@trestleking posted:
Another Trainmaster seemed like a good idea, but I wanted a dummy unit. These are hard to find but this powered unit showed up online in the iconic JCL orange & blue scheme - for a “too good to pass up” price, so FedEx just dropped it off this morning. Looks like it’s never been run. Don’t know much about the mfr/importer but I like the engine !
Rich in SD
Rich,
The Trainmaster is a Custom Trains engine produced by Frank and Jack Rash in the 1980s-1990s in Wilkes-Barre, PA. They also produced freight cars and other rolling stock under the Frank's Roundhouse label. As Rod said, they used Samhongsa running gear; the shells were blank shells that they painted. The inside of the shells could be marked "Williams Reproductions LTD" (usually, but not always, scratched out) or "Custom Trains." The end of the box should have a label identifing it as stock number SA-1003 (although some of the boxes I have do not have labels; they've probably fallen off) and the road numbers would be 2342, 2343, or 2344.
An excellent site for information and pictures of the Frank's Roundhouse line is the Robert's Trains web site:
https://www.robertstrains.com/Frank.htm
Click on the Trainmaster pictures for two pages of info on them. Again, as Rod said, they are great engines. I had Gunrunner John upgrade one of mine (SA-1017 PRR 8700) to TMCC. It's a great runner.
Regards,
Bob
