for the $, I say Good Luck Bud! BACHMANN Steam Locomootive 51-545-12 Mikado 2-8-2&Vanderbilt tender B&O (1200) | eBay Tom
This is one that is noted for split axles and gears, valuable only for the shell and maybe the tender but certainly not worth the $$s he is asking.
Besides the tender the loco shell would be of interest for it detail and the Wootten firebox and a candidate for a camel back. The mechanism is pure junk unless one replaces the gears.
The opening bid was $1,14, plus shipping just shy of thirteen Yankee bananas, so, for around fourteen bananas total, it might not be too bad a buy. The bidding is now up to about twelve greenbacks, thus, the winner now is on the hook for twenty five US. I would not pay that for it, if, for no other reason than the two dummies are far out of my era. "Eastwood Pacific" must be someone's non-historic or fictitious SP subsidiary. I have one of these that fried its motor. I took out the motor and main idler, and a powered boxcar will push the thing around very nicely. Most older N scale steam locomotive mechanisms that I have encountered do not freewheel sufficiently to use as dummies. Some will, with a little work, but most will not. I was surprised that the B-mann would. I have done a test fit of the I-9 (or is it an I-10) shell to a SPECTRUM mechanism. It does appear that it will go, but it would take some work. It escapes me why B-mann has not offered this one in an upgraded version, as road specific steam does seem to sell. Reading Company steam era modellers would love this one. If other anthracite roads had something similar, B-mann might even get away with hanging those markings on it.
This item features a starting bid that is only $4.05 above current MSRP... but is still a $7 discount below the $40 sticker on the box itself... https://www.ebay.com/itm/ATLAS-N-SC...666326&hash=item3d8c3ec216:g:RxIAAOSwSw1ckrMt
But....but....but...… it's a rare old run out of production nib item...…… has to be worth a fortune...….right!?!?
Not "humor" per se, but what's with these (new?) "sponsored" auctions? I have my searches set up to list auctions from low to high $$ and now these "sponsored auctions are showing up wherever, usually with a couple listed right at the top (often with very high prices) and more peppered throughout. What's a sponsored auction anyway and why do they defeat my search preferences?
It seems to be an auction where the seller bribed eBay to ignore your search preferences. eBay certainly isn't above that. They do, or used to, pay search engines to put them first in all searches. I'll never forget seeing, "Find H.M.S. Tiger on eBay!" Is it or is it not false advertising to claim a person can find a 28,000 ton, one-of-a-kind battlecruiser which was cut up for scrap in 1930 for sale on eBay?
Sort of like the time when I was seeking a bayonet base light bulb and the first listing that displayed was "TARGET for all of your bayonet needs!" Right.
You fail to realize that it's a "Lovely Ladies Home Series" kit that has been autographed by none other than "N". We all know that "N" is the go to for model trains am I right???
Those "sponsored" listings show up in all sorts of searches, and not in the appropriate places. For instance, if I search with the sort as "newly listed", several of the "sponsored" listings show up ahead of stuff that has been listed after it, and others show up in the middle of newly listed not-sponsored things, apparently without regard to when the sponsored things were actually listed compared to the not-sponsored stuff. So, I don't know what the "logic" is for placing the sponsored stuff in the search order - probably somebody's idea of how to get maximum attention to those listings. If that is the intent, it is back-firing. I don't even look at the pictures of the listings as I quickly scan down the page to see what is new, I just look for the "new" items and then see what they are. If a "sponsored" item is actually new, then I am skipping it! Stupid advertisers! When will they get the message that intrusion and interruption is COUNTERproductive?
EBay has been in trouble for awhile now. It just sounds like the downward spiral is picking up speed. While I still buy (occasionally) from EBay, I quit selling there YEARS ago when they decided that the private seller was less important than the pro sellers. Soon, BIN will be all they have left...
Never. Their leadership philosophy is completely the opposite of what was there in the beginning. Big mistake.
I love it. We must do all of the work of tax collectors, without receiving any compensation as paid to tax collectors. Neat trick, huh.