Any Interest in Seeing the Con Cor U50 Come Back?

[bigford]

as this was started over at trainboard i thought i would post it here
what are your thoughts on a new U50

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/...d.php?t=113173

[C855B]

Only if up to current model execution standards: finer handrails, all wheels driven and weight-bearing, road-specific detailing, and TM blowers visible through radiator intake screens.

But especially if a C855/C855B was part of the package, too.  ;D

[Freighttrain]

Yea,Bring them back with more fantasy schemes and better looking paint schemes for them.While we are at it,Why not a full turbine setup and a the 855.Oh,A John Henry would be nice too.

[eric220]

I think it is a very interesting prototype, but I personally have no interest in it, as it does not fit either of the times that I model.  That, and who cares about the UP?  ;D

[CoalPorter]

I can't even sell a mint condition used one, so why would they need to make more.  ???

[bigford]

coalporter
 
 what do you have for sale?

[Nato]

  Old Technology now ,great in their day. Three of these beasts pulled 60 cars on the old Utah N Rail Modelers N Quack (Trak) layout for a train leingth record in the mid 1980's. We added a couple more cars and the force of weight and gravity tipped part of the train on its side on the first curve. The brass model of these released at about the same time looked better with a see thru squrrel cage blower on the rear ,but were poor preformers.Drive was early KATO .While this locomotive the U50 or the later U50D might appeal to modelers like me ,my time era, an all new model would be in order. Ditto for the Veranda Gas Turbine locomotive. Nate Goodman (Nato).

[JDouglasFisher]

Who used them? UP, SP, and what, primer gray units being set up on the Erie Lackawanna before paint and delivery?

(BTW, link to an AVI showing U50C on the EL)

http://el-list.railfan.net/videos/u50c.avi

Don't think there's much of a market, but hey, I've been known to be wrong.

J

[C855B]

> Don't think there's much of a market, ...

You'd be surprised. I have five (or six... I've lost track now), so I watch the eBay traffic for U50's pretty closely. In UP or SP paint they are currently demanding over their original MSRP, sometimes by quite a bit if mint/un-run. Compare this against, say, a Kato U30C or SD40, which even in UP paint goes for 1/2 to 2/3 of new.

U50's in foobie paint schemes don't do as well, obviously, but they still approach $100 when listed. Who'd a thunk?  :-\

The Verandas are made of gold, too. A C-8 to C-10 from the last runs will push or exceed $200. UP fans are nuts, and numerous; there seems to be an inherent value in modeling a RR whose current paint scheme makes it the last Class I whose 1950s image hasn't been merged out of existence and/or has been modified very little in the interim.

[bigford]

i just paid $160.00


and $150.00 3 month ago


 as i posted before there both mint and smooth runners
last week a turbine tender sold for $77.00 plus $10.00 shipping

[C855B]

That's just nuts about that tender. But - even though it's technically the wrong style - it is an in-demand item for guys wanting to put a "water bottle" behind their 3985 for their modern-period steam "excursion" trains.

Seeing those pix reminds me... I've never been all that excited about the coarseness of the detail on my Veranda, which is probably why it's spent most of its life in the box. The handrail casting is pretty gross.

OTOH, the U50 isn't all that bad, really. The biggest problem in my book is the thick paint and blurry, unlined lettering. I stumbled into a dealer stash of three undecs last year, and couldn't reach for my wallet fast enough in order to have the virgin surfaces available for slightly more reasonable finish work. They're lingering on the bench right now as I'm still trying to work up the courage to cut out the radiator screen openings.

It's heck modifying the irreplaceable.  :

[Walkercolt]

H*LL NO! To quote Sir Fig in our club. IMHO, it would be far better to spend the money on R&D on new tooling of big Alco's, Balwin's, etc. I'm not a UP guy, but honestly a good "Big Blow" Turbine in plastic, with the "dedicated" GP-9B's or GP-30B's would probably sell better (esp. with sound and DCC installed/available).

[Freighttrain]

H*LL NO! To quote Sir Fig in our club. IMHO, it would be far better to spend the money on R&D on new tooling of big Alco's, Balwin's, etc. I'm not a UP guy, but honestly a good "Big Blow" Turbine in plastic, with the "dedicated" GP-9B's or GP-30B's would probably sell better (esp. with sound and DCC installed/available).

mmmmmmm,I would buy one of those in a heart beat!!!!Now I do with the 50 would come back out but with new modern mechanism,new modern body and detail,and new modern paint.....oh,all wheel drive and pickup would be nice too!

[JDouglasFisher]

> Don't think there's much of a market, ...

You'd be surprised. I have five (or six... I've lost track now), so I watch the eBay traffic for U50's pretty closely. In UP or SP paint they are currently demanding over their original MSRP, sometimes by quite a bit if mint/un-run. Compare this against, say, a Kato U30C or SD40, which even in UP paint goes for 1/2 to 2/3 of new.

U50's in foobie paint schemes don't do as well, obviously, but they still approach $100 when listed. Who'd a thunk?  :-\

The Verandas are made of gold, too. A C-8 to C-10 from the last runs will push or exceed $200. UP fans are nuts, and numerous; there seems to be an inherent value in modeling a RR whose current paint scheme makes it the last Class I whose 1950s image hasn't been merged out of existence and/or has been modified very little in the interim.

I am very surprised. But I have to ask, what is the draw? What is it that draws a large percentage of modelers to follow a road like the Union Pacific?

I don't understand or "get it" so please bear with me.

J.

[C855B]

... But I have to ask, what is the draw? What is it that draws a large percentage of modelers to follow a road like the Union Pacific?

Several reasons! But first, let me qualify my response by saying that I'm not happy with all the modeling attention UP gets these days. I've been modeling UP since I started in the hobby 40+ years ago, when the popular roads were Santa Fe and PRR, and to a lesser extent SP. The sea change to the interest in UP over the past 10-15 years has so far meant that nearly anything interesting produced by the N manufacturers in UP paint sells-out almost immediately, which means premium prices and limited availability. That aspect has been very annoying. Anyway...

First, UP is the only US Class I whose name and basic paint scheme has been unchanged during the entire diesel era (we'll forget about the first switchers in black). There have been some lettering tweaks along the way and a few rivet-counter-level detail changes, but the overall image has been very consistent. So it doesn't immediately look "wrong" to park an SW9 next to an SD9043MAC or GEVO. So unless you're a specific-period modeler like me, you can impulse-buy pretty much anything in UP paint that appeals to you and put it on your layout relatively guilt-free.

Then there's the Heritage Program. The 844 (FEF-4 4-8-4), 3985 (4-6-6-4 "Challenger"), 6936 (DDA40X) and the E-units are high-visibility publicity... uh... engines  ;D that make it possible to seriously run steam and classic-era diesels in post-2000 settings without apology. And you can run them without feeling like you have to weather them since UP doesn't let 'em get dirty.

Third, UP used to change its roster like underwear, and had at least a handful of most large diesel models produced. You might not be able to get, say, an Alco C420 in UP paint past the rivet counters, but thanks to the 1982 mergers and their anal preoccupation with wiping the paint schemes of the MP, WP and MKT off the map immediately, a whole bunch of miscellaneous, rag-tag models UP would've never bought on their own were suddenly in yellow and gray. IOW, variety.

Then there's the "pipeline to the West" aspect of the pre-merger UP. Local switching operations were a very small part of UP's business. Same thing went for Santa Fe, hence its popularity, as well. There were vast distances to cover with long trains and big engines, and you don't have to explain yourself when your layout is an homage to mainline-only operations where you can set the throttle(s) mid-way and sit back and watch your trains run.

"Big power" is a huge attraction, too - U50's, turbines, Centennials, Big Boys, Challengers - are a major draw. This was also the draw to the Pennsy, but since the PRR has pretty much faded from memory for all but the oldest of us here, it's not getting the love that the UP current gets.

Which brings us to the closer, most (not all - most) focus our modeling on what we're familiar with, and then to a certain degree what we experienced in our pre-teen years or at least perceived what we would have experienced. The UP's image consistency means that you can be interested in modeling modern operations without straying too far away from the nostalgia.

Sorry to write a novel here, but, again, being the rare long-time UP modeler, in a small way I resent having my modeling "turf" invaded like this. So I have had to think through why UP is now such a draw in order to placate the aggravation of having to get in line for stuff when I didn't have to before.