Afterthought Train Buy

 I will admit that sometimes I get items that I don't really collect just because I think they're pretty cool. Case in point is this week's item.

At the estate sale where I found the Z scale engine that I posted a few weeks ago, I saw a non-descript brown box sitting on a shelf with no price on it. Here it is....

I picked it up and saw this on the end...

A-ha! A train car kit! Now I really don't collect these, but after finding out they only wanted five bucks for it, I went ahead and grabbed it. Let's look closer!

Upon opening the box, we are met with a whole lot of itty-bitty pieces of wood!

Laid out, we can make out some of the parts. You have the top and bottom and sides, and doors, and...uh...stuff.

Note that there are no wheels or couplers. These kits don't come with them. 

Here are the instructions...

The written instructions point out that this isn't an easy kit. No kidding! Still, the parts do seem to be very well made and the more you look at them, the more they make sense. 

The instructions are quite yellowed on the part that was facing up in the box, which made me wonder how old this kit is. So, I did a bit-o-reseach!

Le Belle Woodworking Company is still in business, and, in fact, is apparently the oldest model train kit company still around. This kit is still produced. You can buy a new one for 39.99 right now. So is this kit newish?

I'm pretty sure this kit is far from new. How do we know? The hint is in the address. Now the address isn't the same as it is today, but the real tell is the lack of zip code. Zip codes came into use in 1963, so this kit is pre-'63. You couple that with the fact that this company existed many years before that, even, then we can see that this kit has sat around, unbuilt, for over 60 years. 

Now, the question always pops up in my mind, "Should I build it?" I honestly don't know. I mean, I have a ton of other projects to work on first, but there's a chance I will. It seems pretty cool. After all, that coolness is why I bought it!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!