OK, this seller should know better. He has a BAM store and has sold on the net for YEARS...and yet the High Speed trains he's selling he is calling Southern Pacific Designs and is asking...well you look at the listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/334000413053?hash=item4dc3f9d97d:g:LIUAAOSw3hZgnawo
Wow! Just what I've been looking for. A brass 5-axle U23C. https://www.ebay.com/itm/284299398260?hash=item4231908c74:g:lrcAAOSwArpgpMZe
Surely this did not come from the factory as it appears in that photo. The rear end appears to be a bit jacked up. Someone's junk box creation?
The loco was missing the rear truck and there was an extra 2 axle truck in the junk box...one Frankenstein later and you have a "new" brass engine! Until the townspeople break out the torches and head up the hill to the castle...
It depends on whether you grade on a curve, and whether it can travel on a grade or a curve. (See what I did there?)
Though this isn't a ebay one .. Thought it would be worth mentioning here. Especially the $! see photos.. Tom
Here's an example of why eBay is often an overwhelming bore. There's a hideous "Vintage N Scale Rapido 200 Custom Painted Jersey Central Lines Caboose Car" has been listed for nearly 2-1/2 years at the ridiculous price of $17 and on it stays, price unadjusted, terrible photo and all. There's also a "PORT JERSEY RR caboose NO # N-Scale Custom Painted" that's been posted unsold for nearly two years at $31 and on it stays the same way. These are just two examples. I realize that eBay can't police this sort of thing, but it amazes me that this sort of thing prevails. More than a few Sellers are clearly asleep.
I couldn't resist so I looked. The seller is an antique dealer. The lowest price item among the 945 in "Trains and Accessories" is a "Vintage HO Scale Atlas 43 Bumper In Box" for $13 plus $4.10 shipping. In genuine brass! (I am SO GLAD early N Scale manufacturers did not make brass track...) I speculate that somewhere in an antique store these "vintage pieces" await a buyer, at which point they'll be pulled from the eBay Store. Otherwise, who cares? They'll sit at no incremental cost on the eBay store just like they are sitting on a shelf at a brick and mortar store. Colleen and I have taken up casual antiquing just for fun, although we've gotten a few practical things that have nothing to do with trains. We often wonder how some of these places stay in business. Same here? Perhaps...
A lot of crazy/wrong/too high/what-have-you prices are often from Trainz seller. It feels like they hired a bunch of summer interns, who have never owned model trains, and say "Here, go sell this."
I have gotten some great deals from Trainz , maybe there is more than 1 person doing the listings . Mike
I suspect a random number generator is used for some of their listings. If I recall correctly they were also behind "GoMotorBids" and there were some really good deals on that site.