My Brass Adventure

[Green_Elite_Cab]

like the older Hallmark imports. Some of them have some of the worst trucks I have ever seen on anything, brass or plastic. Even cheap plastic train set stuff of the era had better detailed trucks than those early Hallmark Geeps. --Randy

I got burned myself with old brass! Several years ago when i was in High-school, i was looking for E44 electrics, and I found one, an ancient Alco models in Penn Central paint. I was happy with it for a time, but it never seemed quite right. As it turns out, it was nearly 10 scale feet shorter than what an E44 should be! And trust me, this thing literally went nowhere, the motor would turn and it would grind down the tracks a few inches. It turns out the model was manufactured in 1968, so i guess it didn't age well!

I'm still thinking about making a Resin casting of it, and then modififying THAT casting to be more to scale, and then make copies of that. At least I could add extra E44s to my roster.

I learned the next time i bought brass- I bought high quality "Alpha" models. Those three E44As are detailed and to scale, and run smooth (when they pick up )!

Unfortuneately, many of the electrics i'd like to own are made only in brass, and even then, they are $700-800 Overland Models versions that i'll never afford in my life, or $200-$400 Alco models ones that i can't be sure will work.