Model Train Journal

Today's Stout auction included this intriguing model:
Custom "USRA 2-8-2 Mike" Reading Steam Locomotive & Tender #1725

It caught my eye because the only O-scale Reading models I ever see are camelbacks and T-1s, which this mikado is not!

Do any of you know more about the model or recognize its mechanism and other components? The locomotive appears to be accurate per the three prototype photos linked to on the bottom of this page:
Philadelphia & Reading 2-8-2 "Mikado" Locomotives in the USA
But the tender appears to be a stock USRA model - so maybe the model was kitbashed from a USRA 2-8-2?

No idea, but looks like somebody got a good deal.

The underside of the chassis appears on a quick-look to match the Sunset USRA Mikado. They made both lights and heavies, as seen here:

https://www.brasstrains.com/classic/Product/Detail/048329/O-Scale-Brass-2-Rail-Sunset-Models-2-8-2-Light-Mikado

https://brasstrains.com/classic/Product/Detail/048321/O-Scale-Brass-2-Rail-Sunset-Models-2-8-2-Heavy-Mikado

Both versions have the same basic chassis, as best I can tell at a glance.

The boiler of the Reading model matches the profile of the heavy, but some of the details have been modified, like the sand dome and valve gear.

I purchased a different Mikado in the auction, also a Sunset:

https://connect.invaluable.com/stout/auction-lot/sunset-models-brass-two-rail-o-standard-gauge-sca_FE54E679B6

This model has Jerry White's fingerprints on it, as stated on the box and evidenced by the distinctive gearbox. It has been extensively modified from the stock version to better match the C&S prototype.

When looking at the sale prices on the Stout auction site, it is good to remember that there is a 19% buyers premium added to the price shown. Plus packing and shipping (for most of us).

Jim

bob turner wrote:No idea, but looks like somebody got a good deal.

That's my impression too - an untouched Sunset 2-8-2 sold for $50 more in the same auction.

R.K. Maroon wrote:The underside of the chassis appears on a quick-look to match the Sunset USRA Mikado.

Now that you've pointed that out I see the resemblance.

The boiler of the Reading model matches the profile of the heavy, but some of the details have been modified, like the sand dome and valve gear.

The builder also modified the firebox and cab windows. I wonder how close the model boiler's dimensions are to the dimensions of the prototype RDG boiler?

I purchased a different Mikado in the auction, also a Sunset:

I also bid on that, but mine was a real low bid so I didn't drive up the price you paid for it.

This model has Jerry White's fingerprints on it, as stated on the box and evidenced by the distinctive gearbox. It has been extensively modified from the stock version to better match the C&S prototype.

I didn't notice the Jerry White name; I just thought it was a really nice looking model. Congratulations on getting it.

When looking at the sale prices on the Stout auction site, it is good to remember that there is a 19% buyers premium added to the price shown. Plus packing and shipping (for most of us).

Stout sent me a "Sorry, You Didn’t Win" email that showed the final selling prices of all the stuff I bid on but didn't win. I added up all the Realized Prices and the total was $14,675 -- and that was just for the stuff I bid on and didn't win. Maybe I need to change my forum handle to Mr. Lowball?

I am only curious about two things, and too lazy to open it up and look -
That nice set of GM&O Walthers cars, and
That all-cast CLW PA with the Blomberg trucks
?

The GM&O set was a pretty thing, at least as far as the Stout photos show:



It appears to be an all-Walthers set, judging from the undersides:



I bid appropriately, but dropped out when it hit my limit, which I thought be a healthy bid. I was surprised but not shocked that the bidding continued past that up to the $1000 sell point. That's $1190 with the buyers premium, which still puts it cheaper than a nine Golden Gate cars. Shipping would not be cheap, yes, but the real concern is whether Stout would pack them sufficiently to prevent damage. I would not be confident of that, given my experience with them (shall I post photos of carnage past?)

Beyond that, I have two nits with the set. One is with me, which is that I don't have a good way of determining whether this set is prototypically accurate in any way. Yes, that matters when you are spending that much (or perhaps even if you are not spending that much). The second is the inconsistency in the paint colors. Yes, yes, I know the real ones varied too, but if you are going to trot out a non-weathered set of passenger cars (which is probably 99.9% of them), then you might as well go all-in on the fantasy and have the colors match.

That cast PA had a Baldwin chassis from an E-unit. AACK. I might have tried to save it from this insult but I generally don't buy projects anymore.

Jim

R.K. Maroon wrote:The second is the inconsistency in the paint colors.

I also noticed that. I think Stout combined cars from two different trains into one lot. The three cars with more faded colors (top left car, plus the two bottom cars) seem to match the 4-6-2 in lot 273 while the other six cars seem to match the colors of the doodlebug in Lot #204.

There were two more of the GM&O cars in Lot 474 - the RPO in that lot seems to match the three faded cars and pacific, while the coach seems to match the other cars in the pictures you posted of lot 58.

So my thinking is that one train was the Pacific, the RPO from lot 474 plus the two coaches and observation from lot 58. The other train was the coach from lot 474, plus the remaining 6 cars from lot 58 (RPO, baggage, combine, diner, Pullman, and the 1 car whose type I don't recognize.) I don't know what pulled the longer train; the E8 from lot 204 seems to match the colors of the shorter train pulled by the pacific.