07-25-2012, 10:28 AM
From the point of view of a modular railroader, whose focus is on operations...
I would not run many of the RTR offerings at the club set-ups. At $40+ each, I am not prepared to have others handle them, transport them multiple times per year, and do some "quick and dirty" (although still decent
) weathering on them. For the same reasons, I am not prepared to invest a lot of time to scratch-build all the required cars either.
So the "shake the box" or BB or whatever kits fit the bill. I can bring the requisite cars (the call is different every set-up, but between the members, we generally need 100 - 150 cars) and at ~$10 each, they are fine. The detail is decent from 3+ feet, they run well, are easy to repair, and stand up to repeated handling and transport.
I always look at the Accurail or Athearn kits over RTR when I visit the LTS. Either that, or the consignment shelves... 
Andrew
I would not run many of the RTR offerings at the club set-ups. At $40+ each, I am not prepared to have others handle them, transport them multiple times per year, and do some "quick and dirty" (although still decent
) weathering on them. For the same reasons, I am not prepared to invest a lot of time to scratch-build all the required cars either.So the "shake the box" or BB or whatever kits fit the bill. I can bring the requisite cars (the call is different every set-up, but between the members, we generally need 100 - 150 cars) and at ~$10 each, they are fine. The detail is decent from 3+ feet, they run well, are easy to repair, and stand up to repeated handling and transport.
I always look at the Accurail or Athearn kits over RTR when I visit the LTS. Either that, or the consignment shelves...
Andrew