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Post by david1 on Jul 24, 2024 5:26:00 GMT
Over the past week or so I have been perusing many for sale sites and have noticed how many scale 3 rail locomotives are for sale. Especially scale steam engines. It seems there are alot of articulated engines for sale.
It seems some people are selling older engines to pay for the newer models being produced. Also the older collectors are selling off their collections.
Now is a good time to buy on the secondary market it seems though some of the prices are going up and some are unreasonable. But if you look and do your homework there are some good deals out there.
Dave
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Post by healey36 on Jul 24, 2024 12:03:01 GMT
As for the true O market, it has been in decline for the last several years. I would argue at least the last decade or so. There's a lot of denial amongst the remaining hobbyists and manufacturers, but the evidence is overwhelming. Now's a terrific time to acquire stuff that's been out of reach for a long time.
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Post by g3750 on Jul 24, 2024 13:21:58 GMT
Could be? There are a lot of outdated MTH PS1 QSI engines getting dumped as they are not compatible with DCS. The informed stay away from that junk or convert them to non-power units. On the other hand, lots of non-dealers trying to sell broken used trains that have no clue about the item being sold. It’s a train, so it must be worth a lot of money. As for the true O market, it has been in decline for the last several years. Tons of over-priced undesirable items that some folks simply don’t want. I’m also seeing an effort of new and expensive silly nonsense custom runs attempted as well. I guess Looney Toons has become the trend today? Actually, I would think that some of the very beautiful, but flawed PS1 locomotives would make excellent candidates for conversion to TMCC. MTH's absolutely gorgeous PRR K4s comes to mind as an example. Gut the electronics and replace it with reliable TMCC - winner!
As for the new, ultra-expensive locomotives with tons of fragile features, I don't understand how that is sustainable.
George
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Post by JDaddy on Jul 24, 2024 14:04:49 GMT
I would be careful buying older TMCC locomotives and some early Legacy engines. Listening to some of Norm Charbonneau's YouTube rebuild videos, a lot of the boards become the weakest link. Without the ability to test them and repair certain components, be prepared to replace the entire modules. This becomes very expensive and some boards are hard to find leading to a complete gut. When I buy older locomotives, I tend to bid on the VERY low side.
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Post by josef on Jul 24, 2024 14:33:52 GMT
If an item is inexpensive, I will and have, considering cost of update added, converted using ERR Modules.
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Post by dennym57 on Jul 24, 2024 14:41:52 GMT
I've had TMCC and early Legacy for years and the only problem I had was the smoke unit motor on the Legacy engines which was an easy fix and on my Berkshire which is TMCC, the cherry switch stopped working (doesn't chuff). The way I see it they don't speak for every person that owns one.
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Post by superwarp1 on Jul 24, 2024 14:47:03 GMT
I would be careful buying older TMCC locomotives and some early Legacy engines. Listening to some of Norm Charbonneau's YouTube rebuild videos, a lot of the boards become the weakest link. Without the ability to test them and repair certain components, be prepared to replace the entire modules. This becomes very expensive and some boards are hard to find leading to a complete gut. When I but older locomotives, I tend to bid on the VERY low side. TMCC you can get replacement receiver boards from 3rdrail plus ERR and railsounds so I wouldn't worry about TMCC. First generation Legacy boards are a different story. Lionel purged the inventory of spare boards, so the only way to fix these is to go backwards to TMCC or install second/third generation boards for high cost and only a few doing it.
Another option would be to install DCS PS2/3 boards which is in stock at the moment.
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Post by firewood on Jul 25, 2024 2:51:45 GMT
Something to watch for sure! As a definite secondary market guy, I would be going in the opposite direction, gutting the boards and going conventional. Let’s face it, if the electronics are obsolete and/or half-dead the locomotives are sorta conventional already, right? 😉
Dave
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Post by bluelinec4 on Jul 25, 2024 13:31:35 GMT
There are a lot of outdated MTH PS1 QSI engines getting dumped as they are not compatible with DCS. Huh? These are the best buys Case in point MTH yellowstone I purchsed it at Allentown for $200 The guy said I dont know it it works and I said I dont care if it does or not Purchsed $150 PS3 upgrade kit and it works like a charm The early PS1 stuff had Pittman motors which can pull a house Much better than the newer stuff
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Post by redjimmy1955 on Jul 25, 2024 18:59:47 GMT
Hey all!!! Put together what Healy 36 & BlueLinec4 have said....with a little (or some gyrations) TLC on older engines, one can make it work! There IS A BUNCH of O gauge available, and with some soldering (I'm mostly thumbs) you'll get a revived engine for a decent smaller investment than $1200.00 engines. If that won't work, well, go to the beer fridge and pretend its 5 o' clock somewhere!!
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Post by cornerfieldrailfan on Aug 3, 2024 2:10:18 GMT
This is very true of what your saying. I notice a lot of times, especially YouTubers that make videos of engines, they will upload a video of a new engine they get and when that same engine is being reissued, they will resell it to buy a new version, even if it's only 5-10 years old. I personally do not do that. I have engines from 1998 by MTH I still have that I didn't buy new to replace those.
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Post by ron045 on Aug 3, 2024 4:42:16 GMT
There are a lot of outdated MTH PS1 QSI engines getting dumped as they are not compatible with DCS. The informed stay away from that junk or convert them to non-power units. Huh? These are the best buys Case in point MTH yellowstone I purchsed it at Allentown for $200 The guy said I dont know it it works and I said I dont care if it does or not Purchsed $150 PS3 upgrade kit and it works like a charm The early PS1 stuff had Pittman motors which can pull a house Much better than the newer stuff I'm with bluelinec4, PS1's can be great buys. Maybe the boards or the age of the sound system is not desirable, but the loco itself is rock solid. These are fantastic candidates to buy and upgrade any way you like on the cheap. Deadrail for me with either Blunami or RailPro. It's also a lot easier (mentally) to put a $150 engine in an alcohol bath to strip and re-paint vice a brand new $500 engine.
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Post by Adam on Aug 3, 2024 12:33:48 GMT
Huh? These are the best buys Case in point MTH yellowstone I purchsed it at Allentown for $200 The guy said I dont know it it works and I said I dont care if it does or not Purchsed $150 PS3 upgrade kit and it works like a charm The early PS1 stuff had Pittman motors which can pull a house Much better than the newer stuff I'm with bluelinec4 , PS1's can be great buys. Maybe the boards or the age of the sound system is not desirable, but the loco itself is rock solid. These are fantastic candidates to buy and upgrade any way you like on the cheap. Deadrail for me with either Blunami or RailPro. It's also a lot easier (mentally) to put a $150 engine in an alcohol bath to strip and re-paint vice a brand new $500 engine. Which exact model of Blunami do you use? I see there are multiple choices.
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Post by ron045 on Aug 3, 2024 13:00:49 GMT
Which exact model of Blunami do you use? I see there are multiple choices. Arguably, the 4408 is the best version to use for O Scale because it's rated at 4 amps. It can be found for about $205. I have used the 2200 (smaller board rated at 2 amps) in a 44 tonner and a SW-1200 with tighter spaces. With the 2200 you have to worry about amps. The 44 tonner has two smaller motors. The SW-1200 has a single small motor. I also don't race around, so I'm OK with amps. Both boards have an auto cut off, so if you do get a lot of amps, you won't fry anything. The other versions of Blunami that have recently come out are targeted for the HO market. vr Ron
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Post by bobthetrainguy on Aug 3, 2024 18:26:38 GMT
One compromise to be aware of with early MTH PS1 locomotives, is they lack the level of detail that some of the later PS1 and PS2 and PS3 versions.
They're often made from the same tooling, but lots of brass detail parts were added in the later versions.
It's not a huge deal, but just something to be aware of.
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