I've hyped this potential offer before, and this shall be the last time.

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum is making plans to scrap its giant 54" Niles wheel lathe unless someone comes up with a firm and committed offer to give it a good home.

Specifics: it came from the Canton RR. It is essentially complete, with motor, tool holders, and external fittings removed for safekeeping while the bed, etc. sat in outdoor storage.

The BSM will garner about $4,000 if it is scrapped, and that's what the BSM is looking to get for it, F.O.B. central Baltimore. The weight is 60 tons. Potential loading on Norfolk Southern/Amtrak is nearby (within 1/4 mile). The BSM is offering the lathe to any comer who will do the legwork and gruntwork themselves to move it--don't ask the BSM to find a local trucker or crane, like other parties have. When they say FOB, they mean it. They've wasted enough time with "tire kickers."

If a committed offer is made, the BSM will cancel scrapping plans and give a new owner a chance to rescue it. Otherwise, plans are to scrap it in mid-summer. "We're just tired of looking at it," said one BSM official.

You may contact me for particulars if needed.

I had always wondered what that thing was down there and what they were doing with it.

I'll miss it the few times I drive by, but eh, hopefully it'll find itself a good home.

Let me get with the TWVRPS and see their position, the group got some tools and are working on a home for everything.

I don't see postings on Railswap or the Classifieds on this website. Have you tried other forums and ARM's avenues? Good luck finding a new home, I am sure someone wants it but just doesn't know about it yet.

OK, first of all I'm hoping this is one of ADM's pet April Fools joke as I'd hate to see this thing scrapped.

In any case:


Well, in that case, they don't mean FOB. FOB stands for "Freight on Board" meaning that the seller will load it onto your truck or ship etc. The buyer then pays freight charges from that point on.

If you're not hiring a local crane to load it, then you are selling the item "As-is, where-is"

FOB stands for "Freight on Board"

No, actually it can mean "free on board". However,to determine whether the shipper or receiver is paying; it has a further distinction "FOB shipping point" or "FOB destination".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOB_%28shipping%29

I/we were very interested in this lathe. I asked 2 simple questions. The first was for just the name of local crane company that they may have known about or better yet had used. Just a name and maybe the phone number. I guess that was too much to ask. Would it not be easier to answer one or 2 simple questions than scrap the machine? I was not asking anyone to line up anything for me. I know better!
The other was where did the 60 ton weight come from? I was told that’s what somebody thought it could weigh. That seems a little on the heavy side to me, I could be wrong but I have moved machinery and rail equipment before. Weight is a VERY important factor in crane and shipping cost. We moved a 1944 ALCO 0-6-0 (not a tank engine)that on the crane scale only weighed 125,000. This weigh issue has a real bearing on what they would make from a scrap sale. It would not be the first time someone had high expectations of something’s scrap value only to find out it was a losing idea after paying for supplies to scrap it.
So my second question that maybe someone else on this board can confirm: is this a realistic weight or a number they came up with to meet their monetary wants?

Agree to a price per pound. Any decent crane outfit will have load cells on their hooks and you'll know the exact weight. Multiply numbers and write the check on the spot!

BTW this is the first time I have ever seen anything about this lathe being available. Where was it advertised previously?

I moved a 90" Niles from St. Thomas to Scranton in 1985, and it weighed 65 ton, for reference. We did not get a scale on it, but we got the weighbill from when the railroad moved it from Saginaw to St. Thomas in 1953 out of the A.F.E. record.

Steve

I tried to move this lathe to the Savannah roundhouse to go where the old wheel lathe had been - but could not get it supported. It would make a nice exhibit in a roundhouse / backshop facility or a good useful machine (with a capacity of I think 49" if memory serves.)

dave

To answer:

I will post a photo or two tomorrow.

IT'S BIG. I believe the weight cited was based on its move locally from the Canton RR to the BSM.

BSM has been through this loop several times. Every time, the time expended on local calls to cranes, truckers, etc. has been wasted. The Internet means that a prospective client can find the info themselves, even in another country. And frankly, the BSM hasn't done anything with a crane company in decades that I know of.

Talk to me after you see the photos.

Free on Board still means that the seller loads it. It's used in reference to ships. Who pays the freight is designated by the location named after FOB. The buyer is responsible for unloading costs at the destination.

Per Incoterms:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incoterm

Just an update:

There have been a couple serious inquiries about the lathe. All thus far have been "eligible" for the price of $5,000.

Two parties supposedly took one look at what it would cost to move sixty tons the necessary distance, and instantly abandoned the plans.

At least one party purports to still be interested. The preliminary estimates for moving I heard were in excess of $100,000 for a move across at least two states, which of course indicates that this would be a commercial user of the lathe.

This, my friends, is why we didn't want "tire kickers."

I moved a 90" Sellers wheel lathe in 2003. Total weight of the machine was 135,000 pounds. Cost to disassemble it, load it on to three semis and haul it to North Carolina was $8,500. The heaviest individual piece was 70,000 pounds. Unloading it was an additional $2,000 for the crane at this end.

JohnB
Spencer, NC

$100K for a 60 ton machine? Really?