We still need an On30 Prairie

[John Tumolo]

Ok, Bachmann.  I know things are going to be a bit whacky for a while with all of the tarif wars, but once things calm down, here's something to consider.  We On30 folks need a Prairie.  A simple 2-6-2 with a tender that we can run over our layouts with 18 degree curves.  Now here's a thought, one that I have thought about for a while and if our friend H. Lee Riley were still with us I'll bet he'd be on board.  In 1904 Baldwin Locomotive Works built the first Prairie for the Sandy River Railroad (#8) in two foot gauge.  In 1907 Baldwin Locomotive Works built a beautiful Prairie for the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway (#6) in 2 foot gauge. These two locomotives were so close to one another that with the exception of an extra sand dome on the WW&F version, they were pretty much sisters.  Seems to me that building a model of of either one would ultimately (with a bit of modeling on our part) allow the introduction of two very useful locomotives to Bachmann's repertoire, not to mention how much we modelers would appreciate them. Please consider it.      John Tumolo