I enjoy S scale, I enjoy modeling the Southern Pacific, what I don’t enjoy is an attitude when I offer to prepay for five kits @ $250.00 apiece that I can’t get until December.
I decided to forgo steam at the current time and invested my funds with a company who appreciated my business, which resulted in the purchase of four undecorated GP-9s and two S-12s. Since I can’t decide between Black Widow or Bloody Nose paint, i’ll have to do both schemes.
Now the quandry…I keep reminding myself that a A-B-B F7 set doesn’t fit into my branchline theme, but, boy they would look good in Bloody Nose with the SP designed plow ,icebreaker bars and unique to SP details.
Don’t know that much about SP to give an opinion. Just know that they say “There’s a prototype for everything”. When BN-AT&SF merged - I played around with the idea of a Warbonnet in Evergreen Green & White. Who knows!!
It is YOUR railroad, do it…Besides, just because the SP may not have assigned such a consist to a brancjhline for regular service, suppose some engines were out for major shopping and power was needed and these hood units were nearby and ready to work. Suppose the SP operated a charter special and you have a passenger train with assorted cars, such as run in National Railray Historical Society train consists, there you have it! You can justify the hood units ANYWHERE on the line if pulling a NRHS railfan special.
S is a wonderful scale, in my opinion, it could be the best scale for most prople, but the biggest problem is availability and wait times…and cost now.
I converted to it in the mid eighties as a friend was avidly into S (Tom Boldt) and we had an active S scale group in the Buffalo NY area. At teh time I found S to be a bargain, with a beautifule USRA heavy 0-8-0 for $400, a brass RS3 at $300 and NYC passenger cars in brass for around $150 a copy. I had a USRA lite mike for arounf $600 and a fantastic NYC hudson for about $700. Most stuf had to be scratch built witch was fine, but getting trucks and detail parts was hard, roadbed and switch components had to be special ordered but I planned for this. I got sick of items being announced and after putting down deposits and waiting forever only to hear delivery dates pusheed out and prices hiked from waht was origianlly announced. I had money down on a nYC mohawk for well over a year and the price was approaching a grand with no delivery in site, I got my depsoit back, sold off my S scale and went back to HO.
It was a wonderful scale to scratchbuild in when you could get parts. These seams to be far more available than almost 20 years ago and the internet certainly has to be a benefit.