Over There

[2railjon]

Hi Rex! Thanks for your input! I’ve converted a couple MTH passenger sets and use MTH 2 Rail trucks.
GGD’s passenger sets are awesome, but my 7 car Weaver set cost me only $340. That wouldn’t buy me 2 GGD cars!
I agree the Weaver trucks are a tad small, but they’ll suffice for now as I have enough irons in the fire!

[rex desilets]

I hear you 2railjohn.
I gave up food, etc, for a while to collect two B'Way Ltd 4-car sets and then the Cincinnatian set. My bride keeps asking, unreasonably BTW, why I don't sell a few locos I don't run all that much.
When our children were adolescents, I didn't sell them. Seems a fair trade.

[E7]

GGD’s passenger sets are awesome, but my 7 car Weaver set cost me only $340. That wouldn’t buy me 2 GGD cars!

I see I'm not the only one who has recognized that new passenger train pain in the wallet! The quantity of cars needed to make a decent aluminum passenger train causes serious financial distress with 8 cars falling in the 2K range before shipping.

[2railjon]

“ When our children were adolescents, I didn't sell them. Seems a fair trade. ”
LOL, Rex!! We sound like brothers from another mother!

Rich, don’t get me wrong! I’m not a whiner about costs, as they are what the manufacturer needs to stay in business.
Although I own a few GGD sets, NYC Smithsonian’s, most passenger sets just aren’t a priority for me. They’re like the side of mashed potatoes on a steak dinner plate.

[2railjon]

Inexpensive MTH aluminum streamliners from eBay. Around $60-70 each. Nothing fancy, and look fine rolling behind engines.


The Smithsonian’s were way more then I cared to pay but are the only set that perfectly matches the grey paint of the Hudson.

[E7]

Jon, I agree, that UP car looks good to me. The windows are probably not perfect (as in location, shape etc.), but how obsessive compulsive do you want to be?

[rex desilets]

Fortunately, as a devout Foamer, NYC doesn't appeal to me. So, no Smithsonian cars. Fortune saved.
Back in the day, when I saw the light, etc, and changed to "O", bought a couple sets of MTH lightweight cars. Nicely done. But, running behind a scale loco, they just didn't & don't look right. Aesthetic thing. Don't care for most modern autos, either.

[rogruth]

Fortunately, as a devout Foamer, NYC doesn't appeal to me. So, no Smithsonian cars. Fortune saved.
Back in the day, when I saw the light, etc, and changed to "O", bought a couple sets of MTH lightweight cars. Nicely done. But, running behind a scale loco, they just didn't & don't look right. Aesthetic thing. Don't care for most modern autos, either.

This is why most of my locos are not "scale". Layout is too small for scale to look good.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Fortunately, as a devout Foamer, NYC doesn't appeal to me. So, no Smithsonian cars. Fortune saved.
Back in the day, when I saw the light, etc, and changed to "O", bought a couple sets of MTH lightweight cars. Nicely done. But, running behind a scale loco, they just didn't & don't look right. Aesthetic thing. Don't care for most modern autos, either.

This is why most of my locos are not "scale". Layout is too small for scale to look good.

I've seen some very small O scale layouts; really little more than a fragment of a module that looked just fine in full scale. It can be done, but it takes careful decisions and planning to make it all look good. My own layout layout is also pretty small vs. the average O scale layout - room is ~10x14

[bob turner]

I did not know MTH made aluminum passenger cars. I thought they were all ABS.

I would be delighted with GGD cars, but by the time they came out I was completely sated with converted K-Line. Far better than I had ever expected would be available in O Scale.

Tempted on the GGD Hiawatha cars, but would rather have a Mustang repainted. That, and one more wheelset in this collection and I will have to move out! Let me show you the kitchen table!

[bob turner]

Here. I have to delete this photo from the iPad, lestthe Greek see it. She is quite sensitive to kitchen table clutter.

Oops. No room for more pictures.

[2railjon]

[I did not know MTH made aluminum passenger cars. I thought they were all ABS.[/quote]
The early MTH streamlined passenger cars were certainly aluminum!

[rex desilets]

Fortunately, as a devout Foamer, NYC doesn't appeal to me. So, no Smithsonian cars. Fortune saved.
Back in the day, when I saw the light, etc, and changed to "O", bought a couple sets of MTH lightweight cars. Nicely done. But, running behind a scale loco, they just didn't & don't look right. Aesthetic thing. Don't care for most modern autos, either.

This is why most of my locos are not "scale". Layout is too small for scale to look good.

I've seen some very small O scale layouts; really little more than a fragment of a module that looked just fine in full scale. It can be done, but it takes careful decisions and planning to make it all look good. My own layout layout is also pretty small vs. the average O scale layout - room is ~10x14

Unfortunately, and unwisely, I was bit by the bigger-is-better bug. I have some Brobdingnagian locos.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This is why most of my locos are not "scale". Layout is too small for scale to look good.

I've seen some very small O scale layouts; really little more than a fragment of a module that looked just fine in full scale. It can be done, but it takes careful decisions and planning to make it all look good. My own layout layout is also pretty small vs. the average O scale layout - room is ~10x14

Unfortunately, and unwisely, I was bit by the bigger-is-better bug. I have some Brobdingnagian locos.

I was able to foresee that possibility and eliminate it by where I placed the wall to install boundary conditions.

[E7]

This is why most of my locos are not "scale". Layout is too small for scale to look good.

Unfortunately, and unwisely, I was bit by the bigger-is-better bug. I have some Brobdingnagian locos.

Not anything that can't be reversed. I can guarantee there are tons of 3 railers out there that would gobble your big stuff up. Sell off the 3 rail and get some 2 rail consolidations, maybe a Mikado, F units. There are some real bargains on the Bay if you have patience. Pick up a piece here and there and it's fairly painless. I did the same thing when I moved out of HO.