In all of this recent talk concerning the EBT (both the land and the two coaches) the issue of selling for scrap came up. Someone mentioned the price of scrap bottoming out.

When I expressed interest in acquiring the two steam pumps at the plant, I discussed a price with the plant's purchasing agent. Once an asset is written off the books, it is only worth it's weight times the current price per pound for scrap metal.

When I almost lost the second pump, and got in touch with the individual handling the sale of scrap, I found out the going price was $0.02 a pound. In the case of the two pumps, I guesstimated they weighed 600lbs and 250lbs each.

So, the scrap price for them was...$12.00 and $5.00. When the purchasing agent found out about this, he shook his head; no talk of paying for either pump or coming up with paperwork for donatation was mentioned after that.

I don't know if that price is the same in other parts of the country. But if it is, most of the EBT equipment will return very little in scrap metal prices. The two coaches would hardly be worth burning for the amount of scrap metal they would return.

It would also seem like this is a good time to acquire equipment from operators and corporations. If the item in question is fully depreciated and only worth it's price in scrap, it would probably do that company more good both as a tax write off and a publicity move to donate it to a museum instead. It would also seem like the EBT equipment would be of little value as scrap; ditto for the three N&W steam locomotives at Virginia Metals, Roanoke, VA. I guess the scrappers could always hedge their bets and wait for the price of scrap to go up; however, with the state of the above equipment, it could only get worst.

The only gotcha is that you have to be an organization, not an individual. They will also want to sell it to you "as is where is", with no warrenty or guarantees, and a complete transfer of title. That way, they are protected from any future litigation if the equipment is used an results in damage or an injury or death. But neither is a show stopper to a museum or charitable organization.

Just my $0.02 (a pound) worth.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Locomotives
james1@pernet.net

Here is a price list from my friends at Youngstown Iron & Metal. This should give you a good idea of what scrap has been going for.

Youngstown Iron & Metal
todengine@woh.rr.com

> It would also seem like this is a good time
> to acquire equipment from operators and
> corporations. If the item in question is
> fully depreciated and only worth it's price
> in scrap, it would probably do that company
> more good both as a tax write off and a
> publicity move to donate it to a museum
> instead. It would also seem like the EBT
> equipment would be of little value as scrap;
> ditto for the three N&W steam
> locomotives at Virginia Metals, Roanoke, VA.
> I guess the scrappers could always hedge
> their bets and wait for the price of scrap
> to go up; however, with the state of the
> above equipment, it could only get worst.

In reading about the EBT and the Kovalchicks, you have to realize the mentality of most scrap people. They don't usually care about history or
anything else. They buy on the cheap and sell high
If the scrap price is too low, the stuff will sit
until it goes up, or they need to fill up a truck or gondola to make up a full load. They think that "train nuts" and museums have lots of money, and are stupid enough to pay anything they ask.
There may be something in the yard that you can use, but the scrapyard proprietor tells you: "I'm
gonna use that for something" and it's not for sale at any reasonable price. In the meantime, the proprietor drops dead, never using the item,
still unmoved from when you saw it 10 years earlier. They rarely, if ever "donate" anything,
unless they can be shamed or cajoled into it.
They do admire being bargained with, and like when you hold your ground. These are salt-of-the-
earth people who understand (or think) that what they have is worth money, and you've got it, and they want it. It's amazing, and you'll find that
just about all of them operate under the same M.O.


schwartzsj@juno.com

One "antiquities" dealer I used to deal with fit the above profile perfectly. He had a button he occasionally wore, saying "What part of 'Buy Low, Sell High' DON'T you UNDERSTAND?"

This character also was a charter member of the Tinfoil Hat brigade and probably thought "The X-Files" was a documentary, and has "vanished from sight" after apparently double-crossing a few other dealers.

Scrappers aren't all mentally defective, but yes, they do tend to require a certain mindset as noted above.

lner4472@bcpl.net

> "What part of 'Buy Low, Sell High'
> DON'T you UNDERSTAND?"

> Scrappers aren't all mentally defective, but
> yes, they do tend to require a certain
> mindset as noted above.

Gee, are we all so PC that "profit" is now a 4 letter word? Scrap is the guy's JOB, you fellows don't work at yours for free, why should he?

That said, Dealing with scrap men is a lot like dealing with inspectors... a LOT of it comes down to YOUR attitude when you approach them.

I have seen scrap dealers gleefully destroy "scrap" when there were buyers on hand with more than scap money ready to buy. Some of these guys are just sadistic! Not all, but some! Profit was NOT the motive!
OTOH, I've gotten some great stuff out of scrap yards--paid through the nose (in the scrapper's opinion) but I saved the stuff!
S'
David D.

djdewey@cncnet.com

> I have seen scrap dealers gleefully destroy
> "scrap" when there were buyers on
> hand with more than scap money ready to buy.

When I hear about a situation like that I usually wonder WHO screwed it up for everybody else. I've dealt with auto salvage guys who seemed to HATE guys with muscle cars...Why? because a couple wise guys with hot rods tried (or suceeded) to take advantage of them.
Likewise, I've dealt with boiler inspectors (state) who had a chip on their shoulder because some owner gave them a hard time.

Hmmm, Let's see...
I once paid Louisville Scrap $ 8.00 for the headlight off of L&N 2-8-2 1768.....
In 1960, I paid D J Joseph in Cincinnati $ 5.00 for the builder's plate from N&W Y6 2130 and watched them remove it from the engine.
And in 1972, the manager at the D J Joseph yard in Tampa delayed the scrapping of some ICRR coaches to allow NRHS members to remove several seats. Also, they were selling the cars complete for $ 3500.00. Who wouldn't jump at these prices today?

hrvideo@mindspring.com