OK-- assuming the cost of each item at $4 and all that are we going to suggest then that CalScale and all these little mfgs should just give up? Dont bother with this because its not going to make $$$$? Sheeesh.
The LHS's I go to have little drawers in a few cabinets stuffed to the gunwhales with these detail parts---and they have customers buying them. Even down to the grab rings and hoses----oh ---the poor LHS is so overloaded with excess "Stuff" that it is a wonder that they even stock them---
Oh well----in the words of a certain situationist---and yet---IT LIVES!!!
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Cal Scale's price list steam parts is about 950 items long. Average price seems to be about $4. I don't know the dealer minimum, but assuming 5 of each at 40% off MSRP this would appear to cost the dealer about $11,000.
Of course this doesn't cover the all variations and doesn't include the basic parts like boilers, drivers, rods, frames, cabs, etc., which of course are also more expensive. Unlike scenery details where a 55 gallon drum can be used by everybody, locomotive details seem to come in a near endless number of variations. Because unlike days gone by, everyone has to have the exact variation their locomotive was sporting on the date in time they picked for their railroad. Even if all the parts were made it would seem like a dealer would have to carry inventory in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The next problem is sales. How much is really going to sell? Consider that there won't be step by step directions for each of the possibilities, even a parts list for a particular locomotive at a particular time won't be available for most possibilities. Can't pre drill the needed holes or the number of boilers variations required really gets astronomical. So the builder will have to research the parts needed and do any drilling, tapping, soldering, etc. required and figure out to assemble the whole thing.
Oh and half the purchasers want a discount.
No wonder the way to make a small fortune in the model railroad business is to start with a large fortune.
Enjoy
Paul
blownout cylinder WPAllen "the purchase of individual superdetailing parts can turn into a rather expensive proposition." ...and that is one of the problems. Plus someone stocking every type of detailing part as has been noted. From a practical business standpoint I don't see a way to do it. You would have a lot of inventory that will move at a snails pace. AWWW--come on now---surely to goodness there is a little bit of space in a LHS to at least stock some of those kitbashers pieces-----it does not cost that much money to stock them- Hmmm--last time I checked we wanted detail parts to decorate our streetscapes and detail parts for our factories and such----I find this to be very odd that steam locomotive detail parts have become such a huge issue in terms of keeping an inventory that we are now saying that holding parts like those is probitive in $$$$ terms----sheesh Will the next step be that it'll cost too much $$$$ to inventory scratchbuilding supplies?
WPAllen "the purchase of individual superdetailing parts can turn into a rather expensive proposition." ...and that is one of the problems. Plus someone stocking every type of detailing part as has been noted. From a practical business standpoint I don't see a way to do it. You would have a lot of inventory that will move at a snails pace.
"the purchase of individual superdetailing parts can turn into a rather expensive proposition."
...and that is one of the problems. Plus someone stocking every type of detailing part as has been noted. From a practical business standpoint I don't see a way to do it. You would have a lot of inventory that will move at a snails pace.
AWWW--come on now---surely to goodness there is a little bit of space in a LHS to at least stock some of those kitbashers pieces-----it does not cost that much money to stock them-
Hmmm--last time I checked we wanted detail parts to decorate our streetscapes and detail parts for our factories and such----I find this to be very odd that steam locomotive detail parts have become such a huge issue in terms of keeping an inventory that we are now saying that holding parts like those is probitive in $$$$ terms----sheesh
Will the next step be that it'll cost too much $$$$ to inventory scratchbuilding supplies?
When I ran a train department in a hobby shop, I kept a full stock of Cal Scale and several other lines of detail parts - it took little space and little money and made customers very happy.
I still buy/use lots of that sort of stuff. Fact is when I buy it now I buy extras, I have my own little hobby shop stock.
But what do I know....
Sheldon
FED did a spartan series in brass, you can pick them up for cheap on e-bay, I think I paid less than $100 each for mine.
Interesting topic!
Back when Custer was a cadet and I was assembling Cary/Mantua and Bowser die-cast kits it used to take me a couple of weeks to grind/file away all the cast-on detail from the boiler shell and prepare it for superdetailing. If I understand it correctly what you are proposing is for a manufacturer to produce a bare-bones boiler shell bereft of all details to which you could attach selected parts to, as a for-instance, add things like feedwater heaters, water pumps, compressors, etc to align your loco to a particular locomotive in a particular time frame . . . . . . . . . . engine #2344 as outshopped on 23 July 1946. Shop forces frequently exercised a certain measure of creativity in assembling appurtances and a photo would be necessary to insure accuracy.
Although I was modeling to a freelanced design all of my locomotives were going to have Elesco feedwater heaters with headlights center mounted on the smokebox door as well as other custom details. There have always been modelers who have opted to modify their from-the-factory kit to meet their particular specifications. It is, of course, going to be somewhat easier to do this with plastic than with metal.
There was a time when BRASS boiler kits were prominent in the hobby and a soldering iron and screwdriver were absolutely essential in their assembly. You are proposing a return to those days . . . . . . . . . . and I subscribe to it.
There is, however, one thing which must be kept in mind: the purchase of individual superdetailing parts can turn into a rather expensive proposition. Although I had already switched over to N-Scale when good ol' Uncle Irv (finally) got around to introducing an SD40-2 model back in the 1980s I could not resist the temptation of acquiring two undecorated shells--I believe they were about $12.95 each--with the intent of superdetailing them. They would have been display models only. With this in mind I grabbed my hot smokin' Walthers catalog and drew up a list of those parts I wanted to add to the existing shell; it didn't take long before that $25.90 investment blew up to over a hundred smackers. I still have the shells and a couple of Proto Power units to go with them but the superdetailing has gone undone. Maybe one of these days.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
CNJ831I tend to think the situation is rather different, Doc. It's not so much a lack of interest in modifying existing RTR models, or the fact that there currently exists a fairly broad selection of RTR types of locomotives available to wouldbe hobbyists. It's simply the matter of even the old hands in the hobby being afraid to tackle major (or even minor) re-builds of a $250-$450 RTR steam locomotive. In the past many of the available steamers were relatively cheap. Spare replacement shells or boiler castings were just a phone call and a few dollars way at the manufacturers and they were always (often for decades) available if you happened to make a gross mistake. Many of us were willing to cut and chop with abandon to get what we wanted and I can say that, along with many of my longtime friends, that every locomotive on our layouts are kitbashed to one degree, or another. However, neither I, nor pretty much any of the hobbyists I know, would be willing to do such modifications today because of the cost and the lack of availability of replacement parts situation that prevails today.
In the past many of the available steamers were relatively cheap. Spare replacement shells or boiler castings were just a phone call and a few dollars way at the manufacturers and they were always (often for decades) available if you happened to make a gross mistake. Many of us were willing to cut and chop with abandon to get what we wanted and I can say that, along with many of my longtime friends, that every locomotive on our layouts are kitbashed to one degree, or another. However, neither I, nor pretty much any of the hobbyists I know, would be willing to do such modifications today because of the cost and the lack of availability of replacement parts situation that prevails today.
I agree that more people would be unwilling to tackle such projects because of the original cost of most locomotives nowadays, but I think a lot of that has also to do with the mentality of those who "want it my way and I want it now". In other words, more people are satisfied with what the manufacturers are currently offer in r-t-r, and are less inclined to create the model which they really want by hacking up something that's "good enough". Part of this faction is, of course, new modellers with no background in kitbashing or scratchbuilding, and part is comprised of older modellers who do have the background but no longer, perhaps, the will, or ability, to do so. So the locomotive-buyer demographics have change (as they always have), but I think that there'll always be that hardcore group which would prefer to "roll their own".
I already have pretty-well all of the locos I'll need for my current layout, although several of them have yet to be re-built. If I "just had to have" a particular locomotive as fodder for a make-over or kitbash, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase it, though, and chop it up as required: there's little that can't be repaired or rebuilt. I'm sure that my skills will eventually deteriorate, though, and I won't be able to exercise this passion. Fortunately, I have several friends who occasionally let me loose on their expensive locos, so I can enjoy the best of both worlds while still learning new skills.
CNJ831 Let's face it; with IHC gone the manufacturers are never going to go back to offering any affordable, bare bones/scratchbuild starting point models in any form so long as there is even a minor faction within the hobby willing to pay hundreds of dollars for the latest RTR, and often buying examples of same in multiples. CNJ831
Let's face it; with IHC gone the manufacturers are never going to go back to offering any affordable, bare bones/scratchbuild starting point models in any form so long as there is even a minor faction within the hobby willing to pay hundreds of dollars for the latest RTR, and often buying examples of same in multiples.
CNJ831
This observation is right on the money, and there's no reason to expect, were the OP's request to be fulfilled by a manufacturer, that the components would be affordable. In fact, if a wide array of components were to be offered, the cost to build a single locomotive would make hacking-up a $500 model look like a bargain. Let's face it, there isn't a big enough market to support such a venture.
Wayne
doctorwayne srrcoalburner Hi, Folks. Longtime reader, first time poster. Wouldn't it be cool if model manufacturers could make a steam loco of any particular wheel arrangement and have the boiler and tender set up so that you could add and arange appliances, smokebox doors,pilots,etc. specific to your road? Everyone builds either a popular one-off {SP Daylight, NW class J} or a VERY generic,and sometimes, not very accurate model. You have to live with what they sell. Kitbash: I've done some with some fair results and some not so good. Brass: I have had some in the past. But who can REALLY afford it.I want a Central of Georgia "Big Apple" 4-8-4. Oriental made a limited run of 100 or so, saw one last year on E-bay...It went for almost two grand! That much money for a 25 year old locomotive with an open-frame motor and straight dc! Our hobby has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, Especially in the steam department.I feel like this might be the next step. Let me know what you think. What I think is that this is a call for a r-t-r version of scratchbuilding or kitbashing. Others have pointed out technical or economical reasons why they feel this isn't viable, but what it really comes down to is that you want a "lite" version of what many old timers did as a matter of course. Anybody who wanted a particular locomotive badly enough used to build it, either starting with an available model and modifying it as required or, if no suitable model were available, built it from scratch. You can still do the same today, but few have the interest to embark on such a project, especially with the array of r-t-r steam locos available. (And many of the latter would make good "starting points", too.) Part of the allure of creating a unique locomotive is of course in the "creating", but, for many, the "uniqueness" is an equally appealing incentive. That doesn't usually come from with what one starts, but rather from what one puts into it. Wayne
srrcoalburner Hi, Folks. Longtime reader, first time poster. Wouldn't it be cool if model manufacturers could make a steam loco of any particular wheel arrangement and have the boiler and tender set up so that you could add and arange appliances, smokebox doors,pilots,etc. specific to your road? Everyone builds either a popular one-off {SP Daylight, NW class J} or a VERY generic,and sometimes, not very accurate model. You have to live with what they sell. Kitbash: I've done some with some fair results and some not so good. Brass: I have had some in the past. But who can REALLY afford it.I want a Central of Georgia "Big Apple" 4-8-4. Oriental made a limited run of 100 or so, saw one last year on E-bay...It went for almost two grand! That much money for a 25 year old locomotive with an open-frame motor and straight dc! Our hobby has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, Especially in the steam department.I feel like this might be the next step. Let me know what you think.
Hi, Folks.
Longtime reader, first time poster. Wouldn't it be cool if model manufacturers could make a steam loco of any particular wheel arrangement and have the boiler and tender set up so that you could add and arange appliances, smokebox doors,pilots,etc. specific to your road?
Everyone builds either a popular one-off {SP Daylight, NW class J} or a VERY generic,and sometimes, not very accurate model. You have to live with what they sell. Kitbash: I've done some with some fair results and some not so good. Brass: I have had some in the past. But who can REALLY afford it.I want a Central of Georgia "Big Apple" 4-8-4. Oriental made a limited run of 100 or so, saw one last year on E-bay...It went for almost two grand! That much money for a 25 year old locomotive with an open-frame motor and straight dc!
Our hobby has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, Especially in the steam department.I feel like this might be the next step.
Let me know what you think.
What I think is that this is a call for a r-t-r version of scratchbuilding or kitbashing. Others have pointed out technical or economical reasons why they feel this isn't viable, but what it really comes down to is that you want a "lite" version of what many old timers did as a matter of course. Anybody who wanted a particular locomotive badly enough used to build it, either starting with an available model and modifying it as required or, if no suitable model were available, built it from scratch. You can still do the same today, but few have the interest to embark on such a project, especially with the array of r-t-r steam locos available. (And many of the latter would make good "starting points", too.)
Part of the allure of creating a unique locomotive is of course in the "creating", but, for many, the "uniqueness" is an equally appealing incentive. That doesn't usually come from with what one starts, but rather from what one puts into it.
I tend to think the situation is rather different, Doc. It's not so much a lack of interest in modifying existing RTR models, or the fact that there currently exists a fairly broad selection of RTR types of locomotives available to wouldbe hobbyists. It's simply the matter of even the old hands in the hobby being afraid to tackle major (or even minor) re-builds of a $250-$450 RTR steam locomotive.
SidecarJoeG Well, I think the problem with all of this runs much deeper than cost. People now a days in this country for the most part are pretty lazy and expect things to be handed to them and to be simple and easy to do at an extremely low cost. The average person doesn't want to spend 10 - 20 hours on anything other than texting or watching TV. Most people in this country expect that they are handed tons of money for doing nothing. That's why lawyers are making a killing and everything is getting screwed up... everyone is CYA'ing so that they don't get sued by some idiot that belongs on the Darwin Awards. Then to add to it, EVERYONE wants to be paid TONS of money for ANYTHING they do. That includes some guy inventorying parts. So, although I don't like the idea that Bowser quit making kits and I've been buying what I can afford off of E-bay while its still around, I totally understand why they quit. I also think alot of people don't even know the difference between say a Pennsy K-4 or Pennsy K-2. Most people barely notice any of the differences between different engines, other than "ooo that one is green and that one is bigger and wow, that one makes sound". <end of rant>
Well, I think the problem with all of this runs much deeper than cost. People now a days in this country for the most part are pretty lazy and expect things to be handed to them and to be simple and easy to do at an extremely low cost. The average person doesn't want to spend 10 - 20 hours on anything other than texting or watching TV. Most people in this country expect that they are handed tons of money for doing nothing. That's why lawyers are making a killing and everything is getting screwed up... everyone is CYA'ing so that they don't get sued by some idiot that belongs on the Darwin Awards. Then to add to it, EVERYONE wants to be paid TONS of money for ANYTHING they do. That includes some guy inventorying parts. So, although I don't like the idea that Bowser quit making kits and I've been buying what I can afford off of E-bay while its still around, I totally understand why they quit. I also think alot of people don't even know the difference between say a Pennsy K-4 or Pennsy K-2. Most people barely notice any of the differences between different engines, other than "ooo that one is green and that one is bigger and wow, that one makes sound".
<end of rant>
UP 4-12-2Narrow-vision? Inventory costs money--money nobody has or is willing to borrow anymore
OK--Fine then!
Life costs money--hows that for news?!
Everything now centers around the dollar bill. The oddest thing---60 years ago the idea was that one built up markets so that there was money to be had. Now what we see are paranoid people looking anxiously at their billfolds and crossing their legs at the idea of spending a little bit so that they had something to show for it------
Sheeesh! Yes Inventory costs money! So does missing opportunities!!
I do wonder sometimes about how this hobby ever got started in the first place when all one hears about is how expensive holding inventory is----where are you holding this inventory? In a 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse with 3 phase wiring?!
ndbprrMany years ago there was an editorial in MR. Suggesting the same idea for F units. It got rave reviews and nothing else. In this world of instant gratification it probaby stands no chance..
That was a good idea and It may not have been fullfilled right away, but the Highliner model of the basic F unit does offer any version of the F2 to F9 except for the FP versions. The Highliner F units are still available as kits in addtition to the Genesis models using the basic Highliner tooling.
"Highliners F-unit shells"
That is a good point to look at. By the time you buy the shell, screens and other detail items along with the powered chasis you are talking some money. One would be better off buying a painted Genesis F unit with all the details and powered chasis, strip it of the paint and use that as a basis to start with. I agree with the above poster that the thought does have some merit but the feasibility and costs will prohibit it.
I see three problems with this. First, if it did happen again, I only forsee larger scales, HO and O for sure. Nothing smaller like, um, N. Second, you would still have complainers saying their isn't a big enough variety in detail parts. And finally thirdly, it would be dangerous. You would have odd balls, possibly like myself, saying hey if you can do that why can't do build a frame/boiler for something like a 2-4-4-2 mallet. Or a 4-4-4 rigid frame...hold on a sec... o-o-O-O-o-o ...yeah that might look to wierd. I guess my point is you would still probably have just as many complaining about aspects of the hobby as there are now.
Now on the other hand I could see a great benifit. Instead of spending multiple hundreds of dollars for something very specific, say a 2-10-0, just to butcher it up to make your own less could be spent on a very general 2-10-0 and built up. I know this part has probably been said a million times but I'm having fun tossing out wheel arrangements in this thread. I promise, I will stop now .
4-8-8-2, 2-6-6-4, 2-12-2, 2-8-8-0, 0-10-0!!!!!
One can buy many generic engines of e-bay and add detail parts to get what you want!
I just bought a new 2010 run Athearn Big Boy. In their instructions, they make it crystal clear that parts will only be available to the original purchaser of the locomotive during the length of the warranty period (I forget if that's 1 or 2 years) ONLY.
After that, all bets are off.
Now, if you take good care of it, it should be good to you...
John
Highliners F-unit shells
Unforunately athearn bought them out, and the shells are pretty scare now.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
I said a decade ago the brass market was dead--yet the sales of new product are quite sufficient to keep many dealers in business. There are and always will be a certain segment of heavy hitters who spend real money over $5000 per year each--and get catered to.
Manufacturing trains is not a charity--those who don't make money go bankrupt--and stocking lots of parts is extremely expensive due to low turnover and profit margin versus time involved.
Narrow-vision? Inventory costs money--money nobody has or is willing to borrow anymore.
UP 4-12-2This is why we have large numbers of certain famous, good selling, but road specific engines in the marketplace.
And this is why we end up confirming the suspicions of certain people. All it comes down to is---But It Costs $$$!!!
Sheeesh--what narrow vision is this-
BTW----just how good is this market? I'll bet the collector will run out of interest and we'll see a drop---if one hasn't started already
Better get boning up on those scratchbuilding skills guys---too many people out here staring at their billfolds-----
To the OP--
Sounds like a nice idea on the surface, but you are absolutely out of your mind. The level of inventory sophistication necessary to produce generic engines (even as kits) with all the extra added details some of you desire would simply be a nightmare for any manufacturer to deal with. I worked for Bowser during the late 1980's and very early 1990's. Between their own parts and parts stocked on hand for Rivarossi, Mantua, Athearn, Arbor Models, etc. plus all the various brass detail parts they actually made for the importers, etc., the parts inventory exceeded several hundred thousand different items at that time, nearly all of which had to be inventoried at least once per year. It took us two weeks in the summer to do the inventory.
Bowser didn't stop making steam loco kits because there was no interest--it was because the interest there was proved to be economically insufficient to continue to be viable. Off the record, I have been told their U.S. labor costs were about 3 times the yearly sales of all the kits.
While there is certainly a segment of craftsman modelers who know the subtle differences between all the different models of Worthington feedwater heaters, and which engines should get what appliance, that segment of the hobby is way too small for any manufacturer to economically satisfy.
Beyond making an engine or kit in 2,3, maybe even 4 versions, nobody that I know of is going to stock all the detail parts needed to customize the steam locomotive kit.
Bowser themselves is in the process of discontinuing many steam locomotive detail parts. Go to their website, check the lists, and order what you need while you still can--because it is over--they will not be making any more of certain product lines or items. The sales just were not there--not even enough to justify making the parts overseas and bringing them here.
If any of you are rich, have the cash, the tooling and production capability to make miniscule numbers of detail parts, can educate your staff to know the difference so the customer receives the correct items--then start your own company, and perhaps the other folks lurking on these forums will buy from you. However, it is a great way to go bankrupt. Do not say you weren't warned in advance.
I apologize if this reads as argumentative, or if, as Sheldon has accused me, I'm somehow being insensitive to the real modelers out there who still have real skills. I'm looking at it from the point of view of having to deal with the inventory when very few people know enough or care enough to buy the extra detail parts to do the work, and the time to find/pick the items from inventory is excessive versus the dollars earned, regardless of how well organized you may be.
This is why we have large numbers of certain famous, good selling, but road specific engines in the marketplace.
Respectfully submitted--
andrechapelon blownout cylinder CNJ831Actually...certain previously commonly available IHC locomotives are already disappearing from the eBay listings and, except perhaps for the really older, far less desirable models, I suspect that many of better examples will be essentially unavailable in the secondhand market soon. I've also noticed the trend toward collector scale bidding wars going on with some of those that are still available as well. Apparently, IHC's manufacturer, Mehano, is still in business and quite capable of supplying the goodies. What they don't have is a distributor in the US although there is one in Mexico. http://www.mehano.si/?PID=34 It would also seem that most locomotives are still listed, including the 2-10-2 (Prestige series). Note: Barry, the below is not directed at you. Rather than wear hair shirts and lamenting the loss of IHC, might it not be more profitable to try to convince someone to import Mehano items again? That being said, I am well aware that this particular forum is more often used as a kind of Wailing Wall rather than as a venue for actually suggesting something useful. [Edited by selector.] Andre
blownout cylinder CNJ831Actually...certain previously commonly available IHC locomotives are already disappearing from the eBay listings and, except perhaps for the really older, far less desirable models, I suspect that many of better examples will be essentially unavailable in the secondhand market soon. I've also noticed the trend toward collector scale bidding wars going on with some of those that are still available as well.
CNJ831Actually...certain previously commonly available IHC locomotives are already disappearing from the eBay listings and, except perhaps for the really older, far less desirable models, I suspect that many of better examples will be essentially unavailable in the secondhand market soon.
I've also noticed the trend toward collector scale bidding wars going on with some of those that are still available as well.
Apparently, IHC's manufacturer, Mehano, is still in business and quite capable of supplying the goodies. What they don't have is a distributor in the US although there is one in Mexico. http://www.mehano.si/?PID=34 It would also seem that most locomotives are still listed, including the 2-10-2 (Prestige series).
Note: Barry, the below is not directed at you.
Rather than wear hair shirts and lamenting the loss of IHC, might it not be more profitable to try to convince someone to import Mehano items again? That being said, I am well aware that this particular forum is more often used as a kind of Wailing Wall rather than as a venue for actually suggesting something useful.
[Edited by selector.]
Andre
In fact, Mehano already reportedly has plans to re-enter the U.S. market with a line of their products, likely early next year or soon thereafter. However, they are apparently contemplating to aim at the high end of the locomotive market and not include the smaller, more affordable, items sold for years by IHC.
Quite correct! Certain of the increasingly scarce examples are starting to sell for more than their original MSRP and I suspect we'll see figures in excess of $100+ very soon for some of the smaller wheel arrangements that formerly sold for around $40 on eBay.
blownout cylinder Sir Madog Bdewoody In a sense you can already do this. Buy a cheap IHC locomotive with the appropriate wheel arrangement and then cut off or remove unwanted details. Most steam details are still avaiable and can be easily added to create the loco of your choice. Also Bowser offers steam loco kits of several of the most popular wheel arrangements that again you can customize. Bob - that´s history already. IHC is out of business and Bowser does not make those kits any longer - leaving a deep gap for those aficionados of Pennsy steam power. How about hunting and gathering them on evilbay?----there is always that route----
Sir Madog Bdewoody In a sense you can already do this. Buy a cheap IHC locomotive with the appropriate wheel arrangement and then cut off or remove unwanted details. Most steam details are still avaiable and can be easily added to create the loco of your choice. Also Bowser offers steam loco kits of several of the most popular wheel arrangements that again you can customize. Bob - that´s history already. IHC is out of business and Bowser does not make those kits any longer - leaving a deep gap for those aficionados of Pennsy steam power.
Bdewoody In a sense you can already do this. Buy a cheap IHC locomotive with the appropriate wheel arrangement and then cut off or remove unwanted details. Most steam details are still avaiable and can be easily added to create the loco of your choice. Also Bowser offers steam loco kits of several of the most popular wheel arrangements that again you can customize.
In a sense you can already do this. Buy a cheap IHC locomotive with the appropriate wheel arrangement and then cut off or remove unwanted details. Most steam details are still avaiable and can be easily added to create the loco of your choice.
Also Bowser offers steam loco kits of several of the most popular wheel arrangements that again you can customize.
Bob - that´s history already. IHC is out of business and Bowser does not make those kits any longer - leaving a deep gap for those aficionados of Pennsy steam power.
How about hunting and gathering them on evilbay?----there is always that route----
Actually...certain previously commonly available IHC locomotives are already disappearing from the eBay listings and, except perhaps for the really older, far less desirable models, I suspect that many of better examples will be essentially unavailable in the secondhand market soon.
jrbernierBack in the late 70's, there was a company(The Locomotive Company???) that offered several small engines(like a 4-6-0) and a choice of 3 different boilers/detail kits. Great idea, but the metal was way too soft, and the fit/finish was lacking. Arbor Models may have bought them at some point, but both of them did not last very long.
That was it! The company was owned by one R. Schleider(sp?) who authored a number of modelling books at one time---still does?--The thing with the metal made for some interesting scenarios---I have a couple of those things still--cracking away----IIRC wasn't there an issue with their molds being ancient?
Back in the late 70's, there was a company(The Locomotive Company???) that offered several small engines(like a 4-6-0) and a choice of 3 different boilers/detail kits. Great idea, but the metal was way too soft, and the fit/finish was lacking. Arbor Models may have bought them at some point, but both of them did not last very long.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Barry,
it seems, as if those, who still have unbuilt Bowser kits stashed away, keep hanging on to them, until they appreciate in value. Very little available in the evilbay nowadays.