Finding Rare Models

[Blue Max]

It never fails to amaze me when models appear for sale on the likes of ebay that have been out of production probably for 20 years plus. Some of these models were perhaps only made in very smal numbers in the first place.

I have always kept a comprehensive list of anything that has ever been manufactured for the LNER and constituent companies ever since I started buying model railway magazines around 1968, along with picking up lists of the cottage industry type manufacturers from the 15 plus exhibitions I have attended every year for the last 33 years.

 

My recent purchases which have given me enormous pleasure in finding after searches over the last 15 to 20 years are all types of coaching stock, these being a number of GCR Parker stock etched kits produced by Andy Gibb and some Hull & Barnsley bogie etched coach kits made by A.F.Hammond.

 

In all my years in this hobby the only model that has slipped through the net has been the etched nickel silver GNR Stirling Single. I have no record of this ever being announced in the trade press and only came across its existance when one appeared for sale again on Ebay. Clearly it was of interest to a lot of people following the high price it sold for and I am confident that i will never see another example for sale - if one appears 'its mine' !!!

 

It would be interesting to hear of other peoples experiences of that 'holy grail' of rare models that they never thought they would own, only to find and buy after many years with immense satisfaction.

 

SteveT

[bertiedog]

It always amazes me how many unassembled kits are out, there, from the States I found a 1946/7 Robert Lindsay EMD switcher, new in box, with instructions, the famous all brass pioneering kit loco..... Been after one since 1967....

 

Also from the States, Roswell in fact!...a "Great Western" a US made brand 280 "1890's Brass Betsy" all brass loco kit circa 1948/9 again un-built, although started, and then abandoned......again after one since the 1960's.

 

On UK outline a 262 tank GWR Sayer Chaplin kit, a Sayer Chaplin GWR King, and two Sayer LMS 12T wagons have turned up, all dating from 1949/50... very rare pioneer UK brass kits even in the 1960's when I started looking for Sayer items.

 

Ebay turns these up, but prices can be all over the place, descriptions cause most issues, I risked a bid on an etched brass kit, miss described, to find an unassembled in pack George Alan brass footbridge, very nice item indeed, the first etched kit in the UK since the Sayer items.

 

Stephen.

[Adrian]

I'd just got a resistance soldering unit so was browsing ebay for an etched brass kit to have a practice with. I picked up for a very reasonable price an as new Metalmodels 7mm Siphon F - circa 1975. The louvres are built up from 4 layers of etchings, it's not one I can honestly say I dreamed of owning but once I got it I realised this was something special for it's day. I'll keep it as it's quite an unusual model.

[60B]

I picked up a Kirk 3 coach Maunsell set which I MAY build. Also picked up a Caley Coaches Non-corridor brake Third that is current but from a long time ago (when they cost £23.50).

[Oldddudders]

My own Holy Grail is The Golden Rocket. Nothing directly to do with Geordie Stephenson, this was a train ordered by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and delivered by Pullman Standard in 1947. The Rock Island had done a deal with regular end-to-end partner Southern Pacific to buy a train each - then the SP got cold feet about predictions of future rail travel, welched on the deal, and the Rock was left high and dry, so the train never ran. Surely modellers love a nearly-train for all its what-if possibilities! In fact the vehicles were simply absorbed into other joint RI-SP consists, on the Golden State etc.

 

So far I have picked up brass models of 4 vehicles of the 11 built - a fifth would make me very content, but it needs to be a particular vehicle - La Mirada, the observation car. This is unusual in having deeper windows in the obs end - New York Central had something similar in their 1948 20th Century Limited, I think. I have seen models on ebay twice, and in neither case could I afford the price. These models are by the relatively-unfashionable manufacturer Soho, yet the last one, admittedly custom-painted, went for $457. Mrs Olddudders might just have a view on that amount.....

[Horsetan]

I once picked up a set of etches by Vulcan Engineering to build a pannier tank. Not the 57xx low cab version, and not in Vulcan's usual 7mm scale either. It's the 8750 Collett cab variant, and was rendered in 4mm scale. Not sure if it was the only set ever turned out like this, but I haven't come across any others. Was it a one-off?

 

Along the same sort of lines, etches for the Jim Harris "Britannia", reduced from his usual 7mm scale to 4mm scale.

 

In HO/P87, an early Weinert body kit to turn the Roco 01 Pacific into the re-boilered "Neubaukessel" version. Even back then the quality of the castings and etchings were superb. Weinert later turned it into a full loco and tender kit, which is still produced (Five hundred quid, though....).

[Jenny Emily]

I like the way that virtually any Bachmann model ever produced (including all limited editions) seem to turn up at one time or another. Some of the prices are out of my league though. I've managed to nearly complete my collection of almost every 16t mineral wagon that Bachmann produced in the Blue Ribbon range, with the lowly exception of catalogue number 37-252B that has been more elusive than most.

 

I also would like to claim responsibility for populating Ebay at one time or another with some rarities. Somebody out there is the proud new owner of a set of Hornby Dublo pre-war LMS, GWR and SR vans, open wagons and brake vans. I've also sold mint examples of every Hornby Acho coach produced in original boxes.

[Diesel Dayz]

Being in the right place at the right time helps.

 

I managed to aquire a Triang Railways RS51 Freight Master set - something I last had when I was a child for 45.00. Not long after I bought a Hornby Dublo (3 Rail) The Royal Scot set plus a carrier bag full of 3 rail track for the princely sum of 50.00.

 

 

[Pixie]

I'd love a Bachmann/Tenshodo HO 500 series Shinkansen - for a relatively recent model, they're damn hard to find! I've seen two 5 car sets reach £700 on ebay and the add-on coach packs reach £500. The cost of a complete 16 coach train would pay off a good chunk of my student loan....

 

Pix

[SimonF]

Searching for the rare items these days is half the fun of ebay. I haven't had many rare finds although I have bagged half a rake for the LNER silver jubilee kits produced by D&S in 4mm. I always keep an eye out for Kemilway kits and the elusive Crownline LNER P2 conversion kit that has escaped me twice in 6 years....

 

I don't really bid as much as i used to but thats because i cant really afford to at the minute, I have a GNR 12 wheel Dining car kit which was a limited production by D&S. I got it for a little over £20 several years ago and the last few to appear have sold for over £200 a piece.

[Andy C]

A rare Lionel US item: check this at the foot of our for sale items:

 

http://www.mmrs.org.uk/forsale/forsale.htm

 

the society received it as part of a bequest.

[hmrspaul]

I like the way that virtually any Bachmann model ever produced (including all limited editions) seem to turn up at one time or another. Some of the prices are out of my league though. I've managed to nearly complete my collection of almost every 16t mineral wagon that Bachmann produced in the Blue Ribbon range, with the lowly exception of catalogue number 37-252B that has been more elusive than most.

 

I also would like to claim responsibility for populating Ebay at one time or another with some rarities. Somebody out there is the proud new owner of a set of Hornby Dublo pre-war LMS, GWR and SR vans, open wagons and brake vans. I've also sold mint examples of every Hornby Acho coach produced in original boxes.

 

Are you sure it is so difficult, I googled and this came up instantly http://www.railway-models.co.uk/643_1_2225309.html ?

 

Paul

[Guest Phil]

Hmmm

 

My dad is trying to get hold of 4mm (not 3.5mm) scale 4-8-4 (possibly a Hudson) from a US company.

These were a postwar model, some with full valve gear and some with "economy" valve gear.

 

 

I know "one man's meat" etc, but I ask myself why ?

 

It's a bit like a Hornby Dublo Castle which is OK to run, but maybe a new Hornby Castle might be a better choice for a showcase.

[halfwit]

I'm always on the lookout for Saltford Models 009 items. One rarity that I picked up secondhand many years ago at ExpoNG is this;

Its a kit for a Hunslet well tank, actually a simplified version of an earlier, better detailed kit. It has a split-frame chassis with both axles gear driven from a motor in the cab. On the right can be seen the wheels, axle muffs, gears, motor and plasticard (for the cab, your given a drawing and make it youself) and wire, at the front are the frames (hand made), con. rods, worksplates (etched), window frames (turned), fly cranks (again hand made) and castings for the boiler, smokebox, cylinders, couplings and sand dome. On the right are some items I purchased seperately, dome, replacement better quality motor and lubricators. The flywheel I turned myself.

I've never touched it as I quite fancy building it to 6mm gauge as the prototype is 18" gauge.

[bertiedog]

Hmmm

 

My dad is trying to get hold of 4mm (not 3.5mm) scale 4-8-4 (possibly a Hudson) from a US company.

These were a postwar model, some with full valve gear and some with "economy" valve gear.

 

 

I know "one man's meat" etc, but I ask myself why ?

 

It's a bit like a Hornby Dublo Castle which is OK to run, but maybe a new Hornby Castle might be a better choice for a showcase.

 

I hate you say it but there was one on US Ebay quite recently, from memory went for about $200 dollars, 4mm are uncommon, but several makers did them after the war, usually to run on 16.5, rather than 19mm. Kemtron and Lindsay did parts, there were several makes of freightcars and coaches.

 

Stephen.

[steven156]

Ive always been lucky finding models I've been searching for an eternity for but the best one I got was a Lima ScotRail Class 101 for £40 at a stand at St Andrews model show last year- absolute bargain! Box was ripped to shreds but the model itself was close to mint! its finding the middle coach for it now is the hardest part!

[LSWR]

Patience seems to be the prime requirement when searching for "rare" models. It, of course, depends on what you mean by "rare" and what price you are willing to pay for such "rarity". eBay both helps and hinders in the search for your "rare" model. Helps because eBay is now known worldwide as a market place for collectors and hinders because other collectors know this and will bid up the price of your "rare" model if they also want one.

 

For more than thirty years I have had a mental list of models I would like to own if the price was right. Whether they were "rare" or not is a subjective call. There have been additions to the list over the years as well as subtractions when I found the particular models I wanted. Before I retired I travelled internationally regularly. I came to know a number of different countries' railway systems and where I liked the prototype added a model of it to my wish list. For example, I wanted a full length model of the SNCF's TGV Atlantique after one of them broke the world rail speed record. I now have a Jouef model assembled from a sale in a French supermarket, a toy shop in North London, a hobby shop in Southern California and a couple of model shops during subsequent visits to France. On my trips I did a little bit of research as to local model shops and model railway exhibitions in the area I was visiting and, if I had free time, went to them. About the only models I consciously paid the then going rate for the models concerned was in assembling a Wrenn 5-BEL Brighton Belle set.

 

Nowadays I stick mostly with eBay but as eBay became more established bargains are harder to find. However when an eBay seller lists a model from a country different from the one in which he resides and does not want to sell that model to a buyer in another country good prices can still be found. I've recently bought from eBay a Lima Australian NSWGR Class C38 streamlined pacific 3801 and an SNCF RIB push-pull set from parochial US sellers for far less than these models would have fetched if sold in their native countries.

 

Now there is nothing left on my wish list !

[Shamouti Ben Yafo]

I've managed to bag a rake of half a dozen Roadrailers of which I'm fond - one day I'll build them!

 

On other fronts, the one that got away was an Aurora Sikorsky Skycrane which was well within budget - the seller refused to deal with any buyer outside the USA and would give no reason for this.

[Baby Deltic]

I think on the rarity scale, I've got my mitts on a Lilliput class 81 which I think is a superb model compared to the Hornby Triang class 81/82 hybrid.

 

Other things I've stumbled across:

 

Hornby Dublo Met Vic x2

Hornby Triang EM2

 

Kit built loco's I've found:

 

D16/3

J69

N7

J15

E4

[Baby Deltic]

I picked up a Kirk 3 coach Maunsell set which I MAY build. Also picked up a Caley Coaches Non-corridor brake Third that is current but from a long time ago (when they cost £23.50).

 

The trouble with Kirk kits is they are addictive.

[LSWR]

Sometimes it's pure luck to find the "rarity" you want (plus knowing what you are looking at). My latest acquisition for about £10.

 

 

For those of you who don't know what you are looking at this is an HO scale Hornby-Triang ACHO model of the US Army Transportation Corps 0-6-0T built during the Second World War for service in Europe. The Southern Railway bought a bunch (as did the SNCF) after the war was over. While this model is a bit beaten up, it still runs well and will be beaten up even more as Southern Railway modifications are applied!

[Steph Dale]

Patience seems to be a virtue when chasing the truly rare...

 

With my HO stuff I've been lucky every now and again in turning up things like full sets of the Kato 'Goerlitz' unit and waiting around for a few years has allowed me to build up a full StadtExpress set, with each vehicle having a different running number.

 

In 7mm the prize purchase was one of the Pocket Money Kits Class 14s. Still unfinished, due to a change in direction I've got the kit in the office. And it's now been re-released by PRMRP making it somewhat less 'rare'.

 

Horsetan,

Your 4mm scale Vulcan etches aren't unique, but only a handfull have been ever been produced. I have (IIRC) two of each of the 57xx and 8750 etches here. I recognise their relative rarity and should really sell them; it'd be nice to see them go somewhere they might be appreciated. Or, at least, be built!

 

I'm sworn to secrecy, but you might be surprised to know that the rights and phototools for the 4mm Vulcan stuff are still with a kit manufacturer. Though goodness knows when or whether they might see the light of day...

 

Steph

[TT3]

Patience is needed with rare models. My latest aquisition below.

 

I have know of the existence of this set for 25 years. The fifth car with no pantograph was actually bought by me in about 1985 for $12 from a guy in school, then misplaced in around 1990 when I got out of models for a while.

 

The guy I aquired the 4 boxed Suburbans from, is my best friends father, although he thought he only had 4 but discovered a spare one while cleaning up. Nobody knows where the fifth one came from and for some unexplained reason that spare one is the original one I bought back in 1985.

 

The funny thing is it was the only model I ever regretted getting rid of and had been kicking myself since then.

[br-nse-fan]

Not exactly a 'rare' or hard to find model, but I finally got myself a Bachmann Class 24 in BR Blue w/ TOPS numbering. It's one of the new sound models, but has had the sound decoder removed. Got it from eBay for about $50. Been searching for one at a reasonable price for years, but with the apperant scarcity of the TOPS version, they've typically gone for more than what I've been willing to part with.

 

There.. that's my two pence worth...

[60B]

Speaking of rare, yes I did pay that: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=170536618129&view=all&tid=0