Classic Models Corp Flyer

I was going through some 31 year old TTOS Bulletins (1975) and this flyer just fell out.

It's kind of like finding the Rosetta Stone. Ok, not that cool but certainly not bad.

These CMC trains come up all the time on eBay, in auctions, all over the place. There's always speculation about them, especially in the tinplate forums.

The one that is missing is the Camelback. That's probably my next quest.

I actually have a few of these items; I have one of CMC's Bicentennial engines. It's kind of neat. I also have a passenger set. I have yet to put a DC power source on the tracks so they haven't seen any runtime yet. Still, these things were a bit different. The trucks on the tenders and boxcars are very different. They are a bit more scale than Lionel, McCoy, etc. but they don't seem to stay together very well. Brains or beauty?

The other really interesting thing is the prices. Makes you kind of reflect and wonder if all the bellyaching we hear about current prices is really merited. Granted, when I go through all of those old magazines it seems like all those guys with mutton chop sideburns and collars the size of the Jersey Turnpike are all smiling. All of them are ear to ear. Maybe it's because they knew they were at a moment in time when people had a shot at reasonable prices and innovative, low run vendors? Or maybe they were just looking forward to a high tech future? We'll just have to ask them when we see them. Maybe we should be smiling too?

M