stephen neill wrote:Not trying to be snotty or show anybody up, just trying to keep the record as straight as I can. I've worked hard on O scale history for a long time because I like it and want to know it and have gotten lucky a number of times.
The NW-2 was General Models but never Atwater; the only thing General Models got from Atwater was the F units. The NW-2 was originally a CLW Brass unit, I have a couple. Somebody please tell me if I am wrong on any of this.
Steve
R.K. Maroon wrote:And now part two, the lesson in humility:
Here is a photo of a Custom Brass Milwaukee Road Bi-Polar electric locomotive:
The original drives are "Lionel-like" in that a vertical motor drives one axle through a worm and a spur-gear chain powers the other drivers:
The prototype had twelve driver sets in a 1B-D+D-B1 wheel arrangement. As can be seen, the model only powers the D+D portion of the drive. The drives are functional but not known to be strong pullers.
These models seem to be fairly common, so seeing one on eBay is not that big a deal, and in fact one of these was the second locomotive I ever bought when I entered the hobby. But I am a fan of Milwaukee Electrics so I tend to look at every one that gets listed. One came up some time back and there was nothing in the description of particular interest, certainly no mention of a custom drive. But I thumbed through the photos and there it was:
A custom drive! It appeared to be a good installation, probably CLW gearboxes, and all drivers were powered. This was a no-brainer: I bought the one with the custom drive and sold the one I had with the stock drive. I did not break even on cost but the difference was small enough to make the custom drive a bargain. Here's the top view of one half:
I couldn't tell from the bottom shot in the auction listing, but the modification included replacement of the thin bent-sheet chassis frame with a solid machined frame -- a very pleasant discovery and quite the bonus. The drive itself is not a Jay Criswell deluxe but it's beautiful to me. I may with more practice be able to achieve this level of quality but I am a long way from it today.
I'm guessing you can see the lesson in humility coming here. I was very pleased with myself for noticing the presence of the custom drive, and it was hard not to shake my head at the idea of somebody having a custom drive and not even knowing it. Sooooo......fast forward to this week, and here I am on the other side of that equation, selling a locomotive with a custom drive and not even knowing it!.
It reminds me of a line from a song: It's much better to be humble than to have a big hat size
Hmm...it goes better with the music, but I am guessing you get the point.
Humble Pie Jim
).
) but got outbid by some other buyer
Wolf wrote:Jay--
You said not to bring the one I want you to work your magic on, at least
not until we nail down some more specifications. It is a "standard" stock
NJ Custom Brass model with the "Lionel-like" drive train.
I looked at the one on Stout's and noticed that the underside looked
identical to the one that Jim found on eBay....be interesting to know how
many of those are really out there, now that we know of two (unless Jim
sent his off to Stout Auctions to gain some money for some more doorstops
Still need the lounge section carbody parts for the BC Models SP Lark triple-unit.
Forgot whether it was Dan's Train Depot or Trainz who split up that articulated car
into 2 pieces...and then offered them in two different auction lots on eBay where they
aggregated 6-7 cars in each lot. I ended up winning the Kitchen-Dorm and Diner
sections (including all 3 of the trucks!
on the other lot with the Lounge section...guess they must have wanted some
other car(s) in that lot, as that auction ended later than mine.
Sometimes eBay sellers can do some mighty strange (and stupid!) things!
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