Just wondering ?

[tatans]

I keep reading about the pro's and con's of brass, why it's bought, is it worth it?
is brass really that good? etc. etc. many questions have been mulled over on this forum and probably will be again. As a lot of purchases are made on e-bay, which whether you agree or not has changed the way we do business and certainly will in the future: Now the question: Has anyone out there ever really got the deal of a lifetime, you know, a $600.00 brass loco for $58.00. or are these myths??? I have looked on ebay and I have never seen anything even close to the above prices. Is this all a Truth or Myth??? If you got the bargain of the decade, let us know.

[Jetrock]

Not all brass costs $600. I own three brass locomotives--two Birney single-truck lightweight safety trolleys and a Baldwin-Westinghouse electric steeplecab freight motor. The most expensive was the Baldwin, which cost $130. The Birneys cost $60 and $80.

Neither engine has ever been made in plastic, so if I want to model the line I model, I can either scratchbuild 'em or buy the brass. For many things I want to model, it's brass or make-it-yourself. While I don't object to making it myself, the brass costs $150-300, which I can live with if I don't overdo it.

I have to admit that I do like the solid chunkiness of brass--even the tiny Birneys feel like they have some weight.

[tatans]

The silence is deafening. (as I suggested)

[Jetrock]

Oh, what am I, chopped liver??

[tatans]

Didn't mean you chopp--- ooops---I didn't mean you Jet, you hit it right on the head, it's that old controversey @ "brass" I must admit I did get a superb brass Berk for $50.00 at an internet auction(not ebay) with only a small photo to assist me( I bid low thinking I would have no chance) but it was the best deal I will ever get in my lifetime,also on the same auction were about 400 beautiful brass locos that each sold for under $100.00, ( some went for $25.00), along with twice as much crap. I should have taken out a bank loan and bought them all, The auction was run by people that had no idea about model railroading and the people bidding were just as bad, the chance of a lifetime gone for ever. The auctioneer later told me it took 2 people over a week just to catalog the train stuff in this guys house, oh well.

[Jetrock]

Maybe it's the topic--if you changed it to "Who has gotten a screaming deal on brass?" it might be a hotter subject for people. As it is it's like those "NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" threads...

[twhite]

Once. At a train show in Roseville. Guy had a basket-case PFM ATSF 2-10-2. Got it for the earth-shattering price of $25. He obviously thought I was nuts, I thought he didn't know what he had. Got it home, it lurched and ground and whined and sputtered and made all kinds of obscene noises. Took it apart, cleaned the mechanism and the gears, dipped the open-frame motor in some solvent (it looked as if it had been in a fire, it was so dirty). Started to run okay (brass mechanisms are pretty simple, not like the picture-puzzle mechanisms of some of the new plastics). Found it would run better if I dropped a NWSL can in. Looked at the poor sucker, figured that if I paid just $25, I could do what I wanted with it. Two months later, some cal-scale parts, a new boiler front, hacking, soldering and epoxy, I ended up with a passable representation of a Rio Grande F-81. Runs nice, pulls well, ended up being a good investment. I use it on coal trains and drag freights. Best $25 I ever spent.
Tom[:D]

[JohnT14808]

Nice canyon, Tom!!