Accurail PFE Reefers

[sailormatlac]

Thanks guy! PFE reefers have a "je ne sais quoi" that makes them attractive. Their paint scheme never looks outdated to me.

I agree on Accurail. One issue is that my own LHS (admittedly a high-end place with lots of brass) has pretty much discontinued stocking Accurail simply because the markup on an Accurail kit at $14-15 isn't going to be the same as the markup on an Intermountain or whatever at $30-35, when they both take up the same shelf space. But the Intermountain has assembly errors (I've found warped parts, missing roof walks, etc routinely), and ladders and other details tend to fall off the more detailed cars when they're on the layout.

A layout is a benchmark for real model. If it can sustain normal operation, it failed!

When my income raised, my first move was to get higher end models I drooled over for years. Just to be unsatisfied. When you pay 30$ and more for a car, you are less forgiving to errors. On a 12-15$ car, you expect them and live with them. Accurail cars are good enough out of the box and you can improve them according to your time, money and exigence. I only buy Intermountain unpainted kit at 10$ each. I feel it's a good deal. The same with my steamers, I enjoy the models I paid under 100$ and put life to them. I don't have this kind of feeling toward a 300$-400$ model.

Matt