It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
QUOTE: Originally posted by MisterBeasley What class of steam engine was it? Can you get a decal set and do the re-badging yourself? That way you could start with a much newer engine. In the long run, that will probably be less effort than trying to bring an old loco up to modern DCC standards.
QUOTE: Originally posted by kchronister I'm fine with Rivarossi as a brand. I have many of their passenger cars, and a handful of locos, all of which have proved satisfactory to me.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Virginian If I wanted a Milwaukee F-7 Baltic I would get one.... somehow. If you cannot afford a brass loco, convert a Riv. version. It is not that difficult. The Riv's used isolated motors anyway. I never had any trouble with the tender pick up link, and if you put the decoder in the tender you can use that link going the other way anyway for one less wire. The cab is wrong on the Riv for an F-7, but the paint job tries to make up for it a little. And a Riv can be tweaked to run quite well, even the earlier versions. The ones I have seen on the bay in gereat shape are not cheap either, usually pushing or passing $300. A Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4 Baltic, or the 4-4-2 version even, are very beautiful and distinctive locos. They are some of my favorites. I am also an N&W 'J' lover from birth. My day had HO trains. I was never, repeat NEVER, satisfied until I bought my own BRASS J, the very first HO engine I bought. I have never regretted it. I still have it. Something to keep in mind, unless you can talk BLI or PCM into making one. (Man don't that make you drool?!) Then you are going to NEED a beavertail observation too you know! Good luck.
QUOTE: Originally posted by kchronister I have long coveted a Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha" for my layout... (the steam version). That pretty much, so far as I know, means finding one of the Rivarossi's still kicking around, or going brass... and brass ain't gonna happen. The Rivarossi locos/sets show up on Ebay from time to time. I'm fine with Rivarossi as a brand. I have many of their passenger cars, and a handful of locos, all of which have proved satisfactory to me. So that's not the issue.
kchronister wrote:I continue to be surprised that more manufacturers don't make streamliners. The ones that show up on E-bay (and they're on pretty often) always create a feeding frenzy. A Riv Hiawatha just went for north of $600...
Wa-wa-what!??!?! Oh man, maybe it's time to let go of my Riv Hiawatha that has done nothing but sit in it's box on the shelf since I bought it years ago
Sincerely,Todd M. Taylor The Unofficial $oo Line Diesel Roster
Milwhiawatha wrote:I have had offers of $700 to $800 for my Riv Hiawatha.
Amazing! I paid below $1050 for an unused up-to-date, beautyfully and correctly detailed - and great running - PSC brass version.
Yikes! I just pulled mine down off the shelf (I haven't looked at it in years!) and I can't imagine paying that much for it. The price tag on my says $229 from back in 2001. I'm thinking I might sell mine closer to when Walther's releases their Hiawatha series of passenger cars. Since I don't have a layout and probably won't have one for many, many years, someone else might as well enjoy the unit rather than have it sit on my shelf!
I'm sure you guys know by now that Walthers is releasing the Twin Cities Hiawatha. It's not the '35 version, but who can not resist those Skytops and Superdomes!
http://download3-7.files-upload.com/2007-07/20/02/Hiawatha_Poster.pdf
Phil