Description: Up for auction is an awesome, HO, Rock Island "The Rocket" 3-car passenger set pulled by one of EMD's unique TA Diesels.!! This set was made by KMT of Tokyo, Japan, and imported and marketed by Nickel Platte Products. The entire train has a beautiful, factory paint job in the original Rock Island Rocket paint scheme of Dark Red, Medium Red and Silver. The Silver pin striping is superb and the major silver stripes are outlined with extremely fine Black pin striping. The train's name, "The Rocket", is proudly proclaimed in Silver! This Rock Island "The Rocket" trainset is an extremely rare find. In over 20 years, I have only ever seen a couple of these sets listed on Ebay. I purchased this set 15-18 years ago and get it out every year or so to run it and show it off. Considering the model locomotive's age and the fact that it does not have flywheels, the EMD TA model runs very well. After oiling and adding grease, it runs even better. Take a look at the photo of the mechanism. It is in excellent shape. Also, there is plenty of room to install a can motor and a couple of flywheels if you so choose. At the same time, if you are so inclined, you could add DCC, even a sound decoder and speakers and a Keep Alive!! As is, the headlight works great, too. The three cars in the articulated set have excellent paint jobs and are lettered in Black. Their names are (front to back): -"Bear Lake' which has one truck and one body-mounted Kadee coupler. -"Ottawa" which has two trucks, no couplers and has the shortest car body. -"Mount Evans" which has one truck and one-body-mounted Kadee coupler. Over time the foam between car diaphrams have deteriated but should be fairly easy to replace. Not having this between car foam helps this train navigate sharper curves. "The Rocket" easily negotiates my 30" radius curves and could go sharper. There is also a small white spot covering part of the the name on one side of the "Mount Evans" car. It looks like "White Out" correction fluid or maybe white paint. With some careful scrapping, it should be fairly easy to remove. As I said above, the EMD TA Diesel runs fine. But when I add the three cars, sometimes it runs and sometimes the train shorts. When it shorts, it seems to originate in the "Ottawa" car with the two trucks. I am not sure what the problem is but I would guess it in the trucks, the metal drawbars or perhaps old nylon bushings. This should be a fairly easy fix. One of the routes the protoype for this train covered was "The Peoria Rocket" running between Peoria, IL, and Chicago. Recently on Ebay, I bought some great B&W, 8x10 photos of this train in action. It was till fairly new and gleamed in the sun. Classie!! I will ship this train in "The Rockets" original box with new foam. The box does not show hardly any wear. All will be carefully wrapped and promptly shipped (within three days). Keep in mind that this Rock Island "The Rocket" train set is all brass and comes in a large box so it does have some weight. I would also suggest that you buy insurance with your shipping.
Price: 725 USD
Location: Woodstock, Illinois
End Time: 2024-11-18T05:15:53.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Year Manufactured: 1970
Item Length: 40 inch
Gauge: HO
Vintage: Yes
Rail System: Two-Rail System
Item Height: 2 in
Features: Excellent Original Box, Factory Painted and Letterd, Kadee Couplers, Original Nickel Plate Products/KMT Paperwork, Runs, Working Headlight
Item Width: 1.6 in
Power Type: DC
Assembly Status: Ready to Go/Pre-built
Replica of: Rocket Island Rocket w/TA Diesel Passenger Train
Wheel Configuration: Bo-Bo
Material: Brass
Scale: 1:87
Grade: C-7 Excellent
Control System: Analog
Age Level: 17 Years & Up
Franchise: Rock Island Rocket
Brand: Nickel Plate Products, KMT
Type: Rock Island Rocket Train Set w/TA Diesel
Corporate Roadname: Rock Island Railroad Rocket
Theme: Railroad Passenger Transportation
Time Period Manufactured: 1970-1979
Country/Region of Manufacture: Japan
Item Weight: 4.5 lb
