I'm happy to report that the traversing carriage model got here in perfect shape. The seller had packed each major part separately in inches of bubble wrap and put it all in two large boxes with styro peanuts. That wasn't an ideal way to do it since the heavy stuff works through the peanuts and finds the side of the box then tries to break through, but no damage occurred.
The thing is really better than pictured. First of all, it is huge. All removeable parts are match-marked and even the match marks (punched dots) are all the same diameter, depth, and are all lined up. For example, each of the four platform wheels had from one to four punched dots, and each wheel well on the platform had the corresponding number of dots for its particular wheel. There's no question that this is what I call an "arsenal model."
I've gone ahead and credited the person who put me on to this with appropriate credit in merchandise for the next time he visits the warehouses. It his second such "finder's fee" from us. Some of my finders recently have been members of this board.