When you can't get what you want,

works for me!

Looks great to me! Awesome job.

..and you got what you need.

I saw her today at the train show
A Greenberg book in her hand
She snatched up a rare Dorfan flatcar
cool as ice and forked over a grand

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you just might find
You get what you need

That works!   

You can't call some prices hilarious, because they are not funny. Even if one can afford something, often it seems worth more to someone with too much disposable cash flow. Glad I am not in that market, and that you had a work-around. Uh, if this is a dying hobby, how come these "worthless" old toys ain't gettin' cheaper?

My brother was an avid collector of excellent condition pre-war Marx.  While he had a good job, I thought he was very realistic on how much one should pay for a toy train.  I remember him saying that he was always outbid for the top Marx items by one person, another member of his train group that was close to being in the 1%.  Since he knew that he could never outbid her for an item she wanted, he would put together the scarce cars by finding the separate items that made up the car.  I was always amassed that he could find the original parts, like the string used on the reel cars or the box loads used in the gondolas, for not that much money.  He could put together an all original car for far less than buying a complete car.

The thing is Steve, that's really a very good stand-in.  The lower "truss" pressed in the side of the 211 flat car is very close to the profile on the Dorfan.  And with the 4 red stakes... and since Dorfan cars usually have Lionel trucks on them anyway... you'd really have to look twice.  Nice match!

d 

hojack posted:

The thing is Steve, that's really a very good stand-in.  The lower "truss" pressed in the side of the 211 flat car is very close to the profile on the Dorfan.  And with the 4 red stakes... and since Dorfan cars usually have Lionel trucks on them anyway... you'd really have to look twice.  Nice match!

d 

Dave, that's pretty much my thinking. All but one of my freights have other than Dorfan trucks anyway. It will certainly pass for now.

Steve

Steve,

   Great stand in and a very smart idea!

PCRR/Dave

I love the amount of knowledge possessed and the thinking you guys put into this toy train hobby.  There certainly is a lot of passion in collecting and preserving these great old trains.  As there should be . One running ninety year old engine is worth ninety one day old running engines of today.  Great job.  It is a lot of fun to see you having fun.  Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing!