This weekend is the annual Railroad Days celebration in Galesburg, IL. I usually try to make it to the train show out at Carl Sandburg Community College. And usually I go with an agenda, some specific items that I am looking for. I find that if I am concentrating on finding some particular item, it reduces the impulse buying. Well this year my mission was to find some new N-scale passenger cars for my City of Denver streamliner. The old Atlas smoothside passenger cars that make up my current consist having gotten soiled beyond hope of cleaning properly, what with 30+ years of handling. Plus the wheel sets are wearing out, drag, and cause derailments.
This year I knew that KATO has just re-released a new UP smoothside collection. So I was not surprised to find a set among the first dealer’s booth I visited. The dealer wanted $75.00 for the set, a good deal since the list price for the 4-car set is $100. Fortunately I like to browse the other booths and comparison shop. Drives my son nuts. I soon found another vendor in the same general area who also had a set for sale, but he was asking full list price for his. Finally as we moved through the halls I happened to spot familiar looking green box lying on a vendor’s table, with a price that that said $45.00! It appears it might be a set from the original release because the packaging is slightly different from the new sets. That might also account for the serious mark-down, as the dealer has probably had the set in his inventory for a couple of years. All in all, a good day.
