I'm assuming that this eBay seller has a good sense of humor. Here's how they describe a "vintage" painted brass HO boxcar up for sale:
"Car is in nice shape with one or more of the following: nicks, scratches, wear, soiling, missing parts."
It's a "Buy It Now/Make Offer" for under $10 so I'm guessing it's all done tongue 'n cheek. And they could have added "crooked, misaligned, and...Accurail" to the description, as well.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
And the link/photo is where?
Is it brass?
Is it Accurail?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Ed
Ed,
The title states one thing; the Descripton tab states another. If you do an eBay search for "NYC brass boxcar", you'll be able to find it.
It's definitely a funky-looking beast that appears to have been kitbashed from all sorts of parts.
Here's the listing:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-Painted-Brass-HO-New-York-Central-NTC-163008-Box-Car-/332162657203?hash=item4d566febb3:g:wXMAAOSwOgdYyVWL
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
tstageIt's definitely a funky-looking beast that appears to have been kitbashed from all sorts of parts. Tom
Tom,I'm thinking its a old metal kit and not brass. You can see where the wooden bracing was glued to the floor.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Larry, you are right. It is a very old Athearn kit (I believe). One of the telltale signs are the six tabs on the outside edges of the bottom used to nail the sides to the wood floor. I just bought a Canadian Pacific version of the same model (in decidedly better condition by the way). It is a brass body so the seller isn't entirely wrong in his description. The price is about right IMHO, but it will take some TLC to make it a runner.
I noticed those same bent metal tabs as well, Dave. It looks like that the seller may have copied and pasted information into the Description box from another sale? The descriptions next to analog, brand, and power supply don't seem to really apply to the model.
tstageThe descriptions next to analog, brand, and power supply don't seem to really apply to the model.
Yes, it's definitely not Accurail!
I'm sorely tempted to make an offer because I love older cars, but I've blown my budget already this month, and next month, and next month..... I told my wife that I had stopped buying stuff, which was true for at least a week or so! It's OK. I sent her two dozen red roses yesterday to tell her how much I love her and how much I admire her accomplishments.
Regards,
hon30critter I sent her two dozen red roses yesterday to tell her how much I love her and how much I admire her accomplishments. Regards, Dave
I sent her two dozen red roses yesterday to tell her how much I love her and how much I admire her accomplishments.
Dave,
Would that include marrying a model railroader who keeps spending $$$ on "stuff"?
tstageWould that include marrying a model railroader who keeps spending $$$ on "stuff"?
Apparently! So far, so good!
It turned out that she wasn't in her office yesterday so she didn't see the roses until this morning. She just called a few minutes ago to say thanks.
BRAKIE tstage It's definitely a funky-looking beast that appears to have been kitbashed from all sorts of parts. Tom Tom,I'm thinking its a old metal kit and not brass. You can see where the wooden bracing was glued to the floor.
tstage It's definitely a funky-looking beast that appears to have been kitbashed from all sorts of parts. Tom
Not too mention the skewed looking trucks and what is that crusty stuff all over the couplers and draft gear?
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
BRAKIETom,I'm thinking its a old metal kit and not brass.
Mine sure looks like brass on the inside, but it could be tin I guess. The sides are very thin.
The couplers are similar to ones that were on some Star Line stock cars that I bought last year. The knuckles were fixed but they seemed to mate quite well. The Star Line kits were last produced in the mid 1940s. That would certainly explain the corrosion on the couplers and the frame members.
Medina1128and what is that crusty stuff all over the couplers and draft gear?
Most likely zinc oxide.
Medina1128what is that crusty stuff all over the couplers and draft gear?
Unless you are a real vintage hound the couplers are toast. They work, but the only way to uncouple them is to physically lift the car off the tracks. The trucks are also rather sketchy. They could likely be cleaned up but Delrin is so much easier.
Yeah, looks like Athearn, from the pre-plastic days. I think I was getting ready for kindergarten when the kit was made. Do my old eyes deceive me, or are the couplers mounted left-handed?
I have a bunch of thrm running on the layout, and a bunch more I have not built yet........Athearn, Varney, and others from that era.
Sheldon
And just to do justice to the old Athearn kits (which Menzies re-introduced in the 1980s, but the sides are steel not brass), they could be built up with more care than is shown in this eBay picture, and when done so they were nice looking cars for the time.
The Varney metal cars had a similar tab in slot construction. I think those were stamped steel sides too, with beautiful lithographed lettering. Bowser brought those Varney metal reefer kits back in brass, without the lettering.
A different vintage manufacturer also had true brass sided boxcars again with very nice lettering. I have a few (and tiny nicks in the paint show as shiny brass). They are not Athearn or Varney, at least I do not think they are, but are nice looking cars. It is funny how much painted metal looks like painted metal ....
Dave Nelson
dknelson And just to do justice to the old Athearn kits (which Menzies re-introduced in the 1980s, but the sides are steel not brass), they could be built up with more care than is shown in this eBay picture, and when done so they were nice looking cars for the time. The Varney metal cars had a similar tab in slot construction. I think those were stamped steel sides too, with beautiful lithographed lettering. Bowser brought those Varney metal reefer kits back in brass, without the lettering. A different vintage manufacturer also had true brass sided boxcars again with very nice lettering. I have a few (and tiny nicks in the paint show as shiny brass). They are not Athearn or Varney, at least I do not think they are, but are nice looking cars. It is funny how much painted metal looks like painted metal .... Dave Nelson
Agreed, rivet counting accuracy aside, even today a well built Athearn or Varney steel car holds up pretty well appearance wise.
Put on a better roof walk, and do a little underbody work and they are rather nice. And those old Varney paint jobs are superb.
hon30critter tstage The descriptions next to analog, brand, and power supply don't seem to really apply to the model. I sent her two dozen red roses yesterday to tell her how much I love her and how much I admire her accomplishments.
tstage The descriptions next to analog, brand, and power supply don't seem to really apply to the model.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Looking at the photos, it does look like it really IS a brass car. The door tracks, for one. Plus the folded over tabs looking at the bottom.
I have heard that the early Athearn cars used brass sheet, but that the company later went to steel. I've got a number of Athearn and Menzies cars, and I believe all of those are steel. They're currently "boxified", so I can't conveniently check.
hon30critter Larry, you are right. It is a very old Athearn kit (I believe). One of the telltale signs are the six tabs on the outside edges of the bottom used to nail the sides to the wood floor. I just bought a Canadian Pacific version of the same model (in decidedly better condition by the way). It is a brass body so the seller isn't entirely wrong in his description. The price is about right IMHO, but it will take some TLC to make it a runner. Dave
Thanks Dave..I thought those cars was metal not brass thanks for the clarification.
I have some old Athearn and Ambroid models like this too. Two things: the trucks are built in several pieces and they are VERY fragile, and, if you don't know what you're doing (like me!), they're very hard to get back together. The springs can come out of the trucks, very hard to get back in as well (at least for me). Secondly, I didn't even know that those, what appear to be pot metal couplers, were even compatible with any knuckle couplers made today. I haven't had much time to fool with the models I have. Ambroid, I think, was a predecessor to Athearn and they were very high end in their time. The cars that I have are in very good shape with very nice paint jobs.
While the older Athearn and Varney metal cars which I owned had steel sides, that one certainly does appear to be brass. The Athearn cars used a wood underbody, while Varney's were cast metal.Here's the underframe of a Varney boxcar, with some added brake rigging...
When I got the car new, in 1956 or '57, it had a nicely-done NYC Pacemaker paint scheme, which I later painted-over (Floquil, applied with a brush) to make it into a CPR boxcar, with the script lettering that had been recently introduced on the prototype.When I backdated my layout to the late '30s, I wanted to keep the car for sentimental reasons, so the '60s paint scheme had to go. Since all of the paint and lettering came off in the stripper, I decided to do a few upgrades, too.First job was to replace the original Kadee K-type couplers with #5s, then plug all of the holes in the body with styrene. This was accomplished by using contact cement to affix .060" sheet styrene to the car's interior behind every area in which there was a hole. Then, working from the outside, all oversize or improperly-located holes were drilled through the styrene backing in the same (or larger) size as the original holes. These were then plugged using styrene rod slightly larger than the diameter of the drilled-out holes. By coating both the rod and the inside of the hole with sovent-type cement, the oversize rod could be jammed into the holes for a gap-free fit. Once the cement hardened, the excess rod was cut off and the area sanded smooth, flush with the outside face of the metal.In some places, all that was required was to drill new holes, while other areas had small blocks of styrene cemented to the plugs to facilitate adding plastic ladders or other details...
The doors are, I believe, plastic, and I've added styrene strips at the eaves to hide the not-quite-tight tab and slot construction...
While not exactly a gem, it at least doesn't stick out like a sore thumb amongst more recent stuff...
The lettering is C-D-S dry transfers, and I later repainted the ends and roof black...
Wayne
It looks like the seller ended the auction.
.
I'll never get to see it.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190I'll never get to see it.
You didn't miss much. It really wasn't in very good condition.
Lets see if this works, Kevin, I had it saved in my "watch list"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Painted-Brass-HO-New-York-Central-NTC-163008-Box-Car-/332162657203?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=qlclUzHEMhskL5ysoI3ktDQ2Uv8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewiLets see if this works, Kevin,
Nope, still no luck. Just a message saying the seller ended the listing.
On another forum I read there was a thread called "Most ridiculous auction on ebay right now" that was kept alive for more than four years. It was amazing what some sellers would put in descriptions when they had no idea what they were selling. It was all very funny.
Kevin,
It's been re-posted. Here for your viewing pleasure...and cheaper than ever.
DigitalGriffin For valentines I gave my wife a card that said, "Honey you have that one unique special quality that no other woman has...." Inside it read, "You put up with me. (and my hobbies)" :-D
tstageKevin, It's been re-posted.
Wow, that is no where near as bad as I expected.
It is on my watch list now, I'll bet it sells.