Those kinds of kits are out there, but it may take some sleuthing. Easiest thing would be to order them from an online retailer. Aside from that, look at an IPMS show, they sometimes have one or two in the vendor room.
Revell released a Big Boy in HO scale around 2003. Trumpeter has released many German military train cars and locos in 1/35 scale.
Have you ever heard of Scalemates? It is an online database of model kits. They don’t sell them, but sometimes they will link to an online seller. You can search by category, such as “trains.” Here is a link
There are quite a few “Dummy” engines available in diesel, not so many in steam.
If you are interested, there are a lot of card (paper) models available. It’s a great genre for card as there are a lot of flat parts and the geometry is usually pretty simple.
Buyer Beware! Some kits are out there. BUT,if they say cast metal,be wary. I just finished what should’ve a simple build for a friend from our train Museum.
It turned into a four day engineering job for an H.O.N 30 (Narrow Guage). They supplied really nothing that would be believable for trucks ( wheels ) and bolsters ,Much less Truss rods.
If they say plastic, you may be safe. See if you can peek at the instructions. They may be test in Isometric drawing readability! I recommend going to a Train Show and hitting a vendor.That way you can feel, see ,and decide much better. If you are in Texas or know someone in the San Antonio area, the New Braunfels Train Show is coming in October.
Would you like me to see if I can find something for you? Message me if you would. Good Luck on your end. Tanker-Builder
What Hypertex said: this is a heck of a model for $ 29.00. And at HO scale, you can buy all the plastic Union Pacific refrigerator cars you could ever want and go blasting over Sherman Hill!
Check out www.agesofsail.com for their Occre section. They have a number of train and tram models. I have built a few of the trams and have enjoyed all of them.
I have been looking too! I am inspired to build a steam locomotive for a friend to display, and so far, I have only been able to find the Revell big boy for sale…although I have found that revell put out a ny-hudson in ho scale, but no one has it for sale. Do some eBay searching, and search frequently!
The General## 4-4-0 American Standard Woodburning Steam Locomotive## MPC - No. 1-2001 - 1:25# The General## 4-4-0 American Standard Woodburning Steam Locomotive## Airfix - No. 9 20441 - 1:25# The General Steam Locomotive## AMT/ERTL - No. 8124 - 1:25# The General Locomotive## MPC/Round2 - No. 2818 - 1:25
That seems to be the series of releaases per scalemates. There’s a few on ebay, run around $ 75 inc. shipping.