Fan's of PRR brass, hide your wallet.

[mmagliaro]

I've seen 4 different centipedes in my life.  None of them would run worth a darn, and looking at the guts inside one,
I'd say they need extensive mechanical rework to be made to run right.  They have an odd 2-motor arrangement with the weights and the pivot
points on the trucks in a bad place.  You can read about them on Mark's (Spookshow) loco encyclopedia site.

I have personally seen them try to run, and true to Mark's review, they can barely move themselves at all

[dougnelson]

There was a collection of PRR brass closing this evening and the prices are out of this world.  I am not sure what these prices prove, but with demand like this you would think that BLI would consider doing some of their PRR locomotives in N scale.

Steam:
- OL S1 6-4-4-6 - 24 bids  $1,535.
- Key T1 Duplex #6111- 17 bids  $3,055.
- Key T1 Duplex #5500 as built- 24 bids  $3,301.
- Key T1 Duplex #5500 modified - 20 bids  $3,600.

Diesel:
- Hallmark PRR Baldwin Centipede - 11 bids  $1,125.
- Hallmark PRR Baldwin Centipede - 13 bids  $1,626.
(Since the PRR ran these 2 units with drawbar, each of these models represents half a locomotive)

The 2 centipedes were bought by the same buyer, otherwise, all the other models were bought by different people.  This was not one rich guy spending an inheritance.

[Bsklarski]

I could almost completely build a layout for the price of ONE T1

[peteski]

Say what you want but I still think that this is not a good overall picture of the PRR N-scale market.  First of all, brass models do not compare well to plastic. The prices paid for auctioned items (especially on eBay) is often driven by couple of insane individuals with too much money in their pockets.  So just because someone spend 3 grand on a model, that this translates in easy sales of thousands of plastic versions of that model.

But I agree that PRR (and most Eastern roads) seem to be mostly ignored by the plastic models manufacturers.  The big problem with PRR (and I'm no expert on PRR) is that most of their locomotives were custom build in their shops which makes them unique and tougher to sell as foobies painted for other railroads.  I really think that mass model manufacturers are afraid that they will not sell enough models to recoup their investment in that model.

But this type of thread is regularly started on model train forums, so this is just "same old story" again... 

[spookshow]

Oh joy, new all-time highs set for both the Centipede ($1626) and the T-1 ($3600). If this keeps up, my encyclopedia reviews for those two models are going to remain "Incomplete" for a very long time 

Cheers,
-Mark

[Bob Bufkin]

Damn , maybe I should put my unpainted Centipede on there to see how much I would get.  I've run it back and forth on straight track a few times when I first got it but it's been in the box now for years.

[Bob Bufkin]

Well some of their smaller steamers, such as 2-8-0, 2-8-2 and smaller were sold to shortlines for further use.  The Santa Fe even owned a PRR 2-8-2, I believe during WWII.  So you could do a few other roads.

[spookshow]

I don't think an undecorated unit would sell for as much as those painted models did, but it wouldn't surprise if you got $1000 for it (maybe more). There are some PRR collectors out there with very deep pockets all of a sudden.

Cheers,
-Mark

[towl1996]

If Fox Valley can do the Hiawatha and not lose his shirt, surely PRR steam could be done. 

[towl1996]

Un-real.

[Chris333]

The Hiawatha shell is just a bath tub turn upside down and is probably simpler than most diesels. The chassis wasn't a cake walk, but some of that is hidden so not there. Any other steamer is going to have a round boiler and tons of piping attached.

[mmagliaro]

If Fox Valley can do the Hiawatha and not lose his shirt, surely PRR steam could be done. 

I thought Fox Valley did the Hiawatha because the owner loved the engine.  I'm not saying that isn't a wonderful thing.  It is.
But perhaps he didn't lose his "shirt", but only broke even, or made a little money, and that was good enough
because he really wanted to make that particular model.

Does anybody know?

[pnolan48]

I'm still thinking of building a Centipede, once I get my ship line launched and my life settles down a bit. Aside from the nose, the body is not very complicated in photo-etched brass. The mechanism under it, however, is a nightmare. I've played around with a plastic frame with two motors in the middle facing outward (i.e. front for the rear motor, and rear for the front motor), and two motors at the ends facing inward. It would have to be articulated, but I think that is a solvable problem. My next step is to find good D-D trucks. Barstow Rick traded me a few Bachmann DD-40Xs a few years back, but nearly every truck suffered from the Bachmann split-axle problem. The wheelbase for those trucks is nearly identical to the Centipedes although, of course, the sideframes are totally wrong, and the pivot point is, well, just weird, but not a show stopper. Modifying sideframes is not that hard, if you can make the replacements. And I think I can do that. Building a frame out of brass channel seems straightforward, since it worked in plastic. The front and rear trucks would be suspended much like those of the Kato GG-1, but I haven't gotten that far.

As always, don't hold your breath. In the past year, I've managed to get only about 700 hours (about one-third full time) into the ships effort.

[spookshow]

Does anybody know?

Only one guy knows for sure, but there are a hell of a lot of clueless guys who think they know and aren't afraid to say so! 

Cheers,
-Mark

[GaryHinshaw]

I thought Fox Valley did the Hiawatha because the owner loved the engine.

Are you suggesting that no one loves PRR?...