Model Railroading > a rare opportunity for a rare set - M1001941-47 City of Portland

The Coach Yard was commissioned to do 7 sets of the 1941-47 UP/CNW 15 car  train consist w/ power - the train has never been done. When the sets came in , the dealer reneged on the deal. The Coach Yard has two sets available for sale. Contact your favorite Coach Yard dealer  and secure a rare set. 

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Beautiful set, leads me to a somewhat related
question. If the brass market has really diminished
because of highly detailed plastic, why is it that importers
such as The Coach Yard and Division Point still remain
in business and seem to thrive while Overland a once
major importer and many others such as Challenger
and Union Terminal are out of business?
And please, no rants about plastic vs. brass!
George Andrassy 

Still seems to be a market for brass for sure. Even if the model is available in other forms, brass is still a thing for collectors and modelers. And these one off's seem more likely in brass for a while. 3D printing is here, but not just were it needs to be yet. I know in the future (years, decades?), we'll be able to print our own stuff at home and have it on par with most/all models out there. I think ultimately choice is key. 

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

Auburnrail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the brass market has really diminished
> because of highly detailed plastic, why is it that
> importers
> such as The Coach Yard and Division Point still
> remain
> in business and seem to thrive while Overland a
> once
> major importer and many others such as Challenger
> and Union Terminal are out of business?
> George Andrassy 

Why don't you ask Brian Marsh who still runs Overland Hobbies.

At $12.500, that is far far beyond what I can afford.  I purchase my used Prius for $5995 with only 67k miles.  I do buy high fidelity model trains but brass like what is listed here is 2 orders of magnitude out of my affordability range.  Maybe an airline pilot, doctor or lawyer could afford it.

 

Hi George,

I think you need to seek some help and come to grips with Overland's demise LOL. and for good reason. We are getting state of the art plastic today that is better detailed, runs better, pulls better, has sophisticated lighting that is LED's, comes with state of the art sound at easily half the price of brass and we see it fairly quickly. Brass has a small place now in this hobby and what we have learned is that no project is too small now for the high end plastic market. Look at the SDL39's from Scale Trains or many items Rapido is doing. These are great times. 

Bruce


Auburnrail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Beautiful set, leads me to a somewhat related
> question. If the brass market has really
> diminished
> because of highly detailed plastic, why is it that
> importers
> such as The Coach Yard and Division Point still
> remain
> in business and seem to thrive while Overland a
> once
> major importer and many others such as Challenger
> and Union Terminal are out of business?
> And please, no rants about plastic vs. brass!
> George Andrassy 

I think Brass still has a place, when it comes to very specialized pieces such as steam, passenger cars and ome MoW/Freight cars.  

I think far, far too many people bought into brass as an investment, and its not hard to see the bottom has fallen out of the brass market.   Yes, some things are still indeed rare and fetch some money, but when it comes to things that have now been done in plastic, and better, the brass often goes for less.  

I think what will keep brass importers in business is the one off items you wont get any other way. There is stuff Id like to have but the budget just isnt there. But when North Bank Line announced they were making the Western Pacific business car Feather River, I jumpent on it. Unlike expensive steam, where if your modeling that era, you need multiple. But in the case of the Feather River, WP only had the one business car after 75, so the cost is easier to absorb. And no one was or is going to make a accurate plastic model. Even the Overland model of the Selma is close but no cigar for the WP version as UP modified it. So as long as one offs are made to fill niches, there will continue to be business. Now the future prices might prove me wrong, but if you want someting bad enough, youll find away to make it happen. Good news is when the Feather River shows up I'll have a surplus Selma.

I have heard the demise of Overland was the result of the owner of Canadian Model Trains stealing customers deposits and customer's thinking Overland was given the deposits, which they were not. Reservation's were cancelled.
This, and the economic downturn, pretty much ended Overland's brass importing.

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What scale is that model?

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

The model is HO scale.

Jeff Smith
Lakewood, CA
RailMaster Hobbies