Freight cars for steam engines

[Doneldon]

Re:  The total number of 4-8-4's - This site http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/ says there were 1,126 of them in North America.  Subtracting out the 203 in Canada leaves 923 in the lower 48.  I think the statement that the CN rostered more 4-8-4's than any other single railroad would be a correct statement. 

ebt-

Yes. as I stated ("CN did have the largest 4-8-4 roster "). However, Roger's post said "more of them than all the other North American railroads combined." Also, there were more than 203 Confederation/Northerns in Canada because the CP, GTW and ON all had some. There were also a couple on the NdeM.
                                                                                                                                                                    -- D

[rogertra]

My apologies, obviously I mis-remembered stats.  Yes, CNR had the largest single fleet.

However, even though the CNR did have the largest roster of 4-8-4s, the hopes of an American (Chinese) company ever producing an affordable Canadian steam loco, a 4-8-4 or anything else, has about as much chance of happening as finding a snowball in Hell.

Now, if it was an obscure or rare American 4-8-4, they'll be all over it.  

Right Mr. B?

[Doneldon]

Roger-

I think you are correct in your opinion that an affordable Canadian steam locomotive is unlikely to happen. And merely adapting an American prototype for a Canadian loco would be a lot of work, whether it is done by a manufacturer or an individual modeler. The all-weather cabs alone would present significant, expensive challenges.
                                                                                                                                                                               -- D

[rogertra]

Roger-

I think you are correct in your opinion that an affordable Canadian steam locomotive is unlikely to happen. And merely adapting an American prototype for a Canadian loco would be a lot of work, whether it is done by a manufacturer or an individual modeler. The all-weather cabs alone would present significant, expensive challenges.
                                                                                                                                                                               -- D

This is why I freelanced.  I would have loved to have modelled the CPR in the mid 1950s, with CNR interchange, but with the complete pack of accurate Canadian steam at Bachmann Spectrum prices, it was impossible.  And no people, the Bachmann 2-6-0, nor any Bachmann steam loco lettered for Canadian Pacific or Canadian National doesn't count, they're not accurate.  But then again, until very recently, in the past couple of years, even accurate Canadian RTR diesels were almost impossible to come by.  Almost all of them were just re-lettered and painted into Canadian colours models of American prototype diesels. Not the same.  Canadian diesels have subtle differences between the American model and the Canadian model.

[lvrr325]

If old trains had value I'd be a millionaire!

Seriously look for old Athearn kits - also a company named Bev-Bel used Athearn cars to customize.

Kadee has nice older equipment - just save your pennies to buy one!

A few weeks back I watched a plastic HO bobber caboose get bid up to $202.00.  Sometimes they have more value than you realize. 


As for the OP, there are plenty of steam era items available from multiple manufacturers.  Accurail and Bowser are probably the most readily available/least expensive lines. 

[jbrock27]

I am not sure that kinda price speaks to value as much as it does to a mentality.

I have come across bidders who have all of 16 purchased items to their name, yet have 200+ bid retractions in a 6 months time period.  In my opinion, these are the kind of jokers who should be banned from bidding on auction sites.

I like and second Accurail kits.

[Doneldon]

A few weeks back I watched a plastic HO bobber caboose get bid up to $202.00.  Sometimes they have more value than you realize.

lvrr-

This only goes to prove that some people have a whole lot more money than
intelligence, judgment or common sense. There are no plastic bobber cabooses
worth more than $10, with shipping. Honest to goodness, this kind of thing
makes me crazy.
                                                                                            -- D

[Woody Elmore]

I was recently watching one of those auction buyer shows and in the locker were trains. The guy who purchased the contents discovers a big box of HO trains. He looks at the camera and says "Old trains are worth a lot of money. There are collectors out there who pay top dollar!" As he said that he picked up what looked to be a caboose/crane tender car. It was grey and he read on the side "Virginia and Truckee." All I could think of was the last train show I went to - there was a club selling HO freight cars from an estate at five for ten dollars. By the end of the day the cars were a buck each.

I missed the $202 dollar bobber caboose - I'm sure that it was "rare" and "vintage."

The first HO kit I ever bought was an Athearn 50 foot double door box car - lettered for the SP. It was $1.59 - retail. It had trucks that had to be assembled and had a rubber insert in place of springs. My first HO project ever was getting springs to replace the rubber insert.

There was an discount outfit in Manhattan that advertised for years. They sold three sets of Athearn trucks - assembled (each pair in a little white box) for a buck. The store wasn't too far from the original Barnes and Noble book store. Being in college I would go to B&N and then to the discount store - I think it was called America's Hobby Center. It was basically the second floor of a warehouse. They had mountains of stuff but there was no browsing. You told the guy at the door what you wanted and they brought it out.  That store, Madison Hardware, the American Flyer and Lionel exhibits and Polks on Fifth Avenue used to make an interesting trip to Manhattan.

Now I'm going to ebay to see if they have any rare, vintage $150 flat cars

[RAM]

 What is interesting on Ebay is how many rare, vintage, hard to find cars and locomotive you see.  The funny part is they may have five or six selling the same thing.

[Woody Elmore]

I see several "rare" items all the time. I once owned an original Varney Old Lady and Casey Jones ten wheeler - the originals with the Pittman motor. I often look at the current prices to see the variation in asking price. Varney turned them out in the Thousands; then Life Like took over. Then Bowser brought out an updated version using some Bowser parts because they didn't get all the tooling. To make a long story short these old Varney engines are hardly rare but to read some of the ads they are as rare as snakes in Ireland.

[electrical whiz kid]

A couple of other things to watch for:  Trucks.  trucks of 1920 to 1940 do not have roller bearings.  this will be characterized by the "flap" over the journal box, which is meant to be lifted for greasing.  The other thing you might watch for are the wheels.  If you want to stay on the safe side, wheels with the grooves in the backs of them-called ribbed-indicate trucks of an earlier order.  Kadee catalogues these trucks, both in sprung and equalized.  For my money, I use sprung trucks; probably the psychological effect on me.
As was previously mentioned, the "BLT" date on the side is a giveaway also.  Box cars, as well as gons, came in all shapes and sizes, and a variety of materials was used in their construction.
Rich C.

[jonathan]

When is comes to steam era freight, I like to choose rolling stock that was long lasting, so it fits in numerous decades.

For instance, I recently built a kit of an M-27 Box car.  These cars were first built in 1926 and went to various upgrades over the years, surviving into the 1960s. Hence the car will also look right in early diesel operations as well.

Speaking of trucks:  as EWK mentioned, around 1940 railroads switched from the older trucks (Andrews, Arch Bar and the like) to the AAR and Bettendorf style.  So the newer trucks will also fit in steam, as long as your modeling the later steam period.

Look for cars that have a roof walk and 50-ton trucks.  Stronger trucks appeared after steam went away.

Here's a few shots of my M-27d:

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

A few weeks back I watched a plastic HO bobber caboose get bid up to $202.00.  Sometimes they have more value than you realize.

lvrr-

This only goes to prove that some people have a whole lot more money than
intelligence, judgment or common sense. There are no plastic bobber cabooses
worth more than $10, with shipping. Honest to goodness, this kind of thing
makes me crazy.
                                                                                            -- D

I agree. Sometimes I will put something that has an utterly ridiculously high "opening bid" on my "Watch" list just to see if anyone goes for it.

[jbrock27]

It has a little of the same fascination to it, as watching a wreck.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

It has a little of the same fascination to it, as watching a wreck.

Where do people get the idea that some of this stuff is worth so much?

I can understand it with something that does seem to be unusual and fairly rare, such as the Rivarossi Lincoln car, but some of this other stuff?