Model Train Journal

Check out this Bill Davis auction: BRASS O Overland E8/9 B Unit un-assembled NO RESERVE. It is an unpainted OMI tank-drive E8/E9 that "sold" for $1,550.00.

The bid history is telling. The third highest bidder dropped out at $285. That account has a feedback rating of '440' and has place four bids, including two on this particular auction, in the last thirty days.

The second highest bidder dropped out at $1525. That account has a feedback rating of just '26'. In the last 30 days, that account has placed 704 bids on 190 different items..... but has also had 19 bid retractions in the last month and 190 bid retractions in the last six months.

The winning bidder got it at $1550. That account has a feedback rating of just '7' and has only bid on one auction (this one) in the last 30 days.

Makes absolutely no sense!

Jay

The Ker-Ching sound is the money going into Bill's bank account. 2 of the 3 Bidders did not have a clue!

Yeah, that part's easy enough. I meant why would anybody in their right mind spend that much money on an old OMI "Tank Drive" "B Unit". $300-$350 maybe.

Jay

is the overland "tank drive" the one that has problems with the center mounted gear box warping?
i seem to recall that the gear box housing had a problem with zinc pest.

Fools rush in to be hooked, I am with jay on selling price.

Jay Criswell wrote:Yeah, that part's easy enough. I meant why would anybody in their right mind spend that much money on an old OMI "Tank Drive" "B Unit". $300-$350 maybe.

Jay

Jay Criswell wrote:Yeah, that part's easy enough. I meant why would anybody in their right mind spend that much money on an old OMI "Tank Drive" "B Unit". $300-$350 maybe.

Jay

I totally agree!!!!!!!!! They obviously don't know what they are buying. These early OMI units have had a hard time bringing more than $3-450 each for the last several years. Maybe he thought he was getting one of the later tower drive E units, but he's still $5-600 high for that model, even if he was desperate. This will make Bill happy for those items that don't bring as much as they should. These E unit had issues with headlight and number boards being crooked too.

BH

Not to be a pain, but I was reading somewhere about someone looking for a specific B unit made by OMI for E8-9 of which there were only 20 some made. Something to do with portholes if I remember. This may be one of those..................or not.

Peter

Jay, Bridge Shoes??

milepost57 wrote:is the overland "tank drive" the one that has problems with the center mounted gear box warping?

Yes. The first two pictures attached to the listing clearly show that it is a tank drive.

I corrected the broken link in my initial post, so you can click on it now to see the model they were actually bidding on.

Chris Webster wrote:The winning bidder got it at $1550. That account has a feedback rating of just '7' and has only bid on one auction (this one) in the last 30 days.

The winning bidder now has a feedback rating of '8'. According to their 30-Day Summary, 100% of their bid activity was with this seller (Bill) so it appears that the winning bidder actually paid for this auction.

Bill has since auctioned another identical OMI EB/9 B Unit; this one sold for $393: Ebay #312109277158, BRASS O Overland E8/9 B Unit w/dynamic NO RESERVE

Looks like the $1550 winner??? was an under bidder on the second auction.

Here's another interesting auction of a tank-drive OMI E-Unit, this one repowered with CLW components and painted Lackawanna. It sold for $499.95:
Ebay #133326205843, DR O SCALE BRASS OVERLAND MODELS LACKAWANNA E8A LOCOMOTIVE #814 WITH CLW DRIVE
The builder kept OMI's driveshaft thru the fuel tank setup, but replaced the gear tower in the fuel tank with a chain drive on the rear truck. I presume the builder kept the thru-the-tank setup so that his replacement drive wouldn't interfere with the interior cab detail, but I was kind of surprised he didn't put the motor in the fuel tank like CLW does. I'm thinking he must have used the Pittman from the same Weaver diesel that he got the CLW components from.

The original OMI motor and drive components sold for $148.50 in a separate auction:
Ebay #133333659711 - DR O SCALE BRASS OVERLAND MODELS E-UNIT DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE MOTOR AND DRIVE PARTS

The original tank drive components selling for almost $150 is the real shocker.....unless you just needed spare parts for owned locos.

Decades ago I purchased an ABBA set of OMI E-8/9's that was repowered by CLW drives. They ran very well. Today, I would either buy Jays components or have him repower them for me. His drives are far superior to any drives of the past.

I'll be contacting him soon on suggestions for repowering some 2005/6 Lionel "scale" F3's I own. Had them 2 railed by Joe F back in the day, but repowering technology and options has really advanced in the past 2 decades. I've compared the factory painted shells with some KEY F3's I owned at the time and its a toss up as to which is best. Lionel really outdid themselves on their "scale" offerings back then.

Hi Butch, This one is always good for some discussion. If you follow the link below:

https://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Rail ... F3_DWG.png

You get drawings for the F3. If you look at the headlight sheet metal, it is tilted backwards at the top. I've never seen a Lionel F unit that was oriented other than vertical. Obviously I have not seen every Lionel shell produced, but I've never seen one by Lionel that I would call correct. That said, if you have one you like, go for it!

Rich

PS: There is a lot of brass out there that is not the best, but there are some....

The best I've ever seen in any scale are the Athearn Genesis in HO

Right you are on the headlight tilt Rich. The only one I ever had that was correct, was the 2013 run of the KEY E-8's and E-9's and I really didn't like it much and complained to Roger about it before I learned it is correct. My locos had some "A" unit pilot issues too (vanishing rivet line), so I sold them to a guy in Japan who didn't care.

I don't think the Lionel headlight is tilted, but neither was my KEY last run F units, so I can live with that. I agree, the Athearn F units are the best F's I've ever seen.