Why so much $ for NS


NS always sells good. There must not be enough supply to feed the demand. Then throw in the new horsehead scheme and it gets even more expensive.
 
This is right in the ebay listing:

"Hard to find "Out of production""

The latest run by Kato is two road number of C&NW. MSRP $135

What the market will bear.....................................
 
noticed that too. its either that NS is suddenly in facion or there some deep pocketed modeler hoovering everything up.even that one friggin Spectrum that are usualy don't get above 50$ pushed to almost over a hundred...

supply , demand i guess
 
Finding nice stuff in NS is harder to find, for me, than UP, BNSF, CN, CP, or CSX. Every locomotive release usually has a UP, BNSF and a CSX heralded item or two. After that, depending on locomotive make and model, you get smaller roads or fallen flags, like SP, ATSF, and BN, depending on which locomotive it is. Athearn has only put out, what, three NS locos this year (low nose SD40-2, SD50, and SD60M--which they messed up the paint on and recalled them and haven't re-released them).

Look at rolling stock too. There are NS boxcars, NS hoppers, and NS Bethgons. After that, I never see an NS flatcar, NS mill gon, or NS covered hopper. In my opinion, NS is an underrepresented Class 1, even though they have less than BNSF and UP.
 
If you look at the bidding history, some guy who never bid before came in and sniped it at the last minute. Isuspect it's just some modeler who want an NS Kato but but didn't have the skill to paint and decal it himself. NS models are kind of hard to find and some people have the money to get what they want.
 
ICG/SOU said:
There are NS boxcars, NS hoppers, and NS Bethgons.
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not to hijack to far but since NS came as a subject:
i watched that documentary about real world RR operation. a chapter was dedicated toNS building (or rebuilding actually) their coal hopper fleet, namely a car that they reference to as "Topgon". the documentary was filmed in '98.
so anyone can share some details on "topgon" vs "bethgon"? seems like the latter is used by not only NS... (Jim? ;) )


thanks
 
UP2CSX said:
If you look at the bidding history, some guy who never bid before came in and sniped it at the last minute. Isuspect it's just some modeler who want an NS Kato but but didn't have the skill to paint and decal it himself. NS models are kind of hard to find and some people have the money to get what they want.
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Nice catch, two guys with not many buys and the bidding went from 120 to 160. Looked like the smart $ was at $120.

A genesis 70M and Mac80 are up on ebay now. I say north of $100 easy.
 
Capitalism 101 and I think we will start to see more and more of this. As the product get shorter and thedetail gets better you"ll have to pay what ever the market is for something out of production.
 
Anton, to answer your question about Topgon's vs. Bethgon's. Bethgon is a trademark name of Freight Car America, the builders of the Bethgon. They were the first high capacity aluminum coal hopper cars. When NS rebuilt it's fleet, the stole as many features as they could get from Bethgons without running afoul of patent and trademark laws. If you put a Topgon and Bethgon next to each other, you'll see their general plan and details are similar but with just enough differences to avoid lawsuits. It was cheaper for the NS to rebuild existing hoppers than buy new Bethgons.
 
I just sold an Athearn BB NS GP40, weathered, on eBay for $78.20!!!!! plus shipping of $7. Now tell me the market isn't going nuts!!!!! I would have been happy with a $25 bid. And the weathering job wasn't all that great. At least not one of my better efforts.

It seems that a lot of engines and rolling stock are going for much higher than in the past. The roads and era I model I expect to pay a bit more, but not the current going rate. Quality F's, E's, other early diesels, as well as steam for C&O, Monon, Wabash, PRR, NYC, and NKP seem to be getting harder to find. And when I do find them, I almost have to mortgage the layout.

All I can say is, I'm glad the train show season is starting.

Bob
 
thanks Jim. i suspected something a long these lines

stationmaster said:
I just sold an Athearn BB NS GP40, weathered, on eBay for $78.20!!!!! plus shipping of $7. Now tell me the market isn't going nuts!!!!! I would have been happy with a $25 bid.

Bob
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holy! hmmm, i guess i'll try my luck selling my BB GP38on the bay then. not weathered but i'll be happy to get half ofwhat you got

EDIT:
hmm, thats so strange. i see auctions comlpeted at 20$.... go figure
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The auctions completed section is a random gathering of like items. Not all auctions are shown. I just learned that on an eBay forum recently. I thought that all recent completed auctions were shown, foolish me.

bob
 
I got an NS Athearn Genesis SD70 CHEAP. I won it for $66.99 plus shipping.

Hmm... Maybe if I painted all of my BB engines and slapped on some decals I could sell them for more than they're worth :D
 
Well, all I can say is that there is a great possibility that we may have seen the last of "affordable" models, now tht Athearn has made its announcement. There are those with deep pockets taking over the hobby, and I, for one am sorry to see it. And with a steady diet of RTR the prices will go even higher.

Bob
 
diburning said:
I got an NS Athearn Genesis SD70 CHEAP. I won it for $66.99 plus shipping.

Hmm... Maybe if I painted all of my BB engines and slapped on some decals I could sell them for more than they're worth :D
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oh so that was you? nice.
i forgot i wanted to bid on that, and missed. i tohught it will end for much more though.
 
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