GM Train Of Tomorrow

Thank you for the picture; I just made it my wall paper on my laptop

I don't get it!

Can someone explain why the HO version sold for $2850.00 (no sound or smoke) and the 2 and 3 rail version cost $1549.00.  In general, I see a lot of HO brass selling for more than an O scale version.  Didn't think the HO crowd was willing to spend that kind of money.

Daylight:

Looked at the images of the remaining TOT passenger car and it is very sad to see. Recently, the Private Passenger Car owners came to Portland, Maine for their annual convention. This car would make an interesting, though expensive, restoration project for a potential wealthy individual who wants a real talking point.

Thanks for the post. Congratulations for your order for the ToT.

Ho Details are smaller thus harder to produce accurately?  More manual hand labor involved. Anybody know chime in.

HO has it's connoisseurs of fine models, just as in O.  If Overland did the T.O.T in O, it would probably be around 8-10 grand.

Rusty

Thank god  I always liked O when I was a kid. Twice the size and detail possibilities, at half the price sweeeeet!!!!

You'll also notice that the price quoted was for the four vista dome cars without an engine but with the paint and trim to convert an HO E7A to the T of T model! The price paid must reflect a premium for rarity. The set strikes me as something that would only appeal to a dedicated collector or someone who was content with a shelf queen. 

Of course the 3rd Rail offering is not brass but ABS but it has sound, LIGHTS and smoke, all of which appeal to me far more than what I can see (by squinting) of the HO model.

Now, if Marklin or MTH did it that might be a different story . . .

Yet another good reason to be in O-Gauge!!!!

Keith, I'd say you are one happy cowboy. I'm glad for you. Don

This is my first time hearing about this train and the model currently being made and about to reach the US.  What an absolutely beautiful train.  And it reminds me of the optimism this country used to have about what lied ahead.  It's very reminiscent of what Disney EPCOT center is all about.  The Worlds Fairs.  The fascination the country had with the NASA missions.  What a time that was.  Even in the most recent tech/computer/internet revolution, it doesn't feel quite the same.  

I have reserved the train and cannot wait to get it.

Very well said Towdog! 

Emile

I second that. If you read the book on the TofT written by Ric Morgan you also get a sense of what a different era it was.

Morgan's book on the ToT is excellent.  I was recently writing about the ToT for something that will come out in a few months, and I had to go back through Morgan's book to get a few details right, etc., it is a jewel of a book and I recommend it to everyone, as much for the photos and memories of what it was like back then.  I ended up spending much more time with it that I really needed. 

And I feel compelled to point out that while all of us look back on the '50s and '60s with fondness and think it was so good back then, there was polio, the cold war standoff with nukes, and just a lot that was not nice.  I just completed Eric Schlosser's incrredible book Command and Control, and it is truly frightening.  The world, including us, was just insane back then.  totally insane.

All of us who ordered this train are certainly looking forward to December.

Mine arrived yesterday..2 rail with DCC. Still basking in the joy of arrival. Loco came with genuine Kadee mounted on the rear. The proper drive shaft and enclosed gear mechaism reminds me of the O scale Hobbytown drive of years ago. The drive is a HUGE step up from the usual cast block generic 'china drives' with open side gears and crummy can motors. This has a real skewed armature Cannon motor!  Cars have coupler pads with screws in place, but no couplers.  They even 'got' a representation of the full width vestibules with a blue rubber strip glued to the car-end casting. At first some people may view the rubber strip as a weird flaw, but it is a reasonable visual representation of the car ends as-built and toured. First run is scheduled in about a week and half at a friends layout...We only have a programming/test track  of 7 feet straight at home. I am anxious to see this 9 foot train snaking its way though the Canyon of the Sacramento river on my friends layout next week.. WORTH THE WAIT!    Jennifer in Oregon.