In the weekend update I posted that I've been doing a long over due inventory of my stuff. With what I've learned about modeling the CGW in Iowa circa 1968, I have discovered problems with my rolling stock collection. I though it would be great to see a nice long train of colorfull 50' boxcars that have been released over the years. The build dates were certainly correct plus you can get a longer looking train with less cars. Here's the rub. The major commodities that the CGW handled were not very glamorous. Phosphate, fertilizer, grains, ore (you get the idea) don't use nice new 50' cars. They don't even need 40' with DF loaders. They don't even need the flashy paint schemes, just some nice grubby 40' bcr box cars will do. And while I don't have a use for these cars now, I could need the body style in the future.
I would like to sell off the cars I don't need but the MT market seems to have bottomed out. When I bought these cars new, I only paid about $10 each on average. To replace that car would cost me probably $14 and I might only get $8-$12 for my old car plus the hastle of the auction.
Should I just keep my old cars and paint over them as needed or should I take the chance that I can get a decent price and let them back into the wild?
I'm not sure why painting over the cars bothers me.
Jason
