I recently purchased Boston & Albany USRA 0-8-0 #53 from forum sponsor Trainz. The model was produced by Lionel (6-28702) in 2006 with TMCC at an MSRP of $649.99. I had been wanting to buy a small B&A locomotive model that fits on my 10’-by-5’ O-54 layout but it seems to me that there aren’t many such Boston & Albany locomotive models being made or for sale on the secondary market these days.
Trainz had rated this model as C7 (excellent) and described some minute scratches and wheel wear that made me somewhat hesitant to buy but, after a day or so, I relented and ordered it. The model arrived after nine days in transit and was packed securely. I found no scratches or wheel wear and it looked to me as though it had never been run. I bought a Lionel Mogul from Trainz last year that was rated as C9 (new). In my opinion, both models were fairly and conservatively rated. But neither was low-priced. I’m satisfied with my two purchases from Trainz.
The model operated properly when I began to run it. Initially there was some sound dropout so I installed a 9V battery in the tender, but cleaning the rails later eliminated the issue and I don’t think the battery is necessary.
Unlike recent diecast steam locomotive models that are made in China, this one was made in South Korea and, in my opinion, its design, manufacture and details are excellent. My pictures show that the boiler is fully round on the underside with a prototypical clear space between the boiler and the frame.
B&A #53 was a U-3b class switcher built by Lima in April 1921. It had 25-by-28 cylinders, 51-inch driving wheels, weighed 219,000 pounds, and produced 51,040 pounds of tractive effort at 175 pounds-per-square-inch boiler pressure. It was renumbered to New York Central #7725 in 1951 and ran on the Harlem Division until it was retired in January 1955.
A further observation - in tracking the modern O-gauge steam locomotive models for sale on Trainz, it seems to me that the most prevalent type is the 0-8-0 switcher – mostly by MTH and Lionel.
MELGAR
