Brass trains

[ddechamp71]

Modern hood units Z scale locomotives are available only in brass. That's why my roster is mainly brass.
Dominique

[trolleyboy]

Hi i voted no, plain and simple just can't afford them and a lot of the older brass don't run really well and if you are a dcc person sometimes isolatimg the old moters is tuff wothout replacing them with a more modern drive. Unfortunatly once you replace stuff they are no longer a pristine mint model so the resale value drops, that's the problem with collectables. I'm a traction guy so brass in alot of cases is my only choice unless i kitbash but in the longrun kitbashing and scratch building are the only affordable option. TB

[Anonymous]

In the case of the L2 I bought. No one made anything like it in plastic. So brass was the only option.

I've done some custom work to it, to make it look and run better. Does it all help the collector value? I doubt it, but I bought it to play with, not as an investment.

Alvie.

[tatans]

This quandry again? 1: If you have the money to buy a brass engine, you can. 2: If you don't have the ca***o buy brass, you don't. I'm waiting for the response from someone with lot's of cash who does NOT buy brass, and what would be the reasons. Also if a modeller saves his coins for 22 years and finally buys a brass engine he has always wanted, not because "it's not made in plastic" or some other excuse. I can admire this ethic. It's the "collector" who buys every chunk of brass out there and says he can't find it anywhere else, or some other reason, that bothers me. I wonder where all these thousands of beautiful brass works of art are??? strange that we never ever hear from these people isn't it?? Hopefully some are on layouts right now. If you can afford a brass engine you do not have to make up a reason to purchase it, just buy it.