(10/26 Note: some of the pics are acting up and refusing to display. I'll be re-inserting them tonight)
(10:27 Note: Re-uploaded/inserted the troublesome pics)
Weelll...
Thursday morning, and the "First Rule of York" was in full effect. Stopping over at Uncle Jack's Trains, I spotted these MTH Santa Fe coaches and made my first purchase:
All three are production samples, as shown by the underside photos below. Sleeper and diner "Blue Heron" are from the 20-66087 add-on set catalogued in 2006 V1. The "Colorado River" observation is from the 20-65079 smooth-side set catalogued in 2005 V2. Somehow I didn't notice till resizing the original 5300-pixel (Galaxy Note 4) photos that the observation was smooth-sided
Above: production sample markings.
Below: a pair of Menards tankers. These UTLX modern cars sold out before I could place my "bunch of stuff" order on Menards' site, but a regular dealer who carries lots of their product had some left that I promised to buy the following morning as I spotted them as the halls were closing Thursday. "Dealer packs" don't come with the cardboard boxes, just the clamshell packaging in the shipping carton, but said dealer had extras stacked on the side and was able to provide a couple in order to keep the clamshells from getting mangled on the trip home.
Above: Also a Kusan "Kusan Railroad" boxcar. I have the yellow one, and spotted this red version in Blue Hall later that day. The seller said he had just put that one out in a tray with 3 other Kusan cars, which I might've bought had I been sure I didn't have them already. Funny thing is, the yellow one I own I had noticed (and passed over) in a tray at Neely's display in Purple Hall for several Yorks before I knew enough about Kusan to pick it up (following my acquisition of some K-series boxcars in an estate sale)
Below: Same day, same tour of Blue Hall...One can never have enough sinister-looking black tank cars. This one's car number being "6666" was icing on the cake. The seller had a good chuckle when I pointed this out to him --he had never noticed it It's the 20-96717 from 2015 V2.
Below: Saturday early afternoon and the dealers in Orange Hall are starting to pack up. I visited JustTrains's booth for a good look-around, and I spot another chrome tanker I didn't know about. Of course it came home with me, the 30-73544 Chateau Martin from 2019 V1.
With the two chrome boxcars this takes my "Chrome Train" to 39 cars. I'll quit at 40 (promise!). I know about the Coors Light and Harley Davidson ones, but am considering Lionel's Shell chrome tanker from 2001. I saw one in White hall, but the chrome had what looked like water spots all over it, and it didn't appear to have a box (though I hadn't asked). The three examples I saw on Ebay have either scratched chrome, a mangled box, and a poor photo of the car bagged-in-box that doesn't show the condition of the body.
(Edit 11/4/22): I now have the Shell car, in perfect condition thanks to a fellow Forumite
One item I probably should have picked up was a Lionel "K-Lionel" boxcar I saw in Orange hall during the end-of-Saturday tour. It would have made a nice transition piece in my "O-Gauge industry" photo freight.
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---PCJ