i can certainly confirm the wisdom of packing the pilot separately for
shipping: the OVL RDG I-8 a friend bought for me from the Maurer auction of the
Bortz collection had the pilot damaged severely posting it from New Jersey to
Minnesota, despite careful packing and lots of styrofoam pellets. It took me a
good four or five hours to sort out the pilot assembly, and rarely is anything
as good as the original after it has been fixed.
Jace Kahn
General Manager
Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.
Bill:
Not sure where you get your info, but Overland's
USRA Lt. Mike and USRA 0-8-0 were both built by Ajin in 1985 and 1986
respectively. The OMI USRA Pacific came form M.S. Models in
1989 - 1990. M.S. also did several Overland
Sn3 locomotives as well as the RDG 2-8-0 Camelback in standard
S. IMHO the M.S. packaging was a step forward but I
guess guys balked at having to "assemble" their brass model - i.e. screw on
the pilot beam and pilot truck.
The 2-8-2's had a replacement gearbox made by Ajin
a year or so after introduction that offered lower gearing so better slow
speed operation.
Jim
