A late 1960s brass import built by Nishikawa of Japan. This intriguing Southern Pacific steam locomotive was included among offerings presented in Westside Model Company’s 1st Edition catalog. The HO-scale replica depicts a unique 0-6-0T shop switcher that served Southern Pacific.

The production run is listed as 600 examples and this model was Westside’s 015 stock number, according to Brass Model Trains Price & Data Guide: Volume 2/2009 Edition (Publishing Partners International). If you purchased this little HO steam locomotive when it was new, the retail was $60 (it is estimated by the mentioned guide to be valued currently at $500).

This was Southern Pacific 966 and the model was promoted as a member of Westside’s “Craftsman Series” in HO scale.

ABOVE: Here is a view of the underside of this locomotive, showing the gear and coupler arrangement and “Japan” origin mark.

In addition to this HO release, Westside Model Company’s 1980 catalog included a similar O-scale brass Southern Pacific shop switcher release. Southern Pacific’s 217 was offered in a 1:48 brass reproduction produced by Samhongsa Co. in 1980.

The model photos are by Matthew Dowd of ReSourced Rails (resourcedrails.com) and this example was recently sold by his company. Check ReSourced Rails website and sign up for notifications. Mr. Dowd specializes in offering vintage models (brass and some plastic reproductions) in various scales.