MTH Wreck Train Insanity

Regarding the Ebay auction, remember what P.T. Barnum said.

Nick, 

It can't be that rare, the MTH locator in the link you sent has three stores listed as having it in stock.  you may want to try them first.

Good luck, I need to build my own for my NYC line.

If MTH lists dealers that have them in stock, try those first by all means. I'm surprised any still have it, it was so many years ago. Plus, you probably will only have to pay MSRP for it, if not less. I saw that one of the dealers listed is Boone Hobbies, I highly recommend them. They seem to always have anything MTH that I want.

Wow, I completely overlooked that feature. One of the dealers commented that it's the caboose only, and the item is nowhere to be found on Grand Central LTD's website. Boone doesn't have a website either. I'll have to call and confirm with both tomorrow.

Actually it was a David Hannum that made the statement so often accredited in error to P.T. Barnum.

Now as to the MTH PRR wreck train set, I sure hope that it is worth that much.  Then at least something I purchased back when is worth more than I paid for it.

I'm buying up the remaining sets for $200 and selling them on eBay for $600 

My jaw dropped when I seen my auction that high!

Lehigh, that was seriously your listing? Nice return on your money huh?

I called Grand Central today. They have one left in stock in another warehouse but they weren't sure if it had been broken up. They said they would check tomorrow and get back with me. Their price for a new complete set was more than reasonable (little lower than MSRP); I'll be buying it if complete. Thanks again for pointing out that product locator

Hahahahaha!  I thought it said MTH Train Wreck insanity. <g>

Pete

That's crazy expensive! Also the PC wasn't lazy, they just didn't have any money to repaint or reletter cars. Locomotives were lucky just to get the shoddy black paint scheme with 2-3 small PC logos.

There are a few Weaver additions to this MTH set.

Weaver 50 ft Bulkhead flat.  Weaver 70 ton 3 bay hopper.

Weaver PS-2 Covered hopper.
There is also a Weaver MOW Northeastern caboose.

Come and see the bearded lady?

Many a time, I've contacted a store through the MTH product finder, and the store actually does not have the item in stock.

This is my NYC version. Railking purchased a la carte. Crane tender,Crane,Searchlight,Dump car and Bunk car. I have the Jade Green crane as seen in the lower lefthand corner.

This way to The Great Egress!

Jerry

The P.T. Barnum quote is "There's a sucker born every minute". The webmaster had made that joke to me once before and I forgot to look it up. This time I did, and also learned of the historical inaccuracy of the saying.

Another thing about wreck trains - in the model train world, the "boom car" or "crane tender" is expected to compliment the crane. But in all my research on wreck trains, I never actually saw one of these cars. All the cranes I saw were either next to a flatcar with wheel trucks or a debris gondola...

I forgot to post pictures of the new set! Grand Central ended up only having a broken up one but Boone Hobbies came through with a factory new complete one.

My Lionel Legacy CSX SD-40-2 temporarily leads the train; I'll be on the lookout for period correct Penn Central power at the upcoming York. The extra truck carrier cars were made by Lucas Liska. I have given them a fresh coat of yellow to match the rest of the set and also reworked the rails on the cars to look and match better. All in all I am beyond pleased with how this set came out and am now a firm future customer of MTH rolling stock. I really can't believe how good the detail on the cars are for 1999. Don't get me wrong, I bleed orange and blue, but Lionel certainly wasn't producing this kind of stuff in 1999.....

Here's my version. This is on our club's modular layout from Christmas 2011.  As with others, totally a-la-cart. Lionel, MTH, Atlas, and Weaver. I did learn that when someone asks "Is that a Lionel train?", the simple answer is "Yes". To the average person, "Lionel" is synonymous with O Gauge. Eyes roll into the back of their heads if you attempt to point out the different manufacturers of equipment.

As for the "insanity" of buying a set, I'd suggest to do what the real railroads do. Run the old stuff you have laying around and supplement it with the specialized pieces you don't have. The crane and tender were Christmas gifts this year. N&W has just leased some of the equipment from the C&O.

Woodland Scenics ballast and Atlas track scraps painted with Rust Primer make for an easy load for this train.

Now you need to add three more MOW items.  That is the Jordan Spreader, Snow Plow (one that looks like a cabin/caboose) and Snow Plow that is a gondola with plow and HdLt on end.  MTH Pennsy numbers respectively are 20-98206, 20-98208 and 30-7218.  Oh also the 120-ton crane.

WOW Chris what an amazing score!

PC9850 AKA Nick;

Congrats on scoring a full set NIB.  Nice addition to the layout. I as is common, built mine from various cars acquired all over. I still need an engineering car but am substituting a lit Western Telegraph work car for mow. No-one has noticed yet  ;-)

Gondolas, Flats, Crane and Tender are in Rio Grande paint jobs.

If you're talking about my train, I was specifically doing a wreck train. I don't believe Jordan Spreaders and plows really went with wreck trains. That equipment is more for ditching and ballast trains, along with the dump cars.

Here's a nice article about work trains:

WORK TRAINS

And here's the wreck train I used as inspiration for my own:

I have to admit I liked the NYC green a lot more than the PRR MOW yellow, but I was not willing enough to put that much time into paint customization...