Such nice runners, with some work! Key made an Allegheny, an H5 2-6-6-2 (a beautiful one at that), a K4 2-8-4, and a T1 2-10-4 for C&O, and they made a trio for NYC as well; H10 and H6 mikados, and an L4 Mohawk. So far, the only ones I own are the pair of NYC mikes. That video shows how gorgeous their models really are. Wow!
Well, since we're talking about brass, might as well show some! Mostly Hallmark Models, with the hopper being a Pecos River Brass......
It's kinda' addicting! It all started with one of those Milwaukee Road "Ribside" cabooses I bought from Boxcab, can't have just one!
Say what you want about Key, they took a lot of reservations and deposits and then disappeared without returning the deposits. Yes they imported nice models, but they were not honest business persons.
Hi Amanda, Having grown up in the late 60's and 70's, for me brass locomotives and cabooses were the cream of the crop. I remember traveling to a local hobby shop to drool over the latest brass locomotives on display. I could never afford one, I could barely afford the Athearn blue box locomotives of the day with the money I earned from my part time job. But I always dreamed of owning a brass locomotive because of the detail of the models. Today hand crafted brass models have fallen out of favor because of the super detailed and smooth running plastic models available that come factory equipped with DCC and sound. Although there are now some companies mixing the best of both worlds and creating models that just a few short years ago could only be dreamed of, at this point who knows what the future holds? Good luck in your quest of finding a nice running brass 2-6-6-6 Allegheny.
The one thing that always bothered me about N scale brass is when I was still doing HO (back in the day...insert flashback effect here), I could buy an HO brass engine for LESS than a less detailed, so-so running N scale engine. I remember going to Discount Train Warehouse in Brea CA and Whistle Stop in Pasadena and looking at DOZENS of HO brass engines (usually more than 50) and the 3-4 N scale engines they had (usually 1-2 engines and 1-2 freight cars).
I will say, the lure of a well detailed HO switching layout with 1 or 2 small brass steamers is strong.
Kurt - you had to go and do it.... I wasn't going to, but.. you opened the door... LOL Here are "some" of mine. I've been buying brass for about 30 years. There are some plastics mixed in Wolf
Yes, N scale brass is dead. Changes in the market and manufacturing, as others have posted. I have hope for 3D custom modeling, but I think it will be a few more years before a totally new steam model will be made by this method. I too, am a C&O transition modeler and have some of the brass offerings. I had an H-8 but sold it several years ago. It didn’t run on the area I am modeling and I really couldn’t justify the cost. They are beautiful models. Maybe Bachmann will do one one day, but I’m not holding my breath.
When I lived in So Cal I used to go to The Whistle Stop and Allied Model Trains and drool over all those HO brass locos. There was once a member here, may still be, named Sitchad, who started in N scale but then got into HO brass in SP and ATSF livery (diesels). He would post pics of those locos and again, I would just drool! HO Brass is amazing! I have had similar thoughts as Amanda of having a small switching layout with a couple of HO brass engines.
I really think that brass will not come back due to 3D printing, why spend $1000 for a loco when it can be printed for $50, add $40 in parts and $100 for the chassis?
That 'naked' brass look was interesting for display. It was a detraction for me because I wanted the models to look like the prototype engines in their correct paint and numbering. It would be a further expense since I would not dare try to paint one myself. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
