07-07-2017, 08:02 PM
The new Athearn N scale Big Boys are out, listed for $370 at MB Klein. By coincidence, I opened the June 1996 issue of Model Railroader (remember those?) to the Standard Hobby Supply ad. Listed there is the Con-Cor Big Boy model for $226. Some have no use for DCC or sound. Fine. But I contend that $144 is a worthwhile investment for factory-equipped DCC and sound on a large and complex steam locomotive. An online inflation calculator tells me that $226 in 1996 is worth about $352 today. That makes the difference just $18. Maybe some of the progress within the hobby in the past two decades isn't so bad.