Strangest (and best) thing found with an engine

tmuir · Strangest (and best) thing found with an engine

We've had the strangest thing found inside a boiler so now I've started a new thread strangest (and best) thing I've found unexpected with a steam toy.
A few weeks ago I received my SP4 and accessories and got this unexpected bonus thrown in the top of the box.

I can only think the seller thought 'steam engines are old so he might like this old stuff too'.

I got a complete 12 December 1934 edition of the BBC's 'The Listener'
Here is the front cover and an article on 'The Flying Scotsman' making a new speed record from London to Leeds.
I also received the front and back cover of the 26 October 1932 edition

And for those that want to read the graph here it is in higher resolution.

SPOKESMAN

Cecil J Allen was widely regarded as a rail writer and observer of the time.

yosa

That's a nice touch mate.

I've got all thw Mamod tools, and the line shaft now, but never bought any of them.

Each one was thrown in with something else from Ebay.

James

Seriously?

Jammy git

James

Seriously?

Jammy git

yosa

Yes, honest.

yosa

Yes, honest.

tmuir

My hammer got thrown in for free with my SE3.
The grinder I got for 2 pounds from an antique shop in Knaresbrough also got a wind up meccano reversing motor for 7.50 pounds with key from the same shop.

Mamodman123

Got a free SE2 chimney once with an SR1 and a plastic plane prop

thats about it..........

oldstuff

Nice bonus, Tony. Cool article about the Flying Scotsman, too.

steamyjim

i got a repainted red SA1 with a SE2a

Chris

Most I ever get is a cardboard box and some bubble wrap

tmuir

Mamodman123

Just remembered I bought a steam wagon with no mention of the box and when it arrived

It was mint in box

Wallace

Sandman

When I bought my SL3 and rolling stock there was no mention of boxes.

Sure enough, when they arrived, all were boxed with all the boxes in very good condition.

The seller never even mentioned them.

yosa

Only collectors appreciate thevalue of a box. General seelers don't seem to realise.

Good touch though mate.

Lewis

i found a leaflet in my 70s linesahft box

also found a dead spider in one

Mamodman123

yosa

Mamodman123

yosa

Ah yes I remember that one, we were looking at it in the pub before we sent it.

Mamodman123

James

Cedge

My best bonus is one I'd love to have happen repeatedly.

I bought quite a large estate engine collection from a lady who represented it as having an estimated number of pieces. To quote her, "I've tried to count them and it appears to be about X number of peices". I asked for photos and they soon arrived by snail mail.

If you've ever tried to count engines across several photos, you'll also know that it's nearly impossible to be sure of a total. After seeing the photos I assumed her "count" was pretty close and we agreed upon a price for the lot, instead of by the piece.

I made a trip across the US to pick them up and when I got home and made a physical count, it was half again as many as she had estimated. Steve had a huge smile on his mug for days.

Several of you are now the proud owners of some of these engines.

The worst surprise was the arrival of a hand made engine display made up of 7 Stuart engines I'd made a deal to buy. This display was made up like a factory floor with soild brass piping and a distribution manifold. I asked the seller to dismantle the display and wrap the pieces individually so that they would be sure to arrive intact. He informed me that he had a professional packing staff who were used to handling fragile items and the dismantling was not needed and wouldn't be happening.

That was when I decided to do the deal but I made it contingent on COD shipping. Smart move on my part.

The shipment arived in a nice looking wooden crate with all kinds "Fragile" and "This side Up" labels on it. You could clearly read them as they came down the drive ... if you turned your head way over to one side. I made the UPS guy stay until I opened the crate. Inside were 7 very badly beaten engines and not one scrap of padding of any kind. Castings were shattered on several of the pieces and all the piping was broken up..

A call to the seller was made and he instructed me to refuse the shipment as damaged. We sealed the crate back up, loaded it back on the big brown van and away it went. ... never to be seen again. It simply disappeared once it arrived back at the UPS terminal. The documentation had been magically altered from "Refused for Damage" to read "Refused as Duplicate Shipment". Apparently an easy way to slide things out the back door.

The real bummer came when the seller learned his in house shipping experts had also neglected to insure the shipment. His total recovery was a $100.00 insurance check that covered about 75% of his shipping costs.

Steve

tmuir

Seller would not of been happy with that Cedge.
I still haven't managed to afford one Stuart little alone several.
That would of been one big expensive mess for the owner.

James

I found a burner and chimney not mensioned in the description of my Jensen #75

Cedge

Tmuir
As bad as it was, it wasn't as bad as it might sound today. This happened several years ago, before everyone began to rediscover the live steam hobby. Prices were a bit lighter back then. I recall the deal being made at $2100.00 for the 7 engines. Today the same deal would probably be made closer to a $7500.00 figure or more. That's how much engine prices have escalated in a relatively short time.

You can be assured the seller was not a happy camper. I think he cleared out the whole shipping department after a bit investigation. It seems they'd been screwing him for years and he'd not realized it. I tried to help him make a claim against UPS but they have some pretty iron clad small print in that innocent looking shipping document.

Steve