Bought my very first Brass freight car!

Andy,

Congratulations!  You are doomed! 

My first O brass car was an older Alco New Haven NE-5 caboose.  Still haven't painted it over 10 years later.  It gets worse from here on out! 

Enjoy!

You're done...……...

Nice car!

It's all downhill from here,

“Once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny.”

Congrats! My first brass car...

PURDY!

You won't have to worry about that one turning into a sway-backed nag.

Thanks guys...I do think it can get out of hand quickly!

I just finished 16 of those older KTM/US Hobby cars for my own road. Nice cars when you can find them under $50 bucks.

Looks good Dan...I agree!  I bought mine for $41 plus shipping.  I thought it was a steal!

Not that I need another vice but inquiring minds want to know, I love die cast hoppers but why do we love brass rolling stock? My guesses:

A) looks cool on display?

B) Amazing detail?

C) Fun to paint and decal?

Other? Please help the uneducated.

The devil is in the details, and the good news is they don't break off as easily. it's almost sacrilege to call a brass car a steel, when it's really a steal!  Next step? Obviously a brass loco! Cue the maniacal laughter!

Simon

hokie71 posted:

Not that I need another vice but inquiring minds want to know, I love die cast hoppers but why do we love brass rolling stock? My guesses:

A) looks cool on display?

B) Amazing detail?

C) Fun to paint and decal?

Other? Please help the uneducated.

Precious metals attract us.

Gold is too soft for modeling; brass is the next best thing.

Paint on brass?  

That's kinda like putting ketchup on Kobe.

I discovered brass back in my HO days, in the form of interesting cabooses, and carried that to three rail O, tracking down brass cabooses to install on lobster claw trucks.  Unfortunately for me, there are several times more HO brass cabooses than O that have been offered.

Yeah. You're done. Once you buy a brass piece, you're always looking at more. Three-railers aren't immune from this either. There's also something about unpainted brass (maybe the details you see). Maybe that's why my ATSF Drover car (first and only unpainted brass piece) has been unpainted for all these years.

AGHRMatt posted:

Yeah. You're done. Once you buy a brass piece, you're always looking at more. Three-railers aren't immune from this either. There's also something about unpainted brass (maybe the details you see). Maybe that's why my ATSF Drover car (first and only unpainted brass piece) has been unpainted for all these years.

Have to say this is a true statement lol and I am a tinplate nut! but for me it started with old doorstop 2 rail that morphed into some brass stuff by default so the road was curvy 

I agree Matt...I have been looking for more already, but I had been looking for a while and finally pulled the trigger.

@hokie71  You forgot option D) all of the above!

railroad-guy posted:

I just finished 16 of those older KTM/US Hobby cars for my own road. Nice cars when you can find them under $50 bucks.

Those look great! I have a couple of boxes of KTM and Rail-Craft hoppers I've been accumulating, I hope they look that good when ever I get around to working on them!

Since some of you 3 railers seem to have stumbled into the rarefied air of the 2 rail forum  (LOL), what is the rationale behind a brass 3 rail item? It's one of those things I've never understood like putting mag wheels on a Zamboni.  Sort of a physical illustration of an oxymoron. 

Commence firing,

Simon

railroad-guy posted:

I just finished 16 of those older KTM/US Hobby cars for my own road. Nice cars when you can find them under $50 bucks.

Yes, many of the KTM/USH cars can be found for $50 or less. Some might take some work, but still nice for the price.

AGHRMatt posted:

Yeah. You're done. Once you buy a brass piece, you're always looking at more. Three-railers aren't immune from this either. There's also something about unpainted brass (maybe the details you see). Maybe that's why my ATSF Drover car (first and only unpainted brass piece) has been unpainted for all these years.

Nice excuse!  I shall use that myself.

John Sethian posted:

AGHRMatt posted:

Yeah. You're done. Once you buy a brass piece, you're always looking at more. Three-railers aren't immune from this either. There's also something about unpainted brass (maybe the details you see). Maybe that's why my ATSF Drover car (first and only unpainted brass piece) has been unpainted for all these years.

Nice excuse!  I shall use that myself.

What's so sad about it is that it probably wouldn't take me that long to paint it and make an interior for it. Laziness is a contributing factor.

 I’m a 3 railer and about a year ago. I ventured into the 2 rail brass world. I already run Kadee’s on everything. I model a specific time frame and road. The Rutand.  Which was famous for it’s Milk Trains. I had a number of Lionel cars. Trouble was they were all the same style. To model correct to the prototype. You basically had to have Borden’s, Sheffield Farms, maybe 1 NYC or home grown Rutland cars only in the consist. They only delivered milk to the Central which then brought the consist to NY City.
 After years of wanting one. I finally bit the bullet and won an painted but undecorated Borden’s butterdish car. Operated well enough I left it as is. 

I then purchased an undecorated NYC , Rutland type car. I got Highball Graphics to make up decals for Rutland passenger cars a while back and there were milk car markings in the set. It was unpainted. I use Scalecoat Coach Green. Well it couldn’t operate reliably enough to make it around the layout without derailing. Could happen anywhere. I thought of switching to hi rail wheels. I took the trucks apart. Checked out NWSL and my head was spinning with everything offered. I had a visit from Bob Bartizek. He suggested to try using Atlas 3rail commonwealth trucks. 

I learned about lowering the Atlas truck right here on the 2 rail forum. No clearance issues. Uses the factory screw and ended up with the same ride height. Slightly different in design. But it has the same wheelbase and is a passenger truck. Bob gave me sound advice. No one will probably notice the car has the wrong trucks. They certainly would notice the derailing. It came out so well. I bought 3 more of that style.

Andy, 

I picked these 3 brass cars at the Atlanta show we attended. They had very bad paint on them do I stripped them and just got them re-lettered. 

The caboose is a Alco models product. The covered hopper I believe is a KTM that was a closed side that I opened up. I have no idea about the tank car. The tank car had no under frame detail so I added it. It many broken parts too that had to be re-soldered.

Malcolm

Those are gorgeous Malcolm!  I have remorse for not buying a few things at the Atlanta show, primarily a brass covered hopper.  I was overwhelmed at the show since I was just dabbling at that point...still am, but having more fun now!  Love the Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio!  You do such good work!

Andy,

Thank you, I really enjoyed the show. Nice to have met you as well.

AGHRMatt posted:

John Sethian posted:

AGHRMatt posted:

Yeah. You're done. Once you buy a brass piece, you're always looking at more. Three-railers aren't immune from this either. There's also something about unpainted brass (maybe the details you see). Maybe that's why my ATSF Drover car (first and only unpainted brass piece) has been unpainted for all these years.

Nice excuse!  I shall use that myself.

What's so sad about it is that it probably wouldn't take me that long to paint it and make an interior for it. Laziness is a contributing factor.

Laziness is nature's way of telling you you would rather be working on something else. Once I figure out how to do something, I have a hard time getting up for doing it again.  Like painting and lettering a freight car (done that), installing PS3 into a locomotive (done that) or making a tree (done that WAY too many times).   Unit trains are a real problem for me.

Okay.  I officially like this thread.

I do not like plastic models.  Not wild about plastic cars or airplanes either.

The problem is, I have no rational reason for that dislike.  The happy part is - it is a hobby, and does not have to be rational.

rattler21 posted:

Simon Winter posted:

Since some of you 3 railers seem to have stumbled into the rarefied air of the 2 rail forum  (LOL), what is the rationale behind a brass 3 rail item? It's one of those things I've never understood like putting mag wheels on a Zamboni.  Sort of a physical illustration of an oxymoron. 

Commence firing,

Simon

What is wrong with running the best on an easy to wire layout? 3rd Rail/Sunset doesn't have any problem with the three rail market.  Six dome tank cars, wagon top box cars, chlorine tank flat cars, 8-1-2 sleeping cars just to mention a few.  Plenty of steam locomotives.  If it were not for three rail production numbers, your two rail engines would be priced out of sight.  Check out Lionel's half and half engine. Three rail Lionel innards with a highly detailed brass body.   John in Lansing, ILL

John,     I just looked up the price of a Lionel Vision Line Big Boy.....It was Listed at $2699.99. I can buy tons of 2 rail brass engines for less on the secondary market and they will not have pizza cutter wheels and have better detail. Wiring....go RC Battery, there is no track wiring.

Take care,

Simon

I’ve certainly discovered the allure of brass in the larger scales with the recent acquisition of a Hallmark/Ajin Santa Fe drovers coach. Although I have a number of brass locos in HO, brass models really are impressive in O.

And of course, now that I’ve purchased it and simultaneously shot the operating budget for big ticket items for awhile, it’s only natural that the baggage/passenger combo version (the one I REALLY preferred) should now appear on eBay. 

Oh well, there’s worse things to worry about.

Still looking for those KTM freight cars for under 50 bucks a pop...🤔

Kyle Evans posted:

 

.....

Still looking for those KTM freight cars for under 50 bucks a pop...🤔

 

I feel I got lucky with this one for under $50.  They are few and far between that I have seen at that price...maybe at shows, but I wasn't really looking when I went to the Atlanta show.

Kyle Evans posted:

I’ve certainly discovered the allure of brass in the larger scales with the recent acquisition of a Hallmark/Ajin Santa Fe drovers coach. Although I have a number of brass locos in HO, brass models really are impressive in O.

And of course, now that I’ve purchased it and simultaneously shot the operating budget for big ticket items for awhile, it’s only natural that the baggage/passenger combo version (the one I REALLY preferred) should now appear on eBay. 

Oh well, there’s worse things to worry about.

Still looking for those KTM freight cars for under 50 bucks a pop...🤔

 

I remember you from a related thread. Glad to see you were able to catch that one. The "mixed train" version is hard to find but is a nice addition to the fleet if you can get one. I'm going to repaint this one when I paint the drover car.

Kyle Evans posted:

Still looking for those KTM freight cars for under 50 bucks a pop...🤔

 

They are around and it takes patience with discipline.  There will be more available in the future than now.

mwb posted:They are around and it takes patience with discipline.  There will be more available in the future than now.

Oh Boy....I think I know what he is thinking about.....

Yves

AGHRMatt posted:

Kyle Evans posted:

I’ve certainly discovered the allure of brass in the larger scales with the recent acquisition of a Hallmark/Ajin Santa Fe drovers coach. Although I have a number of brass locos in HO, brass models really are impressive in O.

And of course, now that I’ve purchased it and simultaneously shot the operating budget for big ticket items for awhile, it’s only natural that the baggage/passenger combo version (the one I REALLY preferred) should now appear on eBay. 

Oh well, there’s worse things to worry about.

Still looking for those KTM freight cars for under 50 bucks a pop...🤔

 

I remember you from a related thread. Glad to see you were able to catch that one. The "mixed train" version is hard to find but is a nice addition to the fleet if you can get one. I'm going to repaint this one when I paint the drover car.

Nice pictures, Matt; I especially like the paint job you did on the mixed train version. I know what you mean about reluctance to paint brass cars, the detail just “pops” when it’s in raw brass. I think for display-only purposes it’s fine to leave it brass, but for running on a layout and mixing in as part of your rolling stock roster, then painted is preferable, but just my opinion.

T’would be nice if money and space was no issue and we could have three of each: one in unpainted brass, one painted and lettered, and one painted, lettered, and weathered to our taste.

I’m continuing to watch the side-door version on eBay...who knows?

OK it is a sickness...I now have 3 brass freight cars.  Just got this one in the mail today. Real wood load.  One of my favorite road names.  I LOVE it!  I also bought this same car unpainted and without a load...so I am going to do similar with the wood load.

hokie71 posted:

Not that I need another vice but inquiring minds want to know, I love die cast hoppers but why do we love brass rolling stock? My guesses:

A) looks cool on display?

B) Amazing detail?

C) Fun to paint and decal?

Other? Please help the uneducated.

Finer details

Not as heavy as diecast

No worries about zinc rot in the future!

Can be repaired if damaged -not so with cracked/ chipped die-cast.

Do you guys replace the dummy couplers on the brass cars with something else?  Is there a Kadee that works well?

I was at Chicago show last month and was looking for an SW1 figuring I'd end up with an MTH. What did I find? Within 10 minutes of starting, I found an Oriental Limited Brass SW1! We negotiated as I was waving cash under his nose. UNUSED! I got for about $225. My trip was worth it.

Dick

That's great Dick...any pictures of your SW1?