WM 4-6-0?

[ScaleCraft]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/L-6-O-Gauge-2- ... 2767675785
I know what it is. $225 BIN with no bidding, $32.50 to ship is not right for condition.
Surprised at lack of paint on both chassis.
Nice angled running boards.
Strip, repaint, and make it something besides WM.
"Trains likely do not run. Can use for restoration or parts. In generally good restorable condition. Sold AS IS."
Long time Trash Collector Member, run into him before.
$40 at the door, since you can't just order parts anymore.
Interesting bottom cover on engine. All the ones I have seen are brass.
Something is miss-assembled or missing to allow the drivers to slide that far into bottom cover and almost un-mesh the gears.

[ScaleCraft]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/L-1-O-Gauge-2- ... 2748639998

Same clown, same price, same shipping

https://www.ebay.com/itm/L-3-O-Gauge-2- ... 2767675801

Same clown, same price, same shipping

[E7]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/L-6-O-Gauge-2- ... 2767675785

I don't care for the engineer with the blue sweater!

[De Bruin]

Three similar ten-wheelers all from the same dealer, must have been from a single collection. I recall this dealer would list old champ sets for an absurd minimum, I think Bob knows him too.
Finish and assembly detail issues aside all three engines have what appear to be clean mechanisms, if I really wanted one of these I'm not sure the price is that out of line for these days. High, yeah but.....even without the pandemic issues, thinking to myself, "oh I can find one of these for cheap at the Chicago meet" ignores the up front cost to attend, the hit or miss of who shows up and what they bring. 2016 had a huge number of estate sales with these kind of goodies, last year, not so much. All opinion.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

oh I can find one of these for cheap at the Chicago meet" ignores the up front cost to attend, the hit or miss of who shows up and what they bring.

Surprising how many seem perfectly willing to ignore the actual cost of attending these shows.

[ScaleCraft]

oh I can find one of these for cheap at the Chicago meet" ignores the up front cost to attend, the hit or miss of who shows up and what they bring.

Surprising how many seem perfectly willing to ignore the actual cost of attending these shows.

Or the cost in hour (and parts) to bring one of these back.
Shows are often social gatherings. You pays your money, chat, visit, see old friends, peruse, and maybe buy something...maybe not.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Shows are often social gatherings. You pays your money, chat, visit, see old friends, peruse, and maybe buy something...maybe not.

Chicago -- 4 days of travel, tolls, gas, food, 3-4 hotel nights......or flights there and back and 2 hotel nights....takes a lot of bargains to make that social gathering cost effective and if flying that brass car in the overhead compartment is iffy. Part of why I don't make the shows like I was - just not cost effective business.

[bob turner]

Hobbies are by definition not cost-effective. No price can be placed on social interactions. Opinion.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Hobbies are by definition not cost-effective.

Yet some can be.

No price can be placed on social interactions. Opinion.

I was not putting a price on social interactions. I was pointing out the costs of attending shows and that those costs are frequently ignored and/or overshadowed by the gaining of "bargains". No more and no less.

[De Bruin]

Rufus is right, evaluating web auction prices based on the lowest show price one has seen in the last five years is fallacy.
Basically a small sample etc. ignoring if not forgetting all the over-priced examples, often at the same show, in favor of the estate liquidation, want-my-money now, "this was my Dad/Husband/Friends stuff- pleases get it out of here" sellers.
And yeah cost of attending a good meet......
$200 for an All Nation boiler and chassis?
sold, I damn sure won't find one like it locally around here.
If I passed because it takes so much of my time to finish in the end that I'm upside down,
well I would likely have an empty basement, given that restriction.
It's what I do.

[ScaleCraft]

The joy is in the hunt. NOT what some yay-who shows out of focus photo of, missing damaged parts, with no real bidding (rather a starting bid or BIN). To see the item, hold it, inspect it, determine if it's to your liking, then engage in age-old banter to come to an agreed-upon price.
I've done it so many times. Folks told me I was nuts when I told them what I wanted and exactly how much I was gonna pay. And I did exactly that.
First actual show sale like that, I think, I needed a Lionel 671 Turbine chassis, no lead or trail trucks, no boiler/shell, no tender, my max was ten bucks. Needed it for a proof-of-concept idea, to make a Lionel 2-8-2 using all or 99.9% Lionel parts.
And I did.
None of my GM or A-N steamers were anything close to what these are asking. I think my SC Mountain was the most expensive, and I had to wait until I found one for the price I was willing to spend.
Trust sellers with photographs and "untested" statements?

Not me.

You never know what Zamac Rot lurks in some of that stuff, and no amount of photos will reveal it to you.

[bob turner]

I guess I see it differently. Going to a show was an excuse to drive highway 101, give the Greek a break in the kitchen, see some old friends, enter a contest, and maybe buy something - maybe not. Several years ago the cost to go to OSW was just over a grand. Cannot factor that in to a handful of parts or a box car.

I have missed it the last five years or so - part of it is the traffic over Memorial Day weekend. It was bad enough in February. I was going to fly last year, but caught a cold.

Just looking is fun - but after a day I am ready to come home.

I have had nothing but good luck on eBay. I have captured CLW PAs, a Jack Raymus E7, some freight cars to match my collection, and some airplane parts - oh, and a pair of Binks spray guns and some Makita drills. Deliriously happy - and my sales have all been successful and trouble-free. Next year a pair of Overland Mikes will go - probably to folks I know - and the deals will be good for both of us.

Sure, things are getting a little out-of-hand - sixty bucks for empty CLW boxes? Gimme a break. But you know, nobody is forcing me to buy any of this stuff!

[prrjim]

I think you have to decide whether the cost of attending a show is rolled into the price or not for you.

For me, I like going to see the stuff. I enjoy the thrill of the serendipitous find that I just gotta have.

I also like being able to see the stuff for real, touch it, check it out, and decide if it is good for me. I still often get something home and find I missed some damage or missing part or something negative - - but then I can't blame it on a sharp photographer hiding it. I enjoy visiting with people and I enjoy the good natured haggling to come up with a deal.

A side story related to a "deal:" I was at the march meet wandering down an aisle just browsing and I noticed a robin's egg blue caboose. It was very bright blue and lettered wabash. the more I looked at it, I decided it was a PRR NDA cabin by The Carworks. The guy had 125 on it. I didn't need one but it is a nice model. As I stood there thinking that is a real sin to be painted that color. The guy that had watched me a minute and then said Hi. so I said is that a PRR NDA model? He said yes and smiled. I said quite a paint job, it would take some repainting. He smiled again. I was thinking to myself, I might pay 50 for that, but no more and I really was not that interested. We chatted a little more perhaps he asked for an offer, I don't remember, but we parted. I started to walk down the aisle and he said - - would you take it for 50? I laughed, and said OK at that price. I couldn't help thinking he read my mind!

As for Ebay. I have never bought or sold that way. I have some friends and have heard a few horror stories from them about purchases that were misleading. I am just to cautious to try. I immediately distrust the post that says "don't know if it runs, I didn't test it". I figure they did and it doesn't. I also find the ones that that say "rare" or "unique" or some other superlative annoying. We are all modelers and we know pretty much what is rare or vintage or worthwhile, we don't need someone blasting it out in caps rather than just listing the description. I also get annoyed when I do a search for O Scale brass and listing for lionel this or that, or brass fitting for standard gauge toys or other non model railroad stuff pops up.

I have purchased stuff off forum buy and sell lists and the O Scale Yard Sale successfully. I feel more comfortable with those groups than the big open ebay.

[bob turner]

In O Scale 2-rail, assume it does not run. Even really good Lobaugh will have axles frozen in the bearings after ten years of display. Wheels will be at least dirty, if not tarnished with oxidation that will not conduct electricity.

I have some beautiful models - maybe 140 steam models from the golden era through USH - and at any given time, only three of them will run reliably. It will generally take me an hour of cleanup and lube to make a parked model run.

When operable Lobaugh comes through the door, it usually need quartering and side rod adjusting - more like a five hour project - and often new axle gear and gearbox adjustment. You are extremely lucky if an estate sale antique can simply be placed on the track.

As to factoring in the cost of travel and hotel/meals to your meet purchase - you would need about $5000 worth of bargain O Scale to break even. That is a loser way to obtain good models for cheap. So if you look at it that way, I am sure that fits under the rubric of "hobby", and therefore justified, but it is a whole bunch cheaper to buy on eBay and throw every other purchase in the trash can. Or maybe four out of five?

As always, opinion.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

............buy on eBay and throw every other purchase in the trash can. Or maybe four out of five?

If you are doing that, then you are doing something very wrong.................or buying very indiscriminately.