Finding Prototypes of your Rolling Stock

midwayglenrr Feb 24, 2023

  1. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Well said Jeff. It's evident that a number of Sellers have no forethought about packaging. My wife bought a guitar through eBay many years ago and after a week passed with no shipping confirmation, the Seller wrote to say he was trying to find a suitable box. He eventually did and all ended well. I suppose we should be pleased that he was smart enough to know what was needed for safe shipment.
     
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  2. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    @JMaurer1 @Hardcoaler I've had a couple bad experiences with buying used guitars online, as well. The packaging was ok, but alot of the time, you realize why they sold it. Maybe a string won't intonate, or maybe it was a bum guitar from the factory and just doesn't have a good sound. They're not all created equal. Best bet is do it like in the old days, find a store where you can sit down and play the thing... or find a reputable large online store who accepts returns without return shipping costs or restocking fees.

    This is how you ship train stuff, tho. Complete with a smiley face. It came yesterday, everything was perfect, as described and well protected. This was obviously done by a lady, it has a woman's touch.

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  3. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    Here's a screenshot of the logo. I registered a .com address and forwarded it to a Google Sites page. I only need a simple page with links to social media profiles.

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  4. Many Trains

    Many Trains TrainBoard Member

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    I thought of another 40' boxcar you might want to add to your collection - one of my favorites that I run all the time is a RF&P car. There are several versions of this, but I particularly like the one that has the state of Virginia on it with the Linking North & South logo. You can find that in brown (boxcar red?) and also a blue version.
     
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  5. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, these are nice cars. Rich Folks & Pedigrees. Here's MT's 24290. MT 20516 is the brown version. MT also offers a 50 FT blue car, 32040 and 33020. Athearn and Atlas too have some nice choices too.

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  6. Many Trains

    Many Trains TrainBoard Member

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    Rich Folks & Pedigrees - that's a new one for me!

    There is an additional 40' car that MT produced that uses a circular logo with a triangle in the middle "Richmond Washington Line".

    I really ought to learn more about the RF&P. One of the first dates I had with my wife was at a restaurant located on what used to be Potomac Yard.
     
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  7. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac by Kaplan & Mellander (c. 1990) is a good book and there're likely others too.

    My wife and I honeymooned in Washington, DC in the fall of 1989, but by then Pot Yard was in decline.

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    Last edited: Mar 18, 2023
  8. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    @Many Trains I have an Atlas version of the blue RF&P without a jewel case, I keep it in a cheap pistol case with 8 other cars without cases. I went a bit overboard in the beginning with $9 cars, bought duplicates of the WM and the Atlas I just liked. I just ordered the MT version RF&P w/o roofwalk that @Hardcoaler posted. I love those photos you posted of the yard, btw. Glad there were ppl like you snapping pics back then..

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  9. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    My latest purchases

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  10. DeaconKC

    DeaconKC TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the idea of the pistol cases! That will work well for my locomotives!
     
  11. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    You're welcome. I have to give credit to Dan Fifer of Fifer Hobby Supply (an advertiser, here). He has a YT channel with lots of great tips. You may have to hack at the foam with scissors, so it's not smashing your engine railings, etc. I hacked away at the egg carton side of the foam, then flipped it over and inserted with the flat side up... took a little to much off in the middle, so I use a small strip of bubble wrap where there's slack inside. I think I paid like 7 bucks at Academy. I have 3, the other two are for a Sig 9mm and an Easy 9.

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  12. DeaconKC

    DeaconKC TrainBoard Member

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    Yup, don't know why I didn't think of these, lots of MTM stuff here [I shoot competitively].
    Also, got one of those little Kato steeplecabs in the mail today and found out about Mack's gas switcher locomotives. [laughs evilly while looking at the little beast...]
     
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  13. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    I had to look it up. Ain't that the cutest. Any ideas on something diesel in that price range? My grandson seems to be taking a liking to what I'm doing. I have enough doubles of cars and a SF caboose & controller from an old n scale train set used probably once. I also have an oval of Lifelike's powerlok snap track, used once. All I need to make him an brand new looking and operating set is a locomotive.
     
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  14. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    Going back to what I started this thread about, here's a reverse find. An O scale model of SOU X758, which happens to sit just a few miles up the road. (Image credit: legacystation.com). Physical differences, yes, but "based on prototype", if you will. The prototype photos are mine, taken the same day I took shots of the Western Electric plant. I went into Bobby Summers' train shop that day and mainly talked about the running schedule of the Gibsonville Garden Railroad, which he built: https://gibsonvillegardenrailroad.com/
    Bobby sadly passed in 2018 and I never got back up there to talk about his days with Southern Railway. He was the best source of info for what types of locomotives and rolling stock were coming through here in the 70s. Here's a local TV news segment about Bobby and x758: https://www.wfmynews2.com/amp/artic...boose/83-2b9406f2-9908-4c43-9c17-6da0b890655f

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  15. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    New arrivals 2day. I love the yellow lettering on the UP car. It doesn't look quite so much bright yellow as in this photo, it's more of an aged yellow. Wasn't expecting it, but it stands out in the crowd. Welcome home :)
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  16. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    I've been following this thread... did you have any luck finding anything? I couldn't figure out what price range you were looking for. Also, strictly Santa Fe or does that matter...

    The "history" behind the freight cars has always been a fascinating part of the hobby for me. It's probably the key reason I started writing the Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report, back in, yikes, 1996...
     
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  17. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, someone PMed me a great source for pre-owned standard DC stuff. It doesn't matter what railway name... anything that would be normally found in a older train set for a child. I assumed it would be easy to find something in the 30-40 range, but goood gawsh, prices have gone up for everything in this hobby. 70 bucks used price is steep when you have 4 grandkids with back to back birthdays. My 2 Southern engines were, from what I remember, around 30-40 bucks 20 yrs ago. Now, I see an occasional used listing on eBay sell for over $100. I know 20 years is a long time, but, like guitars.. you can buy better quality instruments way less that 20 years ago. Model railroading seems to have exceeded normal increase due to cost of living, to me, anyway.

    If you have a blog or something online with your Microtrains guide, I'd love to read it. Thanks for commenting. Tom
     
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  18. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    I should clarify what I said about guitar prices... I'm not talking about Gibson or the American Fenders which have almost tripled in price while quality has dropped significantly, I'm talking about affordable stuff being higher quality, nowadays. You can buy a guitar for $150 that plays great, easy for beginners to learn on, too. In the 80s, $150 got you a literal piece of crap that was painful to play. It's more affordable to buy guitar gear, now. I just don't get why it's so pricey now in the model railroad world.
     
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  19. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    We don't have a long running thread here called "More eBay Humor" for nothing! Let's just say that a sizable number of sellers are, ahem, overly optimistic about what their stuff is worth. As in, "Well, a locomotive is $150 now so this 40 year old one should be worth at least $100. No, wait, it's 'vintage'!!! That means it's worth MORE than the new stuff!"

    The UMTRR website is part of the IrwinsJournal.com website (in signature).
     
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  20. midwayglenrr

    midwayglenrr TrainBoard Member

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    Ah, yes. I've seen that word in several item descriptions. Vintage is the new classic. 40 years of nicotine makes things worth, like, alot, dude :) Thx 4 the info, too
     
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