Not Daylight Yet: Not Never

Well, some times you roll the dice and you don't win.  This is one such case ..  The Williams B-unit arrived (photo below), and its not really an acceptable match - I either have a lot of work to do or . . . ?

I'm not dissing WBB: this dummy/no-lights/no-smoke-unit B&O Shark B-unit cost only a smidge above $50 and it seems worth that - it's heavy, well-painted and lettered, it rolls nicely, and the couplers both work (manually).  No doubt it would look okay if coupled up to a pair of WBB A units.  But, while the colors, lettering, etc., of the MTH cars and the Lionel locos match well, this B unit just doesn't fit in.  The photo below shows the gray is to dark, but it really does not show that the blue is very noticeably too light, which the camera did not pickup, or that the font is not only larger (by itself acceptable) but much yellower.  The black stripe (with the Balt & Ohio lettering in it) is about 1/16th inch wider, the trucks just slightly bigger than on the Lionel,  the windows in the doors have no "glass" in them, and the unit stands about 3/16 inch taller than the A units and is about 1/16th inch winder, too.  Beyond that, there is  noticeable difference in quality of detail, most noticeable in the grills, but overall.  Again, not WBB's fault, considering the price differences.  

I'm not sure what I will do with this, but that's a moot point today. A new John Sanford novel (Field of Prey) is one of the few things that can pull me away from trains, even if it's not another Virgil Flowers story, and I'm about 3/4 through it, so I gotta finish it this afternoon.

Edit: problem solved, after a fashion.  I found a powered Legacy B unit from a vendor I have never heard of, but I'll take the chance.  Good discount although not a blowout price, but it will be a super train now!

Lee, you made a great choice to buy and NOT repaint.  Looks like you got a perfect match on that B unit.

Here's a pic of my sharks by Weaver in 2 rail. 

Only problem with mine...no sound.   Passenger cars are still in box somewhere.

Rick

Your sharks look great, and the B came along nicely...

The Baldwin RF16s are some of my favorites; and picked up a AB MTH Premier set with PS2 off the forum here early on for a decent price; but I don't run DCS, so they sit in the box.

I was very lucky to piecemeal my NYC Shark collection by purchasing damaged / used and under-the-radar pieces; first of all was a beat up 1st Gen Legacy A unit that I put a new shell on from a pawn shop, then a non-powered B that I found under the radar, and lastly a powered B that I bought for a song & dance from another local collector that was raising money to buy a new Legacy Berk.

All said and told; I was able to get a 2 powered unit ABB set of Legacy Sharks for barely over half of the MSRP of a new AA set.

Thanks,

- Mario