size of the "UNION PACIFIC" roadname and the
appearance of periods after the initials in the
reporting marks (i.e., "U.P."). That's a far cry
from those days in 1972 when N Scalers were just
marvelling at how much better the car looked than its
competition!
Our trusty January 1964 ORER says that this car was
part of the series 190000 to 190699, of 663 cars.
Let's check the door width... 6 feet, yep, that's
right! In 1970 this series was down by almost half,
to 340, and 1976 showed just 53 cars. There were
probably still a few cars in this paint scheme at
that point, but with lots of rust and weathering.
With this release, the following cars of the "Class
of '72" have been reprinted: ATSF, NYC, Southern, SP,
N&W, and UP. The Grand Trunk Western was reprinted
in 1990 and the New Haven in 1995, so I'm guessing
that they won't be redone as 25th Anniversary cars.
That leaves only the 20058 Rock Island as having never
been redone after its first two numbers in 1972 and
early '73.
20360, $10.00 - 40' Single Door Box Car (Narrow Rib
or "Youngstown" Door), Erie Lackawanna. Light gray
with maroon lettering including large roadname on
left and large diamond herald on right. Reporting
Marks: EL 73113. Approximate Time Period: early
1960's through at least the mid-1970s. Previous
Releases: February 1983, road number 90684; November
1994, road number 74632.
Three cars, and three different prototype number
series for them, interestingly. But that sounds
like the EL: In terms of refurbishing and repainting
the cars that belonged to their predecessors, when
they got to it, they got to it. It's not especially
surprising that there were still cars lettered "Erie"
and "Lackawanna" when Conrail arrived in 1976. And
thus it's also not surprising that in 1964, four years
after the merger, both the EL series 73112 to 73161
and the predecessor Lackawanna series 52000 to 52499
mentioned by M/T also still co-existed. Granted,
the DL&W group was down to only 13 cars and the EL
gang was up to 49 cars, but I could plausibly run
'em both down my 1960's era railroad. Well, first
M/T would need to do the DL&W car... or I could invoke
the Irwin Jinx and do it myself, which would virtually
guarantee its release...
Since this is an EL car, I'm going to get up on my
soapbox this time and bring up the subject of Hoboken
(New Jersey) Terminal. It was originally the property
of the Lackawanna and served as the eastern terminus
for both commuter runs and longer distance trains like
the Pheobe Snow. Prior to the EL merger, the Erie
shifted many of its passenger trains to the terminal
from its own station next door in Jersey City. Post-
merger, the Erie's complex was abandoned entirely and
leveled. But Hoboken Terminal survived, even after the
end of intercity trains on the EL and the takeover of
local service by what is now NJ Transit. Now, having
seen it again, I'm not sure how much longer it will
last, and I'm not happy. The deferred maintenance of
the terminal building has turned to outright neglect,
I'm afraid. The original exterior copper is gone or
badly deteriorated. The waiting room that was renovated
some years ago badly needs another renewal. The
platforms themselves seem to be getting some attention,
and there is some work on the track going on. But the
space above the tracks is becoming more and more valuable--
can you say, "air rights?" There's already been a
proposal to put a hockey arena in the area of the
terminal... maybe even right on top of it. If that were
to come to pass, yeah, you'd need tracks and platforms,
but nothing else. And I wonder how far NJ Transit plans
to take the long-awaited connections that are being built
to enable either direct or cross-platform transfers to the
former Pennsylvania main line right into Penn Station...
or should I say "Penn Tracks and Platforms"? Could it be
far enough to make Hoboken Terminal "unnecessary" in the
eyes of the bureaucrat? It wouldn't be the first time a
railroad landmark has been sacrificed for the sake of
"progress". So I guess what I'm saying here is, "Save
Hoboken Terminal!" Even if I'm being a little premature.
55060, $12.85 - 33' 2 Bay Hopper, Offset Sides, Flat
Ends, Great Northern. Box car red with white lettering.
Black and white 1950's style "Rocky" herald in center.
Reporting Marks: GN 73476. Approximate Time Period:
late 1940's through at least the 1960's. Previous
Release: April 1979, road number 73237.
M/T notes that this car co-existed with the 55420
hopper that's part of this year's BN "Fallen Flags"
four-pack, that one having the "See America First"
herald of the 1940's. (And by the way, if you don't
have that and you want it, you'd better hurry, as
the aforementioned BN 4-pack is soon to be out of
stock.) I wouldn't be surprised if it also co-existed
with the same car in Burlington Northern cascade green
(catalog number 55090, 1979) as well. There were
just too many hoppers to repaint and besides, the BN
had other things on its mind.
We've got a bunch of ORER material which shows the
gradual decline of the size of series 73200 to 73699.
Beginning at 500 cars, there were still 492 around in
April of 1952 and 490 in January 1964. The total had
slipped just a bit to 465 at the birth of the BN in
April of 1970 and 455 two years later. Then the
paint brushes came out, or maybe the retirements
started: April 1976 saw 376 cars on the books and
October 1976, 335. January 1978 had 294 cars,
January 1980 just 102, and January 1981 only 81.
The series was gone entirely in the January 1985
ORER.
Nn3 SCALE: Guess what, it's another car! And a
new one at that!
15108, $14.50 - 30' Wood Box Car, Single Door,
Colorado and Northwestern. Box car red with white
lettering and orange, blue and white herald on right.
Road Number: 1026 (will be "C&N 1026" in my listing
on the web site). Approximate Time Period: 1900's
(the decade) through mid-1910's.
Unlike the last two Nn3 releases, there's not much
I can pick up on the narrow gauge line honored
this month by M/T. I'd run into a similar barrier
when the Colorado & Northwestern gondola was released
back in May 1997. Fact is, this railroad went out
of business so long ago that there doesn't seem to
be anything easily accessible on it... at least on
the net. I'm sure there are records somewhere, though.
Since the C&N was gone as a corporate entity before
1910, I'd be very surprised if any actual rolling
stock was preserved. The roster of the Colorado
Railroad Museum didn't show anything, for example.
Fortunately, film had been invented by then!
Z SCALE NEW RELEASES: None this month, specifically,
but how about three variations of a Southern Pacific
4-6-0 Mogul in time for the holidays? That's right,
stock numbers 16000, 16001 and 16002 are in pre-order
mode until October 30th at just $499.99 each...! They
will be brass bodies over Marklin chassis; two feature
Vanderbilt tenders and all three will differ in other
details. Besides the black and white prototype photos on
M/T's web site, there's a color photo of a sample in the
October issue of Model Railroader. It's long been rumored
that M/T would be making a bigger push into Z, and if the
Z Flex Track wasn't enough proof, here's more than a bit
more. Start saving the pennies... and the dollars... and
the tens and twenties...
Z SCALE REPRINTS: One this month:
14408, Marklin Coupler, $11.55; 14408-2, Micro-Trains
Coupler, $13.20 - Single Dome Tank Car, Southern Pacific.
Black with white lettering including roadname on left.
Reporting Marks: SP 60170. Approximate Time Period:
late 1940's through at least the 1970's-- it's a company
service car. Previous Release: Reporting marks SP 60178
(I can't locate the release date).
This car is from the series 60144 to 60193, which was
listed in a special tank car section for the SP in the
January 1964 ORER. There were 47 cars of 36 foot 3 inch
outside length listed, which makes this reproduction pretty
close. 44 cars made it to 1970 and 12 survived as late as
1981, though the ORER's special tank car section had been
done away with.
DISCONTINUED ALERT: Fairly quiet this month. To no one's
surprise, the 20446 US Air Force box car has left the
building, joining the Army box car's departure last
month. Only three other cars are outta here: the 56310
B&O hopper, the 69010 Western Fruit Express reprint and
the 71524-1 Trailer Train TOFC flat car.
There are a bunch of center flows on the almost gone
list this month: 94020 General Chemical, 94050 Golden
West, 94110 BNSF, and the 92102 Chicago & North Western
2-pack. The colorful, but expensive, 30180 Union
Pacific double door box car is also endangered, as is
the 91012 Norfolk and Western hopper 3-pack from back
in 1995. On the 1:220 side, the Army and Air Force
boxcars with both M/T and Marklin couplers are set
to march out.
THE UKDRR ("Unofficial Kadee Release Report"): Does
somebody in White City, Oregon really like the Lake
Superior and Ishpeming? I mean, really, really, really
like that line? Well, if you do, you're in hog heaven
this month, as the "brother" company has issued a virtual
three-pack for you of box cars with six foot Superior
doors painted up for that Michigan ore hauler. They're
all in light box car red with white lettering and the red
and white diamond herald. Catalog number 4026 is road
number 2266; catalog 4027 is 2236, and catalog 4028 is
road number 2241, all at $28.95 list price. They join
last month's eight foot door version (catalog 5003).
Also new since last time is another restencil special:
catalog 4025 ($27.95) is for the Maryland and Pennsylvania,
the "Famous MA & PA." Nothing fancy here, though, just
yellow railroad roman data over a light box car red body.
Except for the "MPA" reporting marks, which are in a
sans serif font, as if to drive home the point that
these were second hand acquisitions. I recall seeing
these cars in the 1970's but I don't remember from which
railroad they were procured.
INCREMENTAL INFORMATION DEPARTMENT: After much searching
by several readers, we have a time period fix on the 25380
Bath & Hammondsport box car. It's been found in two 1979
ORERs... Still no word on the "Grain Train" car or even the
Blue Mountain Railroad to which it is registered; although
I have seen reports that the bright new paint is covering
surplus hoppers of a number of types in no particular number
series. As if to underscore that point, an HO club in
Washington State is doing a fundraiser using an Athearn car--
a non center flow 3 bay covered hopper! Oh, yes, I've also
been told that "lime yellow" is theoretically possible since
key limes are yellow...
Meanwhile, Keith Albrant went back two months but up to date
on ORERs. He has a July 1998 issue-- the most recent
available!-- and reports the following for what he calls the
"now you see them, now you don't (and vice versa)" file.
He relates that the entire series DT&I 25900 to 25935, on
which the 102010 60' Excess Height Box Car is based, has
reappeared; but the prototype series for the CN "Manitoba"
box car was down to just one car even though the entire
445956 to 446612 series is still listed.
PLAIN 59000 BOWS: At least of few of us have been waiting
for the 59000 steel ice refrigerator to be released in
undecorated. It's out now and ready for your custom
painting. There have been comments sent my way with
respect to how long it takes M/T to get an undec out after
the first 'dec' appears; 33 months, in this case, for
example. But I only buy 'em...
EBAY, EH, WHAT?!?: Now for an update on my tracking of
the online auction service eBay (www.ebay.com). I must
admit I just don't understand what's going on here.
Not only are listings of undiscontinued M/T cars still
to get prices over list-- sometimes, way over list!--
but said listings are really starting to overwhelm the
rest of the Kadee and M/T listings at large. While I still
believe that eBay could prove to be a major destabilizer to
the "big boys" in the mail bid auction action, I am wondering
how many serious accumulators have thrown in the towel after
seeing the umpteenth CP Mandarin Orange box car. Meanwhile,
for those cars listed that really are discontinued and not
readily available, another trend appears to be emerging:
High starting bids and high reserves frequently result in
"no sales." In some cases, the mere presence of a reserve
price has caused everyone to pass on an M/T car, even if it
is a sought after one. And that's been true even if the
price and or reserve (if it becomes known) is reasonable
compared to the listed collector guide "current value"
or "high bid" prices. So what does that say about the
credibility placed in said prices by the general N Scale
public? Hmm... With a two page full color advertisement
in the September Railroad Model Craftsman, eBay is trying
to hook up with a lot more of that general N Scale public.
As as Ben Stein might say, "Stay tuned... it could get
interesting!"
FINALLY... OH, NEVER MIND. This column is too long
already! So I'll just add: Do the best you can, and
we'll be back next month!
Cheers,
--George in Ellison Park, NY
--Author of the Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report
--Monthly on r.m.r and via e-mail subscription
--Archives on our web site: http://pw2.netcom.com/~gji