Did I pay too much?

[melmerby]

Hi all

Today at Redditch MRC show I purchased this "Bachmann Plus" model of a GE B23-7 locomotive in Missouri Pacific livery

 

It looks as if it has had little use as the wheel tires are pristine and the body is immaculate with no damage or wear.

It is also a good runner nice, smooth & quiet.

 

I know it's a pretty basic model and not up to today's standard but I paid just £30

Was that too much?

[doctor quinn]

Seems a pretty fair price, nice engine.

[Oldddudders]

39 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Hi all

Today at Redditch MRC show I purchased this "Bachmann Plus" model of a GE B23-7 locomotive in Missouri Pacific livery

 

It looks as if it has had little use as the wheel tires are pristine and the body is immaculate with no damage or wear.

It is also a good runner nice, smooth & quiet.

 

I know it's a pretty basic model and not up to today's standard but I paid just £30

Was that too much?

There isn't much of a market in US HO in the UK, but you certainly didn't overpay. And, at least MoPac did actually have some B23-7s - 85 in fact. Often a cheaper US model will be made in numerous popular roadnames irrespective of prototype, but not so here. 

[melmerby]

32 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

at least MoPac did actually have some B23-7s - 85 in fact.

Second largest US purchase.

 

I've been hoovering up some US stuff at decent prices.

This came from a stand that only had this one US item.

Another had a 4-8-4 + 52'  tender for £50, again little other US stuff. (I didn't bite!)

[33C]

It's £50 for a new Hornby 0.4.0., so I know what I would spend my money on, and get a couple of reefers with the change!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Hi @melmerby, I agree with the others who’ve already responded - £30 for a quiet running loco in almost new condition seems reasonable to me in today’s market.  
 

Bachmann Plus aren’t super-detailed models (compared to some other US brands), as you acknowledge in the opening post, but this should give many hours of enjoyment.  In other words: good value.  The key thing I always look at are the couplers - as long as a loco doesn’t have the old horn hook couplers fitted, I’ll take a closer look, Keith.

[melmerby]

33 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Hi @melmerby, I agree with the others who’ve already responded - £30 for a quiet running loco in almost new condition seems reasonable to me in today’s market.  
 

Bachmann Plus aren’t super-detailed models (compared to some other US brands), as you acknowledge in the opening post, but this should give many hours of enjoyment.  In other words: good value.  The key thing I always look at are the couplers - as long as a loco doesn’t have the old horn hook couplers fitted, I’ll take a closer look, Keith.

It's got EZs and it's a solid chassis, unlike the Dash-8 which was split (but easy to convert)

There even looks like enough clearance to get a decoder in (about 5mm above the chassis block) without removing metal, there's a basic light board with filaments and that'll make way for one with LEDs and resistors as well as the decoder.

[Rich_F]

That's a good deal. I've bought one of those in the past & I couldn't get one for under £45 in as good a condition as the example you picked up! 

 

If you're inclined give it a service & clean & it'll run nicely as a nice little switching/short train loco. 

[DanielB]

Yeah that's a good deal.

 

To put it in perspective - I paid £10 at a show for a Bachmann branch line 16T mineral wagon - second hand.

 

From the same stall I got a Proto 2000 56' mill gondola with Kadee couplers and metal wheels for... £6.

 

Sometimes you get lucky and find US outline stuff being sold cheap due to a lack of interest from the general public.

 

Sometimes you find awful quality US locos at the price of a new UK loco because the seller has no idea what they are selling so price it equivalent of UK stuff.

 

You definitely got a bargain with that one.

[Johann Marsbar]

Seems a good price - actually about the same as I paid for this at a US railwayana show back in 2014........

 

 

......though thats of a Conrail one!

[melmerby]

More on this

I ended up fitting a TCS MP3 decoder (from my spares box) in the space under the top chassis above a flywheel.

I also made a new 'PCB' with the resistors and warm white LEDs front and rear.

£30 plus a bit of a service and updating and I've got another decent, cheap, loco.

 

[dave1905]

That would be a later version of the engine.  The B23-7's were delivered in the 2200-2300 series and then renumbered into 4600 series to make room for additional GP38-2's.  They were used on locals and through freights.  The steps make them less desirable as switchers (compared to the GP38 and GP15 engines) although the MP used just about every 4 axle as a switcher at one time or another.  A lot of them ended up on rock hauling jobs in South Texas.  Later they were renumbered into the 100-200 series numbers and some ended their careers as radio control brake dummies (no engine, just housed radio control apparatus.