GODAMMIT, DUKE!!! I’ve been looking for years for that kit.
Here’s the back story why….
I was around 10, 11, or 12 years old at the time when I built it. Got it for Christmas or my birthday (can’t remember which). Spent a good two weeks building it. Anyway, I finally got it done and there was a shelving space in the DR/LR (open concept space in a bungalow home back then) and that’s where it sat on display until…..
One day, I returned home from school one day, I found it on my bed, broken. Naturally, I was upset and asked what the hell happened. My mom was a housewife and a stay at home mom - a normal thing during the 70s - and did housework everyday. She decided that shelf where the Clydesdale Budweiser wagon train kit sat needed dusting. Yup…. you know where is is going. She dropped it…. on the hardwood floor, broken in pieces.
I was so upset, I wouldn’t speak to mom for two weeks.
Even my dad noticed I was mad at mom.
Nothing could could save it. I fixed what I could but it wasn’t the same at all. Eventually, I ended up ditching it. How I loved that kit.
Fast forward as the years gone by and by then, I had been married a few years and I had rekindled the flames of this great hobby again. I’ve been searching for the same kit. I did find one at an antique thrift store and inspected the contents inside a bad condition box. Everything was there, except for a couple of key gold chrome parts - sides for the mouth bits to the Clydesdale horses. Seller was asking $40, offered me $30. Turned it down because it was missing a couple parts and noticed there were a couple broken parts in the box upon further inspection. Seller even dropped the offer down to $20. I still turned it down. I thanked the seller and walked out.
Yes, I am still looking for another, but I won’t pay stupid money for it on eBay. I’ll keep searching and hopefully one day, I’ll find it again. Heck… I’m still hunting for some key vintage kits of my youth to this day. I’ve acquired a few but there are some really desirable ones I really love to get my hands on them again…. Smokey the Convoy Chaser, Force 440, Jacque Cousteau Reseach boat, Dodge 4x4 Camper with dirt bike and a few others. All are hard to find or expensive today.
Duke, you’ve done good on that Clydesdale Budweiser Beer Wagon Train kit. It does bring back fond memories of my youth building that kit despite what had happened. Well done, Mark!!
