Paint job and assembly for $5 extra in 1962:

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

http://www.trfindley.com/fltrainads/19620865.html

Has anyone ever had an Atlas Turbo Express from 1961? They appeared in only 2 ads:

http://www.trfindley.com/fltrainads/19611252.html

The steam engine on the Athearn box:

http://www.trfindley.com/fltrainads/19640752.html

Grab 'em and growl part 2:

http://www.trfindley.com/fltrainads/19660672.html

Grab 'em and growl part 3:

http://www.trfindley.com/fltrainads/19671244.html

Around $200 started out at $250, and ended up at $400:

http://www.trfindley.com/fltrainads/19701096.html

This concludes the scanning of ads with low-cost equipment from the Good Old Days.

By 1971, the creeping inflation began crawling, and the price of brass engines tripled over the next 5 years.

The real investments turned out to be the plastic building kits. AHM kits that sold for $2.50 now sell for $25 on Ebay.

2

Some other things illustrated by this listing and equally reflected in the concurrent ads of LMB, Gem, et al., is that (1) even a great many brass models were available from stock over extended periods in that era and (2) for steam locomotives with wheel arrangements commonly employed on layouts, the price of brass examples were only modestly greater than that of comparable die cast locos of the period offered by Mantua and Bowser ($30-$35 vs. $35-$50). Further, the pricing was not as exorbitant in 1961 dollars as the situation today (forget those nonsensical CPIs figure, which really do not reflect the actual dollar values as perceived by individuals actually living and working in 1961…I know, I was there).

CNJ831

3

An interesting sidelight to this is that a number of financial guys that I hear are critical of the CPI precisely because the periods werein the inflation rates went into double digits tended to be smoothed over.

mmmm–I wonder if anyone tried using CPI to see if some of the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions were within the same value ranges—

4

I don’t know what is more depressing – that I remember ALL of these ads (and took advantage of some of those incredible AHM sales, when even a Woolworths “five and dime” store had bins of AHM trains at Christmas), or that the paper has so obviously yellowed with age. But thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Anyway, if the prices seem mouthwateringly low – the average new house in 1969 cost $15,500 according to this website. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1969.html

Dave Nelson

5

Dave wrote:I don’t know what is more depressing – that I remember ALL of these ads (and took advantage of some of those incredible AHM sales, when even a Woolworths “five and dime” store had bins of AHM trains at Christmas), or that the paper has so obviously yellowed with age.

Yeah.

I recall those ads as well…I also recall buying a AHM N&W Y6B at Woolco on Dec.26th for $7.99!

I often wonder who is that old geezer is staring back at in the mirror every morning and how did he got there…

Then,all sadly I realize that old geezer is me.

6

I did not have one of the Atlas Turbo Expresses personally, but a friend of mine did. The motor powered the propeller on the back and would send it at high speed around the layout. My friends layout had a large grade and you had to get up to a good speed in order to go up the grade, but the S curve in the center of the straight-away would cause the Turbo Express to derail due to it speed. One had to have a fast enough speed to get up the hill, but not to fast to derail on the S curve. It was one of our favorite pastimes on his spaghetti bowl layout.

Rick