"Brasseure" and Other Mystery Brass Models

[R.K. Maroon]

Two things in one topic:

First, I have been asked if I know anything about a model manufacturer named "Brasseure". This is a new one on me. I have been told that somebody has a box with this label on it and that it says "Made in the USA". I was not told what the model was that was in the box (or if it was just the empty box).

Second, I brought a pair of Central of Georgia pulpwood flat cars back from O Scale South in Atlanta:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ntjm4wamzionc0crwsyjh/Pulpwood-Flat-Car-CG-10781.jpg?rlkey=pcgh4uqf4s6r7agkzy9v7dvyo

These cars came in a nice box with the label shown on the end:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uktxtcu04bjg71fuxfnvb/Pulpwood-Flat-Car-Box-Label.jpg?rlkey=qe4z15mz01e9quo77eetzjdgy

I find it interesting that somebody would import a car that is unique to a rather small southern regional. Especially since pulpwood cars tended to not go too far from home. And how often do you see a label on a box with no indication of who the manufacturer or importer is?

I should add that I admired these models as they sat in the sales table, but they didn't jump in my hands. The asking price was reasonable and, since I was in Central of Georgia territory, I figured these would have no trouble getting sold. So I was surprised when the seller approached me late in the day and made a really good offer on the cars (*sigh* -- twist my arm -- OK). Glad I have some GM&O equipment pull them with.

Any information on either of these topics would be most appreciated.
Jim

[ScaleCraft]

Sort of. Maybe. You sure there is an "e" on the end of "Brasseure"?
In other scales/gauges, old shop in Michigan, closed a couple of years back.
Did he import stuff and sell under his name? Or made locally?
Not necessarily brass!
A little looking, seems Trainz bought it out when he closed shop.
https://www.trainz.com/blogs/news/press ... Urzh3R3aaJ
Be careful about "brass" in a name. Might not be!

[sarge]

Oh, the hazards of boxes as references! GRIN!

There was a guy named Bob Brasseur who was a famous shop-owner in Michigan, recently passed away. He was big in Lionel and the toy train collecting world. I'd not sweat an unseen box of unknown contents, for the person relating the story might not even know the difference between Lionel and O Scale very clearly, nor the first syllable of the guy's name having nothing to do with brass as we know it in the scale world. Even this could be a bit of a red herring, the Brasseur I'm speaking of not at all the "Brasseure" you ask of, and there is something to the box we don't know about. There just isn't enough in the story to speak to, yet.

In short, I've never heard of a maker of brass in O Scale in the US trading under Brasseure. I'm ready to learn something, though!

As far as the pulpwood cars, I have to wonder given the style of label that these are painted by a skilled hobbiest or a custom painter, then boxed in any of a number of replacement boxes offered over the years (ReBoxx one that comes to mind immediately), and finished off with one of those office-supply store labels and a typewriter to neatly mark it. The answer to the question, "How often do you see a label on the box with no reference to the importer or manufacturer?" is "Very very often."

Pulpwood flats of that ilk were surprisingly popular in brass O scale; USH having brought in a couple runs from Japan for example. I vaguely remember one done in Korea; was it PSC?

[R.K. Maroon]

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I will pass the information regarding Brasseur on to the person who inquired.

I have been informed off-line that the pulpwood car is a Southwind. Further research on the internet verifies this and indicates that the cars were made in HO, S, and O. The Korean manufacturer was Oh Sung Co. The prototype is apparently good for the C of G and the Southern, and perhaps ACL and others.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/southwind-models-scale-rail-brass-493904232

https://www.brasstrains.com/Classic/Product/Detail/064641/HO-Brass-Model-Train-Southwind-2001-ACL-Southern-Pulpwood-Car-Unpainted

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/scale-southwind-central-georgia-brass-506052488

[up148]

Yeah, Southwind was big in "S" scale back in the 80's and 90's. I dabbled in S scale at in 2000-2001 and Southwind by that time had pretty much quit importing. Several other importers of the day took a stab at S scale, like OMI and Sunset, but Southwind was pretty much exclusively S scale. I believe the owner was Jettie Padgett and he was an executive with Walmart or some other huge company and imported S scale as part of his s scale hobby. I never knew Southwind imported anything but S scale, but I never hung around to learn all the ins and outs............and since Southwind didn't import any UP models I never dealt with Jettie.

Nice find Jim and that should be an excellent model IIRC all the Southwind models were highly detailed and pretty good runners.