Sometimes you have to look closely and sometimes you don’t. This recent listing on the auction site for a RY Models PRR H21a Quad Hopper Car is actually kind of funny.
First, the model is a triple hopper not a quad. Rich did import triple hoppers, but this is not one of those imports. As I type this, the auction is up to $79, that is a lot for what this model is.
Look closely at the grab irons on the car. They are flat not round wire like the better brass imports.
Looking at the underside of the car you can see that it is actually a Weaver 70 ton offset hopper car that someone put in the wrong box.
More and more collections are being sold by people that do not know about O Scale models, this is happening more than it should. It starts with boxing the models correctly and it winds through to knowing what a model is, no matter what is written on the box.
The new owner is going to be very disappointed when this model arrives. If the auction closed today they would be paying $79 plus shipping for a model that often will not sell at a train show when priced at $20. But they will have a nice RY Models box to put it in.
I’ve seen a lot of different things on eBay over the years. Never saw something like this before. Described as “heavily damaged” brass Overland cabooses. Looking at the details and they appear to be LV North Eastern cabooses. What a shame. These images lifted from the auction.
I will admit to looking at what hits the auction site. I have picked up a few things there over the years. Ok, more than I want to admit to, but this auction this week really amazes me. A Golden Gate Depot PRR 10-6 Pullman Factory painted sold for $1731.00.
Someone REALLY WANTED this one. I hope they don’t change their modeling focus in a year or two and try to sell it for this price.
We have all watched auctions that the seller set too high a starting price for something and then it sits on the auction site for months while everyone waits for the seller to lower the price. We all also know folks that have no patience and go after some of that overpriced stuff just because they think they may never see another one and they have to have THAT one.
This one started at a reasonable price of $100. I know I watched it with the thought of turning it into something other than PRR if it stayed low enough. It didn’t.
To put this into context, the new B&O 10-6 Pullmans that Golden Gate Depot has on their website currently are priced at $349 each.
This was not an accident. There were 29 bids on this car. I don’t get it. It’s not a set of cars. It was ONE car!
I’m happy for the seller, we all know the background in the images. Here are some of the images of the car from the auction.
“Caveat Emptor” is a Latin phrase that means “let the buyer beware.”
I had two years of Latin while in High School, but that is not what I want to talk about. I think I’m going to start a new “Category” for the site called “Caveat Emptor“
Today, I saw this on the auction site. It was listed as “YODER PRR 50 TON FREIGHT TRUCKS.” It clearly isn’t.
As you can see in the photos, the truck does not have a spring plank, brake beams or brake shoes. Also the wheels appear to be plastic and without any backside relief. This sure looks like an Athearn truck that was painted red.
We have all done this, buy a pair of trucks at a show to replace a pair on a finished car. When you are done installing the new trucks on the car you put the old trucks into the box. It a convenient place to store the old trucks. I know I’ve done it with some trucks.
Trouble is when someone buys a collection and has no idea what these are and lists them as a pair of brass trucks when in reality they are cheap plastic trucks. It’s even worse when they ask more for the trucks than when they were new from the importer.
Just be careful, not everyone selling stuff knows what they are selling.
Model photos cropped and edited from online images.
Sunset imported EMD F3 A’s and B’s painted decorated for the Reading a few years ago. I did not order any as I DO NOT like to buy any new model sight unseen. This was the first time they were being built and you have no idea if the model will be accurate.
This weekend I finally saw photos of an actual model that was produced. I was not impressed and I’m VERY GLAD I did not order any.
The Reading EMD F3’s were classed as DF-2. They styled very similarly to the later F7’s. The had the later low profile 36 inch fans on the roof. They had the later large angled number boards on the nose. They also had Stainless steel grills on the top of the sides of the locomotives. Outwardly they were often misidentified as F7’s. The only real visual difference is the dynamic brake grid on the roof, they had a pair rectangular roof grids for the Dynamic Brakes instead of the F7’s 36 inch low profile fan.
Below are photos of the Sunset 3rd Rail Reading EMD F3 release.
These views of the A unit show what is wrong with the model:
The Dynamic Brake is not modeled correctly on the model. It’s a blank hatch cover. It should be two rectangular screen-covered grids
The Grills at the top of the car body are not modeled correctly. They should be made to look like stainless steel grills like an F7.
There are a pair of PRR style lifting brackets on the nose of the locomotive that should NOT be there.
Missing the number board on the top of the nose door.
Missing nose door handles
The B Unit also has inaccuracies:
Dynamic Brake not modeled
Missing lettering with unit number and class called out just in front of the rear side door.
Grills at the top of the car body should be like the grills on a F7.
What Reading Company 260 looked like.Reading F3 265 in Bethlehem, PA in 1952.This view shows the dynamic brake grids that are missing on the Sunset model.
I’m not a fan of the model companies current practice of producing a run of a model. They expect you to buy a model sight unseen before ANY photos are released of an actual model. I have only done this one or two times before. Haven’t always been happy with what was produced. And haven’t always been able to sell off the unwanted BAD model.
When you mention this to other modelers they just say order it or don’t, the manufactures don’t really care. Well I care. I’d rather have a correct model than the beginning of an expensive project to add to the project list. My project list is already too large!
Faced with the future options of having to order a model before it’s produced, I think I’ve ordered my last new model for this lifetime.
I did not order any of these models from Sunset 3rd Rail. Now having seen the actual model that was imported, I’m VERY glad I didn’t.
Makes me again say, I will not order any models sight unseen. If that means I don’t get the New Whatever, so what? I have more than enough models here now to keep my project list full for the rest of my lifetime and maybe another lifetime in addition.
Model photos cropped and edited from online images. Prototype images from scanned photos and negatives from my collection.
