# EBAY Chop Shop



## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Yesterday, I bid on part of an old steamer---an AF 322 Hudson, probably 60 to 70 years old. What I was bidding on was the frame, motor, and wheels: tender, cowcatcher, and boiler shell were missing. They said it ran great (I wondered how they could tell?) and I saw in it a chance to restore it by gradually acquiring parts. I placed a bid and was the high bidder. Then, I looked at their on-line store and was dismayed. It seems that ebay id *dhstow (Stow It Collections) of Wilton, CA*, acquires working antique engines and breaks them down for parts, effectively destroying one of a limited number of the remaining units.

When I emailed them and expressed my dismay at what they were doing, I received this answer:

Dear lcecil52,

Hi, I understand. We have a multiscale layout that encircles a 40,000 square foot warehouse that is a personel museum of all kinds of items, from Model Ts, to vinatge tractors and lots of vintage toys. All our collection is in excellent or better condition. We use to take broken locos apart and fix them up to sell them, but we found that the demand is greater for the parts. Many hobby enthusiasts need good parts to fix their toys. Should we ignore this demand? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I respect yours. But maybe you should learn a little about the people you insult, before doing so. 
Have a nice day!
Tammy


- dhstow



Do as you see fit, but I'm unwilling to do business with someone with this perspective.

Reckers


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

It's done with Athearn and Rivarossi locomotives all the time...in the end, the sum of the parts is worth well more than the hole. While I agree with you, I can't blame them for taking advantage of a lucrative market either.


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

I see no problem with this... The parts have to come from some where... I have actually done this myself in the past...


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## Mit (Feb 12, 2010)

> Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I respect yours. But maybe you should learn a little about the people you insult, before doing so.


Although I can see their point in doing this, to an extent, but to state this to a customer isn't exactly what I would consider "good business practices"! An explanation would have been sufficient, with the insult of their own. personnally I wouldn't part out a working antique, since most antiques will sell for more than parts of the whole, but i guess they see different. However if you sell antiques as "antiques" you do increase the price substantually!


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I have no problem with the idea of taking a broken unit and using it's parts to repair another. However, I have (obviously) a serious problem with destroying a working antique who's individual parts are all described as either "excellent" or "in good condition" so as to create parts to sell. I realize I'm overreaching with this comparison, but it's like selling the Spirit of St. Louis for scrap. Some things deserve to be preserved for future generations. I agree they will gradually deteriorate over time, but why intentionally destroy them when they're in good working order? I find it repugnant. Just because people do it doesn't make it acceptable.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I always keep in mind that I am bidding against parts people. I would think that the high price of parts would discourage demand, and go just after the whole. Go Figure. I did this with the 2026. Runners were going for 30, parts were half or a quarter that price.
I keep my used part purchases at a minimum. Normally I know who I am dealing with.
I see on ebay part lots, i think these are discards from die hard collectors improving their pieces by upgrading parts.


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## Komodo (Jun 28, 2010)

to fix their toys? anyway I see how this guy has a point.. but Taken a good locomotive nd destroying it to make parts = not good.


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

Komodo said:


> but Taken a good locomotive nd destroying it to make parts = not good.


I am just playing Devil's advocate here, but what if destroying one good, working locomotive resulted in parts that would allow fixes to be made to five non-working (or parts missing, etc) locomotives?


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I understand, and I did give that some thought. There are two problems with that approach, to me.
The first is that, for a collector, having one assembled out of parts from multiple units is not the same thing as having an original. Passing one off as an original would be less than honest. I understand the hair-splitting arguments that go with that: What if it's just one replacement screw? At what point do repair parts, new wire, and so on make it cease to be an original unit? I'm not a collector---I'm a runner. I do think it's appropriate to speak to that issue, though.
The second is this: realistically, what parts go bad on an old steamer? The things are built like tanks. Usually it's one of a very few things: an armature, a reversing unit, or a damaged shell. Two damaged steamers will generally add up to one good one and some spare parts: there's no need to destroy a good one. There's already plenty of cowcatchers and boiler-fronts available from the ones lil Johnny attempted to dismantle. The same applies to armatures and reversing units. I realize this is an emotional issue with me, but I hate to see something that's survived for 60 years destroyed so somebody can make an extra $15 off of gutting it. It's sort of like going into a museum at night and stealing Anasazi pots for resale.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

B&M, I just hit on an analogy that might make my position clearer. *L* The Statue of Liberty is made of copper on an iron frame. At current market value, the copper would be worth 1.4 billion dollars. So, I'm putting a serious question to you: Why don't we break it up, sell the parts for whatever anyone needs copper for, and replace it with a plastic one? The idea is actually more logical than breaking up a steamer, as the tons of copper can go into repairing or building a million things. The answer is that the statue means something to people. It's been there all their lives, and it speaks to the continuity of our own, personal history and beliefs. William Faulkner said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." What keeps the past alive is remembering it, and our little toys connect us with the past. That is what I object to: destroying the next generation's connection to it's history to make a few extra bucks.


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## Mit (Feb 12, 2010)

Like I said earlier, "Destroying an antque to make a few extra bucks is not logical". In fact, if they sold the whole train on an antique site they would fetch more than all the parts combined would fetch in the first place, especially if it were all original. To me it would be like parting a perfectly running antique model T and selling for parts to make a bunch of mismatched ones worth nothing more than a appeal factor.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Exactly. Unfortunately, some people will do anything for that extra buck.


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Reckers said:


> When I emailed them and expressed my dismay at what they were doing, I received this answer:
> 
> "...But maybe you should learn a little about the people you insult, before doing so."


Hey Reck, 

You don't have to quote what you said to them here... but it's worth considering a rhetorical question: Did you insult them? 

Like you, I hate seeing the needless destruction of irreplaceable things. For example, we still use the 60+ year old refrigerator my parents bought when I was born. Over the years it's been repainted three times and the door gasket has been replaced countless times and it still runs like it was new. I'll likely go my whole life without ever needing to buy a refrigerator.

If you look at it as one limited edition engine's parts living on in other limited edition engines, it's really not so bad. If there's a demand for parts, that means that there are incomplete engines which need those parts to be whole again.

Greg


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Reckers said:


> Yesterday, I bid on part of an old steamer---an AF 322 Hudson, probably 60 to 70 years old. What I was bidding on was the frame, motor, and wheels: tender, cowcatcher, and boiler shell were missing. They said it ran great (I wondered how they could tell?) and I saw in it a chance to restore it by gradually acquiring parts. I placed a bid and was the high bidder. Then, I looked at their on-line store and was dismayed. It seems that ebay id *dhstow (Stow It Collections) of Wilton, CA*, acquires working antique engines and breaks them down for parts, effectively destroying one of a limited number of the remaining units.
> 
> When I emailed them and expressed my dismay at what they were doing, I received this answer:
> 
> ...




Your not going to cry are you?

Leave that statue of Liberty alone! It's in Jersey!:laugh:

I would like to see the e mail you sent them, you must have went overboard a little?

Learn about the people you insult, ha ha ha. They just might have a warehouse full of stolen stuff and so it can't be identified they chop them up.

Did you ask if you could buy the rest of it? As they must have it.

Now at least you know where to go for parts.:laugh:
You do need some for the stuff you just won.

If it's e-bay they might have blocked you from bidding.

Tammy sounds like a _itch first class, not good for business. how does she know you are not a Billionaire and now you won't buy that antique automobile from them if it was the last one on earth. 

You should have asked them if they chop up that one of a kind tractor or car to sell the parts.

Put a link for them, Everyday I will ask them a question about something for sale and drive them nuts. 

Put them in my e-bay reviews thread.

All said I guess I agree with you. 
But if you needed the parts would you still object to what they do?


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

*His post to my wife:*

his post to my wife:

"Dear dhstow,

Yesterday morning, I was the high bidder on a 322 chassis and motor you had for auction. I was determined to bid whatever I must to win it. However, when I looked at your other store offerings, I was dismayed: you had apparently taken an intact Hudson and broken it up into pieces to sell---a chop-shop operation. I stopped bidding when I realized this.
I'm not going to attempt to convince you not to do this: I believe arguments about history, love of the hobby, etc. would be made to deaf ears. I'm only going to say I find this practice offensive and will not bid on any of your future offerings.

Sincerely,
Leonard C*****"

My wife took "deaf ears" and our "practice offensive" as an insult. She responded with the quoted message above and then handed it over to me, and we exchanged a few more insults. Back and forth it went like a couple of kids. I apologize to Reckers for my insults. He had upset my wife and I was a bit upset with him. Especially since she took the time to look up the information on a question he had asked the previous day about the motor in question and everything seemed nice....he seemed like a genuingly nice guy.

I explained to him this morning, that I do sell complete units. I also explained that I have bought 8 322s like the motor he was bidding on, in the last few weeks, and all of them were locos and tenders that had damage/missing parts and did not run. I also explained the motor he was bidding on came from a loco & tender that did not run. Even after I fixed the tender plugs, the loco would not run. Then I took it apart and found out why. One little strand of wire was shorting out a connection on the eunit. Easy fix. Cut that one stray strand, and the motor ran like a champ. (How he asked in this forum? Easy...Plug in a known good tender and a good motor will run...without all of the other stuff on board) I then asked him why should I take the time to put it back together, when the demand for the parts is larger then the demand for a incomplete loco and tender? 

He told me I should put it back together. Why? So I can spend more time on it and make even less money? Or even lose money? Hello? What am I missing here? My time is valuable. These things don't come apart and fix themselves and then go back together all by themselves. How dare I want to maximize my profit, or try to make sure I even make a profit. What a concept!

Sure, I could add a better shell, nice gear, an unbroken tender shell(all those were bad), and I have done that before, in order to have a complete unit. Just not this one. 
I just don't get the big beef. I don't see it as ruining a vintage piece. It was already broken. I see it as fixing many others that obviously need it also.

That's my 2 cents worth. Thank you for letting me explain myself.

)

Cheers!


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

*Really?*

"Put a link for them, Everyday I will ask them a question about something for sale and drive them nuts. "

Why would you do that? More child like behavior is not the answer.

)

Cheers


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

*Oh yes.*

I clean them and lube them also.

Sorry, this is not a free service.....unless you happen to win it cheaper then my cost. 

It does happen....



Cheers


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Welcome to the forum.:thumbsup:

Yes, fixing them is a labor of love as there really is no money in it, especially when you can part it out for 2-3 times the money. 

They say to make a small fortune in model trains you must first start with a large one. I'm glad to see someone can do it, blessings to you and yours.


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

Stowit said:


> She responded with the quoted message above and then handed it over to me, and we exchanged a few more insults. Back and forth it went like a couple of kids. I apologize to Reckers for my insults.


Welcome! It is nice to have the other side of the story too... Your posting was an appropriate explination 

Just to be safe though, I want to make sure that this thread stays clean and does not turn into a massive flame war... So before anything happens, I am reminding everyone to keep any personal "attacks" to PMs... Thanks


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Boston&Maine said:


> Just to be safe though, I want to make sure that this thread stays clean and does not turn into a massive flame war... So before anything happens, I am reminding everyone to keep any personal "attacks" to PMs... Thanks


Yes, Dad....


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Stowit said:


> "Put a link for them, Everyday I will ask them a question about something for sale and drive them nuts. "
> 
> Why would you do that? More child like behavior is not the answer.
> 
> ...




I was just kidding as I would never do anything like that.

Sure, I could add a better shell, nice gear, an unbroken tender shell(all those were bad), and I have done that before, in order to have a complete unit. Just not this one.
I just don't get the big beef. I don't see it as ruining a vintage piece. It was already broken. I see it as fixing many others that obviously need it also.

That sounds like a proper explanation.
I am sorry that I called your wife an itch too that was uncalled for.


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

Thanks! Apology accepted.

...even though she sometimes is ...uhm....itchy.



I luv her though...itch and all!



)

Cheers!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Stowit said:


> Thanks! Apology accepted.
> 
> ...even though she sometimes is ...uhm....itchy.
> 
> ...



Mines likes to be called that!:laugh:
She got T shirts in different colors that say, I am a _itch and proud of it.
Key chain and more.

She even has a vanity license plate placed in her rear window.

0 to _itch in 3.0 seconds


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

big ed said:


> Mines likes to be called that!:laugh:
> She got T shirts in different colors that say, I am a _itch and proud of it.
> Key chain and more.
> 
> ...


My wife will like that.

lol....

I do have to thank Reckers for one thing. Letting me know about the forum he was going to post about me on. Hah....top of the list on Google......nice place. 
Thank you Reckers


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Stowit said:


> He told me I should put it back together. Why? So I can spend more time on it and make even less money? Or even lose money? Hello? What am I missing here? My time is valuable. These things don't come apart and fix themselves and then go back together all by themselves. How dare I want to maximize my profit, or try to make sure I even make a profit. What a concept!...
> 
> ...I don't see it as ruining a vintage piece. It was already broken. I see it as fixing many others that obviously need it also.


Hi Stow, 

Sometimes the beauty of how American Capitalism works gets overlooked. :thumbsup:

I don't know if things are beyond repair... but maybe both of you might agree to undo the parts transaction, and see if you can come up with a deal on a complete loco. It might resolve any feedback issue, too...

...just a thought.

Take Care,

Greg


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

choo choo said:


> Hi Stow,
> 
> Sometimes the beauty of how American Capitalism works gets overlooked. :thumbsup:
> 
> ...


He was bidding on just a motor. Not sure if he is interested in a complete one...or if he would ever forgive me, but......

I just got another 322 loco n tender in today. It works, but has many issues....broken parts, repro parts, missing parts.....

...ok...back to work....


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Stowit said:


> He was bidding on just a motor. Not sure if he is interested in a complete one...or if he would ever forgive me, but......
> 
> I just got another 322 loco n tender in today. It works, but has many issues....broken parts, repro parts, missing parts.....
> 
> ...ok...back to work....


Oh, sorry... must have missed that. I thought it was for more parts than one item. 

You could still void the sale and Reck could return the motor. If each of you are willing to forgo a few bucks of first class postage, you could both go your way and call it even. 

Greg


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

choo choo said:


> Oh, sorry... must have missed that. I thought it was for more parts than one item.
> 
> You could still void the sale and Reck could return the motor. If each of you are willing to forgo a few bucks of first class postage, you could both go your way and call it even.
> 
> Greg


No sale to void. He didnt win the motor. He was just the high bidder at one point, about the time he asked the question on wether it ran on A.C. or D.C.

I think he then saw all the items I had listed, or maybe recently in my feedback or something, and thought they were all from the same loco n tender. They were not. I tend to list the nicest parts first, so I can see how it might have appeared that way.

Whenever I do get a nice item in with no major problems, I cannot bring myself to take it apart, for the very same reason Reckers was complaining about. It's not worth it either. The problem is I don't get them very often, because I am only willing to pay as little as possible. Sometimes I get lucky.
But often, even when that happens those items never get to see the light of day on ebay. They are sold before I have to list them.

The last nice American Flyer complete loco n tender I sold on Ebay was a 336. Very nice....back in March. I got lucky and bought the complete set(w/OB) for less then I sold the engine for. The problem was the rest of the set had major issues, so the engine was listed as a buy it nowseperately and sold within a few hours. then that buyer relisted it and made a few hundred dollars more on auction....good for him.....thats how Ebay works.

Its usually fun and very challenging, to make a buck.



Cheers!


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## Komodo (Jun 28, 2010)

this thread had a spark, and it lit and post started flying everywhere.



Boston&Maine said:


> I am just playing Devil's advocate here, but what if destroying one good, working locomotive resulted in parts that would allow fixes to be made to five non-working (or parts missing, etc) locomotives?


I could understand that, but an antique engine?


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

Komodo said:


> this thread had a spark, and it lit and post started flying everywhere.
> 
> 
> 
> I could understand that, but an antique engine?


Wouldn't you rather put original antique parts on your engine, instead of reproduction? Some don't mind. (I make those too) 

There's only so many old stock parts available, so the only other place those parts can come from is, other antique engines that are broken.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I decided to sleep on it before answering.

Stowit, the face you're choosing to show on this site is considerably different from the one in your emails. Here, you're interested, respectful, and seem to be a nice guy. The guy in the emails was a cocky smart-*** and insulting. I suspect the guy in the emails was the real you.

I will apologize for the insults I leveled at you. They were uncalled for, regardless how I felt about your business practices. When you buy a unit, it's yours to restore or part out: since I don't own it, I have no say in it. I interfered in your business, wasted your time, and I apologize for that.

As for the issue of whether it is appropriate to part out an easily repaired or working unit, every person has their opinion. From the responses on this site, I'd have to conclude my position is in a severe minority: the general consensus is it's okay to chop 'em up because that's where there's money to be made. So be it. I'm done with discussing it.


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

Top of the morning to you! 4:46 am here, coffee is cooking.

"Stowit, the face you're choosing to show on this site is considerably different from the one in your emails. Here, you're interested, respectful, and seem to be a nice guy. The guy in the emails was a cocky smart-*** and insulting. I suspect the guy in the emails was the real you."

I'm human. I have my moments on that side of the fence, as we both do. In hindsight, after all considered, maybe we both learned a little. Never to old to learn. I'm close, but not quite yet.

)


Apology accepted! Thanks! This side of the fence is mucho bettero.

"the general consensus is it's okay to chop 'em up because that's where there's money to be made."

It's not alot of money, trust me on that. I could probably make more flipping burgers at Micky D's. (Yuck though!) It's more the love of working on, fixing and playing with, what I think are the best made toys ever. At least I get to do that in my retirement. Not a bad way to go, IMHO.

Coffees done! Got lots of work to do! In this day and age...that's a dang good thing!

)

Cheers!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Stowit,
"the general consensus is it's okay to chop 'em up because that's where there's money to be made."

I agreed to your explanation of what you did to that particular engine.That sounded OK. I don't agree with the above statement.

If all you do is "chop", I will strongly disagree.

But there is good and bad to chopping.

One way you are providing the parts people need.
But the other you are chopping a piece of history away.

I say a lot could probably be redone or fixed.
(But it's your decision because you own them.)

Would you part out an old 55 Vette or T bird when it could be redone?

American Flyer you can chop all of them! 
I have no need for them anyway.
But to reckers, it's like chopping off one of his fingers.

Just my 2 & 1/2 cents.


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

big ed said:


> Stowit,
> "the general consensus is it's okay to chop 'em up because that's where there's money to be made."
> 
> I agreed to your explanation of what you did to that particular engine.That sounded OK. I don't agree with the above statement.
> ...


I don't agree with that statement either. I don't think that was the general consensus.

I do fix some up, when they are worth fixing. I thought I had said that...maybe not, so i'll say it again. 

I do fix some up!



Cheers!


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Reckers said:


> From the responses on this site, I'd have to conclude my position is in a severe minority: the general consensus is it's okay to chop 'em up because that's where there's money to be made.


Hey Reck,

You'll also find only a severe minority who agree with your statement about making money. Money is only made by providing useful products and services. It's good to widen our field of vision to see making money in its larger context...

Here's just an excerpt of the most beautiful and inspiring description of American Capitalism I've *ever* read in my life... 

"To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort. Money allows no power to prescribe the value of your effort except the voluntary choice of the man who is willing to trade you his effort in return. Money permits you to obtain for your goods and your labor that which they are worth to the men who buy them, but no more. Money permits no deals except those to mutual benefit by the unforced judgment of the traders. Money demands of you the recognition that men must work for their own benefit, not for their own injury, for their gain, not their loss--the recognition that they are not beasts of burden, born to carry the weight of your misery--that you must offer them values, not wounds--that the common bond among men is not the exchange of suffering, but the exchange of goods. Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason; it demands that you buy, not the shoddiest they offer, but the best that your money can find. And when men live by trade--with reason, not force, as their final arbiter--it is the best product that wins, the best performance, the man of best judgment and highest ability--and the degree of a man's productiveness is the degree of his reward. This is the code of existence whose tool and symbol is money.

--Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

choo choo said:


> Hey Reck,
> 
> You'll also find only a severe minority who agree with your statement about making money. Money is only made by providing useful products and services. It's good to widen our field of vision to see making money in its larger context...
> 
> ...


Nicely said!

....what does it mean?

Hah! 

JK


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## x_doug_x (Jun 21, 2010)

wow, i only read the first couple posts.. why are you guys bashing anyone? look how hard it is to have a job or make it in todays society? if they wanna part loco's out or part anything else out on ebay because it brings more money then let them. i see no problems with this and you guys shouldn't either. you don't believe in doing it, don't do it. doesn't mean you need to bash someone that does. 

/end rant


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

Here's a nice one i just finished fixing up. It will probably sell before I would list in on Ebay. It runs great and is a mix of several different locos n tenders.


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## Stowit (Jun 30, 2010)

x_doug_x said:


> wow, i only read the first couple posts.. why are you guys bashing anyone? look how hard it is to have a job or make it in todays society? if they wanna part loco's out or part anything else out on ebay because it brings more money then let them. i see no problems with this and you guys shouldn't either. you don't believe in doing it, don't do it. doesn't mean you need to bash someone that does.
> 
> /end rant


Hi, I'm the bashee! 



They have some valid concerns, but I agree that I would never bash anyone for doing that.



Cheers!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hi gents,

Wow ... just back on the forum after a week's vaca with the family ... and just in time for the "fireworks" here, I see!

I've read through the posts above with some interest, and some concern over the salvos fired. I'm glad to see that both sides of the argument were eventually discussed in a level headed manner, and that handshakes were mutually exchanged. If nothing else, this late-read through the topic on my part got me thinking about my own recent efforts to restore some pre-war locos...

I'm certainly no model train pro ... rather, just a relatively newbie tinkerer. But when I bought a near-all-original (but very beat up) Lionel 1681E loco a few months back, I was excited to give it my best-effort strip/refinish/restore job. And things were going well in the process, too, until stupid me (!!!) accidentally broke two of the original sandpipes that run from the boiler dome down to the frame. I was heartbroken ... one minute they were fine, as they had been for 75 years ... then, the next minute, they sat with stubby broken ends in my clumsy hands. What to do? What to do?

Repro parts were not available ... and I really didn't want to go the repro route, even if they were.

I searched around on ebay and finally found someone who had tried (in vain) to sell a 1681 shell intact, then eventually opted to strip it down further, and sell it as parts. So there, on the auction before me, were the very ORIGINAL parts I needed. I grabbed them without hesitation, and they are the sole reason why my 1681 restoration project came out as nicely (self pat on back here, if I may) as it did.

The story continues ...

As I dialoged with the ebay parts seller, I found out that he's coincidentally my neighbor's brother-in-law, and is often in my town (around the corner) for family BBQ's. At one such gathering, I went over to meet the gent, and we had a rather pleasant conversation about his business of selling old trains / parts / and the like. He explained that from his perspective, he tries to sell things as "whole" as possible. (He doesn't tinker/fix himself ... rather, just sells whatever he acquires.) But often, things don't sell, and at some point he opts to take an already broken (non operative) assembly and strip it down further into parts. And sometimes those parts do sell. In the case mentioned above, to a very happy buyer on my end. The one point he made, though, that stuck with me, is that he has no crystal ball ... he has no way of knowing exactly what assembly or individual part someone might be looking for. None of us know exactly, until we actually need the assembly or part, obviously. So, it's a bit of a pot-luck game ... sometimes, some history and "historical fabric" is lost (I use that word loosely), but other times, "historical fabric" is found (happily by me, for example), and history is rebuilt.

I think there's ultimately some benefit in that. After all, I suspect that the true history of our love of model trains lies not only in the metal, castings, polished fittings, and wires that make up the trains themselves, but also in the hands, minds, family lore, and legacies of the PEOPLE who tinker with them.

In that regard, I offer my appreciations to the dialog (on both sides of the fence) offered by others above ... I think discussions like this can serve us all for the better, and perhaps help to engage our interests to crafting some new history for future generations.

'nuff said ...

TJ


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## x_doug_x (Jun 21, 2010)

well put, you said it a lot better than i could have...


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