I found this engine for sale on the Barnhardt and Associates website. $285,000 seems a little steep for an engine that needs work.
I like the line "...stored indoors since 2004 and was operational when last run.". I've never heard of an engine that wasn't operational when last run. LOL!

http://www.trains-trams-trolleys.com/home/2015_4.htm

This is the latest in a series of locomotives for sale that have ridiculous prices.

I like steam, but understand the purchase price is to the total price of ownership is just the tip of the iceberg. Are the sellers serious? Who sets these prices?

Kind of like that old line, "guaranteed used cars". Absolutely guaranteed to be used................

Offer and acceptance -- that is what sets the price.

You can start asking or offering wherever you want. Some are more willing than others to come down from an asking price; likewise some are more willing to up an offering price.

Think of buying a house or of middle-eastern rug merchants. And that wonderful phrase, "A fool and his money are soon parted."

The ad for the Heisler says that it "has been stored indoors since 2004 and was operational when last run." My question is....when was it last run?

Looking at its general condition, I think that it was run some time well prior to being put into indoor storage.

Just my observation.

Bob

Couplers not included!

Barnhardt and Assoc. has just been sold to a new owner, and I would expect some of the "used car salesman" tactics that Dave used to employ will change. The one that particularly galled me was the use of a kindergartner running Photoshop to alter the photos to disguise where the subject was actually located. Hopefully the new owner will try for a more buyer friendly model (like Ozark) rather than "the one rich guy with money burning a hole in his pocket" that Barnhardt seemed to be looking for.

Steve

My all time favorite "Was new once!" Now that one makes me want to run right out and buy what ever it is on sale!

Later!
Mr. Ed

The way it's sitting on that trailer doesn't bode well for any rigging underneath.

Offer and acceptance -- that is what sets the price.


Precisely, and I see a lot of offers but no acceptance. If I recall, the best offer on C&O 614 was 200K (rejected), the 0-6-0 @ NH&I and the one from the NS&W have been for sale for a long time, as has the Emperor of the North (operable) engine..

So, if you really want to sell, find a price that clears. In some cases I suspect, the clearing price is gratis, then at least you might get a donation letter to apply to taxes...

We're not dealers so I don't have a dog in the fight here. But we do do appraisals and I have a great deal of interest tracking the differences between 'offered' prices and final sale prices when I can get them. There's always a spread, the question becomes documenting - and predicting - it.

I don't know anybody that takes offered prices seriously, except perhaps the seller, and that is often on the advice of the dealer in the middle. It's also a function of time (how long do you want to wait?).

I've been involved in deals, however, where the value of a broker in the middle is not to be underestimated. It's more like a real estate agent relationship; do you really want these two parties trying to deal face to face? Sometimes, really, no, unless you want law enforcement on the scene. I can think of a couple in the last year where I even warned the dealer that knowing some of the folks involved, they were REALLY going to earn a sales commission!

There was a favorite many years ago, on a certain steam locomotive that was advertised as 'just having a hydrostatic boiler test'. There was no claim however, on whether it PASSED it. And, if you investigated, it hadn't. But that's not what was said either, so there was no misrepresentation except in the perception of the buyer. I see a lot of that kind of thing, and always warn people about falling victim to what they want to read, not what is actually there, and 'operational the last time it was run' is another classic.

This is the first Heisler I have seen with running board skirts. Were these unique or were there others with running boards like these?

John Bohon

John:
Pretty unique I think.
When I saw the loco in operation (August, 1963), the owners name:
"Forest Products Chemical, Co." was lettered on the skirts. A neat operation with some of the switching handled by the No. 2 and some by a fleet of mules.
They also had an ALCO 2-6-2T No. 3 (?) which has wandered about (but still exists).
Be well,
J.David

Thanks David. A friend reading this thread sent me a couple of photos of the engine in service. The skirts make an interesting sign. Am I assuming correctly that these were added by Forest Products Chemical Co. and not original equipment from Lima? They look pretty well done.

John Bohon

I didn't catch the skirt added to the running boards right away, but now that I see them, I agree they look well done. But I doubt if Lima added those skirts; Lima built Shays, a different type of geared engine. The Heisler was built by Stearns Manufacturing until 1907, then by the Heisler Locomotive Company up until 1941.