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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by andrechapelon ....In the late 50's, a Varney 2-8-4 sold for about $50 for a kit (roughly $400 today give or take). That represented approximately 60% of a week's pay for the average wage earner at the time. For the price of a generic kit in '57, now we can buy a sound and DCC equipped prototype specific locomotive from BLI and in a number of cases get change back. What eventually killed Varney and caused Mantua to cheapen its product line around 1959/1960 was the influx of relatively cheap Japanese prototype specific RTR brass. If memory serves, when PFM brought out the Southern Ps-4 in 1959, it sold for $49.50. As We've got it easy..... Andre[/quote] I purchased one of those PFM kits in 1960 and had to put it on layaway because their wasn't enought money to pay cash for it. I had already purchased a Tenshodo 0-8-0 the same way, $5.00 per week. The Varney kit was available in sections, I think that their were four sections. When you purchased a section it might take you several weeks to get it together and then you'd saved enough money to buy the next section. Thinks are a lot better now then back when. The good old days are last week Bob
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