I'm like Roger, although I do enjoy "fiddling" with mechanisms! I built one of Claude's (SSL&S) Hudson conversions plus an AF Pacific conversion and then built a heavy mike. Never was entirely satisfied with how they ran so when brass came along the increase in value/quality made the jump obvious to me.
Thirty or 40 years ago there were companies offering products to expedite AF conversions. It was basically all we had to move to scale so the products made sense, maybe even made some money for their makers?!? Now those manufacturers are pretty much gone but lots of other items have taken their place. Converting AF is now probably harder, is there really a market for re-making things from 30 years ago? Less than 30 years ago Dan and I looked at making scale drivers available, 63" and 67" in four axle sets, all properly quartered; one w/ gear, one w/ sound cam. The price seemed reasonable but then we began thinking about drilling and tapping for available side rods and valve gear. It began to feel like a ticket to reincarnate SSL&S, a franchise that already had an owner - We moved on. My suggestion would be, for those who wish, cut down the wheels yourself or pay a machinist to do it. Given that the majority of hirailers are not in the "let's grab some tools and reef this puppy apart" category, I seriously doubt there is a commercial opportunity here. If I were betting my own "jimmy bucks" on a commercial venture, it would be a sub $600 AC4400 of the same quality as the SHS F units. Jim Kindraka --- In [email protected], "Roger Nulton" <roger.nul...@...> wrote: > > So Michael, what was the steam loco kit that you bought? I built a SSL&S > Pacific kit back then but could never get it to run smoothly enough. I sold > all of the other SSL&S kits I had acquired and bought brass steam, which I > Mononized with SSL&S parts. Fiddling with mechanisms is not my thing. I > would rather spend my time on the layout, and I donât think Iâm alone. > > Roger Nulton > > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
