Dick Karnes wrote; > The cost of living has increased by a
factor of 7.38 since 1949. (Reference:
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt) That means this
set would
cost around $295 today. Now look as SHS's four-car set. It has a
price tag of
$300, essentially the same. And today's level of technology and detail
is miles
ahead of 1949 AF. <
And someone else pointed out that Marx's sets were $10.00.
I haven't said this here before but I think there could be a VERY cheap set.
Very easily. Amtrak to boot.
For the locomotive, use the Genesis as the basis. It would consist of a
thick, plastic shell with painted or molded on detail. No 'glass' in the
windows. Headlight is not lit.
The frame is a chunk of plastic to hold the two trucks.
The front truck is an 'all in one' truck like the old HO F-Unit
trucks or AHM's O Scale C-Liner truck. This truck will scoot just fine by
itself down AF track.
The rear truck is an unpowered dummy. Did I mention AF flanges?
Couplers are dummies like on an AF 24110 PRR gondola. (In this case
take the Pikemaster and make it solid.)
The 'train' consists of three passenger cars. They are identical. Again,
the shell is one thick, plastic block with painted or molded on detail. No
'glass' in the windows. The cars are not illuminated but they are nicely
painted. Talgo mounted dummy couplers (not body mounted). These would be
shorties like the AM Budds.
Track consists of an oval of track. SHS makes the right stuff. One circle,
one straight, and one rerailing / crossing like an AF 728. Anything else
must be purchased separately.
Minimal power pack. One amp.
Make sure there are some hopelessly out-of-scale people for play value.
Last, include a bevy of catalogs and other literature from SHS, AM,
Portline, NASG, etc.
That's the set. Nothing else. Cheap. Simple.
-------------------------
Some quick revisions with the older modeler in mind. (i.e. Us!) Make the
shells so all detail is painted on ah-la-Marx so they are easy to strip off.
Include dimples where the handrails and other details need to go. (I see
after market potential here.) Also aftermarket glass for the windows,
headlights, illumination kits, etc.
Make the Genesis shell scale length. Make the loco and passenger
trucks the correct wheelbase. Make the loco and passenger shells as scale
as possible (yet still rugged) to increase potential sales.
And most of all, make them so they run on DC AF track. (If you have
to have AC, make it go forward only.)
Thorin
P.S. I'll take six sets right now. As the power truck and the dummy are
interchangeable, I'll put two power trucks into each, discarding the
double-dummies to some kids. I'll pass most of the passenger cars onto the
kids.
I'll also dissect the power trucks and pull out the wires so I can
DCC them. Other power trucks will go under home-brew electrics.
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