Very true--they look very satisfying to build, but they have never been
available in quanitity and they are not inexpensive, and further do require
some experience and skill to assemble. I've been tempted...
Jace Kahn
General Manager
Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.
> Take a look at the BTS 2-8-0 Baldwin loco kits. I have one. I also have an S
> Helper 2-8-0 (an Alco B& O)
>
> No one seems to mention those BTS kits. As well detailed as anything else
> ever in S Modelmaking is enjoyable. It is not like calling yourself an
> artist or designer because you can string beads or do macrame stuff. Those
> give satisfaction but do not have "depth". Take your time and build.
>
> A Flyer loco is toy and can be dressed up. but are you a MODEL RAILROADER,
> or a person with a nostalgia for the toys you had as a kid? Maybe I should
> go to G scale or larger so I can build accessories such as my Erector set
> steam shovel. I was given that when I was 4. That was the LEGO we grew up
> with in the
> 2-0's. It was not a plastic world yet.
>
> John Armstrong.
>
> I must still be foreign to the S scale ethos, but my initial mental
> question is "Why bother?"
> Those who really LIKE the AF superstructures presumably like them BECAUSE
> they are AF, so the more stock they are,
> presumably the better. And I suspect there are still sufficient AF
> collectors around that only a real junker would offer
> a cost-effective conversion. Anyone with a serious interest in scale would
> need to rework the AF superstructures so
> extensively that scratchbuilding would make more sense, as one would end up
> with a better result for about the same
> effort. People back in the early days of true S scale did conversions
> because there really were no alternatives except the
> Rex kits (and AF was more plentiful and inexpensive back then, too), not
> because the results were really satisfying.
>
> The AM locomotives do seem to be relatively moderately-priced and offer
> possibilities for cross-kitting or kit=bashing into
> something else, but at even the best prices I've seen for SHS 2-8-0's, few
> would want to start major revisions on one merely
> to end up with a freelance product (and I think the E-27's were already 63"
> drivers, the same as USRA 2-8-2's, so how would
> that be a "low-drivered" conversion?).
>
> As always, the problem is S scale is that there are relatively few steam
> locomotive types available, other than brass. The more
> I enjoy my two SHS 2-8-0's, the more I am impressed with Don Thompson's
> careful choice of prototype as suiting a major gap
> in S scale--a mid-size road locomotive based on a real locomotive but
> credible in a number of other road names. I have turned
> over in my mind what a follow-on prototype might be, once the shake-up in
> the PRC is over (and the world economic picture
> stabilizes) and he and Mike are again able to think about a major
> investment in time and other resources, and it is surprisingly
> hard to come up with one which would fit the merchandising parameters of S
> scale. Perhaps USRA types, but I believe Overland
> has done the light 2-8-2 and 0-8-0 and River Raisin is projecting the
> 0-6-0. What seems to make the most sense might be an
> SP 0-6-0 like the old Roundhouse/MDC kit, as it is very different from a
> USRA but many other prototype roads had quite similar
> pre-WWI small switchers. Everyone pretty much can use a switcher, but the
> question might be whether the market could absorb
> a quantitiy of $5-600 ones, as it is doubtful the actual cost of production
> for an 0-6-0 would be much less than for a 2-8-0.
> I'd guess that all the research and engineering that went into the 2-8-0
> would be transferable to another steam locomotive, requiring
> only (ONLY?) research on a specific prototype and then cutting the new dies.
>
> Jace Kahn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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