My son and I visited the Louisville flea market Labor Day weekend. One vendor had some trains, and buried under a few other items was an AMT engine box. Figuring it was probably empty, I lifted on one corner and felt some weight inside. Lifting the lid, lo and behold - one AMT/Auburn NYC powered F unit was inside. Unlike Lionel's 2344/2354 NYC Fs, the AMT/Auburn and later KMT NYC lightning stripe units are much hard to find. Closer inspection revealed it had been poorly stored. Heavy corrosion on the sideframes, some more corrosion on the fuel tank area of the chassis, missing the decorative horns, cigarette smoke/basement filth - in its favor, the shell was intact (no cracks or splits, 1733 number boards both there), the pilot's paint wasn't chipped or scratched (all too common on AMT/KMT F units). No price tags anywhere in sight (pet peeve of mine at flea markets - I hate when sellers have pricing based on what they perceive the contents of your wallet may be). I was afraid the seller was going to spit out a price of several hundred dollars (which, for an intact and clean VG- wouldn't be too unreasonable). Fortunately, the price asked wasn't stratospheric; the seller said he had chemicals that could clean up the sideframes with - no chemicals on earth were going to salvage those trucks, or repair that pitted chassis. A bit of haggling and discussing the unsalvageable and missing parts brought the hammer down at $40. Unless you have a stash of original AMT/KMT parts, a project like this one would be tough to pull off. I dislike repainted parts like frames (unavoidable at times) - fortunately, I have some parts tucked away which I'll put to good use.
I've posted pictures of what the engine looks like as found - as I work on bringing this one back from the grave, I'll post more snaps. I think I'll be able to salvage this one and make something presentable from the carcass...