08-28-2012, 06:03 PM
From my point of view, these cars are simply too far gone to justify keeping them as historical items. Notice the Varney PFE car, hatches, platforms, and roofwalk mostly missing, roof ribs badly assembled, poor paint. I've at least half-heartedly tried to restore some cars (like Athearn metal) where I had enough hangar queens to come up with a full set of parts, but not with these Varneys. They're pretty much junk pure and simple! If I thought my mission was running a museum, I might take a different approach, but then I'd probably be looking more carefully all the time for replacement parts, etc.
If you think about it, there are certainly collectors who go for every last variation on every plastic Mantua/Tyco reefer from the 1950s and 60s. That's not me, I get those bodies cheap and strip em. I'm not running a museum; there are other guys who do!
If you think about it, there are certainly collectors who go for every last variation on every plastic Mantua/Tyco reefer from the 1950s and 60s. That's not me, I get those bodies cheap and strip em. I'm not running a museum; there are other guys who do!