I am working on an HO scale layout featuring the N&W in October, 1957. I am prototype freelancing the Pocahontas Division in West Virginia. I need several N&W Y6b’s for the layout. Any suggestions?[8D]
Gidday, for all their short comings as compared with the “real thing”, I’m happy with my two Rivarossi Y6b.
Here’s a reasonably current thread on the topic.
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/168737/1854322.aspx
Cheers, the Bear.
Craig, realistically, unless a thorough search taking you close to 30 minutes going back through to the fourth or fifth page of hits nets you a small cache of them not already on eBay, then…eBay. If I recall, the last run from BLI was well over two years ago.
Crandell
The BLI website had a couple listed about a week ago under refurbished. I just checked and they are gone now but it would be worth checking every so often in case more turn up. There was also at least one A as well. Good luck in the hunt.
Werner
Werner, those were BlueLine Class A’s.
Crandell
Crandell,
Thank you for the information.[tup]
I remember when the AHM (Rivarossi) Y6b was introduced in the 1960s. The original list price was as I recall $29.95, rather quickly raised to $35.95, but in a memorable after Christmas sale event, you could find them at all sorts of places, including Woolworth’s “dime store,” for $19.95. Beccause of the clever (and non prototypical) way Rivarossi hinged the two engine mechanisms, the loco could run on 18" radius curves and indeed AHM included it in one of their Thunder Line train sets. I mention this because there was a ton of those engines sold at the time and you tend to see them at swap meets. They came painted N&W, Pennsy and Santa Fe. The PRR and ATSF did indeed have N&W 2-8-8-2 s during WWII but not the Y6b.
Oh and I almost forgot. If you ordered from AHM’s “Funeral Sale” you could get three very slightly damaged Y6bs for the price of one. Sometimes the “damage” consisted only of a broken coupler which if you were switching to Kadees was not really damage at all. On average with the 3 for 1 funeral sale, you generally ended up with at least two perfect engines with the third raided for parts, and sometimes all three were perfect with just the slightest tinkering or a replacement part or two.
That in turn reminds me that stuff that was deemed too damaged for AHM’s Funeral Sale ended up in their Roundhouse Rubble sale where for $10 they would send a box just stuffed with trains, but more seriously damaged. I ordered a few of them over the yeras and now and then a Y6b or parts of one (say, a boiler shell and tender) would be in the box.
Those old runs included the very unfortunte non-NMRA standard flange depth which pretty much restricted the engines to Code 100 track (and even then some turnout frogs caused noise and lurch).
Due to the huge flanges the wheels were undersized, a failing with all the AHM Rivarossi steam.
Crandell,
When one graduated from PS 135 in Brooklyn way back when one could be certain that one knew the difference between A and Y. The BLI site had both but the Y’s went faster than the A’s. If you blinked you missed them.
All the best,
Werner
Darn, if that is so, Werner. I keep a pretty sharp eye on that site, or so I thought. I check it three times a week because I am on the hunt for a less costly Duplex T1, but when I saw the new additions, there were only the A’s. Thanks for letting me know I will have to pick up my game. [(-D]
Crandell
Bachman Spectrum had some listed on special this week.
I’ve got a couple of the Rivarossi models, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have picked up three or four more from ebay over the last couple years-- the most recent being back in January or thereabouts. Mine, however, are in Pennsy livery-- except for one which is in Santa Fe-- gonna repaint it someday. I’m thinking of repainting all of them for N&W though. In any case, I still see them pop up on ebay from time-to-time even now. Expect to pay in the $200-250 range for them, with DCC & sound, a little less without.
John
I think you’ might have mistaken a Bachmann engine for an HO N&W Y6B, do you have a link?
Aren’t those Y2’s or 3’s?