Cheap Rolling Stock

[Beatthe9ers]

I need some cheap rolling stock.  Right now, my 4 year old son and I are having a good time with our carpet layout, with one problem.  Although he is trying to be careful, he is 4, and some of the more detailed and (relatively) expensive pieces of rolling stock I have are getting the bad end of the bargain.  I just bought a Branchline RTR 30's era Reefer yesterday, and the ladder on it is already busted off.  It's getting frustrating for everyone.

So I'm looking for 6 or 8 or 12 pieces of rolling stock that is in runnable condition, but is otherwise nothing special.  It doesn't matter what it is at all, flat car, box car, tanker, whatever.

So the question is, does anyone know of a decent place to find such an animal (I've been doing the ebay thing, but buying things people are selling cheap on ebay always seems dangerous) or does anyone have some pieces they are looking to get rid of for a reasonable price?

Thanks
Parker

[ta152h0]

I would recommend obtaining a Bachmann G scale train set.

[SteamGene]

Parker, I agree with Tank - the younger the kid, the larger the scale.
OTOH, it's sort of hard to break the old Athearn blue box boxcar, flat car, gon, reefer, or stock car.  Roundhouse/MDC are also candidate as is some Accurail. 
Don't get ready to run, and don't get cars which require grabs, roof walks, or ladders to be applied. 
Gene. 

[Yampa Bob]

Mantua cars are the best bang for the buck, at only $8 each. Truck mounted knuckle couplers, plastic wheels, and they look great.  Remove the wire truss rods as they could be injurious to kids.  The 1890 vintage coaches with silver roofs would please any young modeler. Production is not keeping up with demand, I was lucky to get a bunch when they were more available. 

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0091P?&C=UDC&V=CSM

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0091P?&C=UCC&V=CSM

If you can find some  Roundhouse Overton kits at a good price, they have a minimum of parts, takes about 15 minutes to assemble if you don't put on the thread truss rods.   

Bob

[Guilford Guy]

Industrial Rail rolling stock sounds like what is suitable. They have hornhook/X-2f couplers and can be had for about $2 a piece. The catch is... I haven't seen their HO equipment in several years which leads me to believe it is no longer in production. Life-Like HO equipment is also pretty cheap.
Another choice is Atlas Trainman. Their equipment retails for under 12$ and include knuckles and metal wheels.

[grumpy]

I have quite a few pieces of rolling stock new in the box -never run . They are old Tyco and Life Like.( I got carried away at an auction sale a couple of years ago.) They are equipped with the horn and hook couplers.I would like $4.00 each for them.
Don

[Beatthe9ers]

Thanks for the offer.  I'll contact you through your email.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

If you're just looking for rolling stock for you and the little guy to have fun with and you don't care--for now--if it gets damaged or destroyed, you might try eBay, too.

[TomKat]

BT9NR's- I personally have purchased rolling stock off of e-bay. There really are some great deals there, if you look hard enough. I recently got 14 cars, a mix of which one was a Lionel flat car. Beautiful little critter. Got them for only 6 bucks! They were cheaper than the shipping. Just look at the sellers credentials or feedback if you will. It'll tell you a lot about whom you are dealing with. Also you can email the seller usually for more detailed pics and info. There really are some great deals out there, especially if you are looking for rough-up cars for the young ones to rough-up on. Some might require some repair, and some will be ready to roll. Like I said, you just have to look. There are usually 20000+ items if you do HO Scale search under toys&hobbies.~TomKat

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

BT9NR's- I personally have purchased rolling stock off of e-bay. There really are some great deals there, if you look hard enough. I recently got 14 cars, a mix of which one was a Lionel flat car. Beautiful little critter. Got them for only 6 bucks! They were cheaper than the shipping. Just look at the sellers credentials or feedback if you will. It'll tell you a lot about whom you are dealing with. Also you can email the seller usually for more detailed pics and info. There really are some great deals out there, especially if you are looking for rough-up cars for the young ones to rough-up on. Some might require some repair, and some will be ready to roll. Like I said, you just have to look. There are usually 20000+ items if you do HO Scale search under toys&hobbies.~TomKat

Stick with established sellers who have a positive rating of 100% or very close to it, in the upper 90s%.

[Paul M.]

But keep in mind, that, in this hobby you usually get what you pay for....

[TonyD]

Look in craig's list and yur paper for people selling already busted stuff, hey as long as it rolls, have fun. I was at a train show Sunday, there's still guys selling beat up cars for a buck, I'll tell ya, the eventual repairing of this stuff is the point where you and your son leave toy trains, and enter model railroading. I still have a use, even if it is just part of the scenery, for cars I broke 40 years ago...