Where did the Brass Models go?

I was just looking and the Inventory of both New and used Brass Models has dried up and virtually gone away for now I notice.
I guess just another sign that our economy isn't quite as stable/strong as they would have us believe.

Overland Models shows most of there featured models cancelled; Uncle Dave's site is baron except for a very few items being sold on consignment

 

Now, now. All is well! All is well!

 

Of course everything is hunky-dory. That's why people make their cars last longer - no more changing cars every few years - and hold back on a lot of non-essential expenses. There's a vendor of brass models that regularly shows up at train shows here, and I've seen some of the prices - high three figures for the most part, some higher - and I've concluded that's way out of my price range. They're quite nice, but...

What my fear is that a good part of the hobby - not only brass - may be pricing itself out of business. There's only so much money that the average Joe can spend, and if there are essential bills to pay, they come first. Gas prices may be down, but food is still much more expensive than a few years ago, electricity rates keep going up, and so on. Everything is getting more expensive as time goes by, but wages don't seem to follow. So the choice is clear - a nice shiny brass loco, or paying the bills and the other essentials of life.

JM2C...

 

I've been looking for 2 brass models. I've found several, but not in the shape I want. In any event, I want a really nice painted C&O F-19 Pacific as well as a C&O Atlantic. I've had 2 conversations w/ BLI about producing the Pacific. They've been receptive. However, I 50% believe they are sincere and 50% believe they are gratuitously yanking my consumer chain and flickin' me off. The C&O pacifics I've found are either dogs or so expensive I can't afford to even look at them. There's something about paying $1600 for a pristine perfect engine that I will still have to modify w/ $300 in sound, drive, and motor improvements when BLI, Rivarossi, etc., make "plastic brass" for $500, but with little diversity in prototypes. What the heck do we do? Our hobby is in a bit of a conundrum when pricey brass is outclassed by plastic brass, yet the plastic brass doesn't produce the prototypical variety of the expensive brass.

I mean, at $550/pop, I'd buy 2 of these in HO (if offered) from a good plastic brass manufacturer rather than pay way over a grand for a single brass engine I'd have to re-drive, put in sound, put in DCC motion, lights, probably screw it all up, not to mention the painting and everything. What to do?



[/head scratching, confused emoji thingy]

 

I remember walking in to M.B.K___n back in 93? or so, while it was still in Baltimore, and seeing a large rack of N-scale brass steam. Very intriguing! And last time I looked there I didn't see any listed on the website. May be there is a death in the future for the high dollar limited run stuff. Bummer.

 

You bring up a valid point that I didn't consider

 

Wow you told me some news. woo woo woo isn't in Baltimore anymore? My thought is just that. Because of economic down turn we would see a more limited release of Brass models

 

I remember several brick and mortars that I used to visit as a kid and teen that had "the brass case" these stores had 40-50 HO and N scale brass steamers just waiting to be bought. To me, it was a case of pure gold. There are very few hobby shops with these kinds of displays anymore. The closest I've seen were some stores in CA.

N scale brass is dead, there is no one producing that scale anymore (that I know of). The key 4-10-2 and Benchmark Yellowstone were the last of the brass in N. As far as HO, I'm not sure who out there is making brass anymore, Blackstone is building narrow gauge hybrids, not pure brass. Key seems to be geared only towards the O scale market these days.

No one wants to have to tinker with their locomotive to get it to run well, consumers expect a swiss watch right out of the box. Something that brass locomotives just didn't do. That is one reason I really like brass models, they are prototype specific and they can run REALLY well if given the proper amount of attention. For now, I will continue to scour the internet and investigate mom and pop train shops in my travels to find some great models collecting dust on a shelf.

 

I have a few brass locomotives (HO scale) that are all steamers. The majority of brass locomotives were steamers, but there were some diesels also available. I did a lot of custom painting of brass also which could be a pain because to really do the job properly, the locomotive would have to be disassembled to some degree. This was back in the late 70's and into the 80's. The thing about brass is that you could get very accurate steam locomotives for a particular railroad and not have to super detail a generic locomotive.

Looking at the hobby today, it seems that more people are modeling more modern railroads. I model the transition era because I grew up during that time period and can remember seeing and also riding on steam locomotives with relatives when I was a kid. As us old fart die off, there will probably be less people modeling railroads during the steam era.

The new plastic models of diesel equipment are really highly detailed an in many cases have correct details for a particular railroad. Years back I would have to add a lot of detail parts to a locomotive to get it done correctly and now you can get this level of detail right out of the box.

There will always be people interested in collecting brass, but not as many as there were just a few decades ago and like it was mentioned, the prices are skyrocketing. I recently came across a brass locomotive that I paid just over $400 for going for over $1,300. Talk about sticker shock.

 

I am still proud of my brass- - the shopping carts from Gold Medal Models!

 

The hobby is not as popular as once it was, brass locomotives just don't wear out (the important look and detail do not, and they are worth rebuilding mechanically) and don't get thrown away, so there are plenty out there used (and with the advent of ebay, they are easier to find), and that is bound to tell on the manufacturers of new product.

And this. And with the advent of technologies like 3-D printers, this is going to become more true all the time.

 

Another important factor is the number of brass manufacturers has decreased significantly. There used to be quite a few in Japan and Korea. I believe the only game in town may be Boo-Rim out of Korea. I'm not sure Samhongsa is still around or was incorporated into Boo-Rim. There are a couple manufacturers in Switzerland, but I don't know if they do any US prototypes. Without competition, a manufacturer can inflate the price.

I agree on the longevity of a brass engine, if you find a good one then a re-motor, cleaning and paint can bring it right back up to spec. With places like NWSL, finding gears is quite easy as well (at least for HO).

 

Coachyard which is owned by Fred Hill of The Original Whistle Stop in Pasadena still does Brass and has a large assortment of brass models in his store. Check out brasstrains.com

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I have a 30-40 brass HO trolley cars, I have no plans to sell them. I also have a large collection of Pecos River brass heavyweight passenger cars that I may sell at some point because the Micro Trains cars are quite a bit nicer.

Randy

 

Ooops sorry!

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