I see this oftentimes on "my favorite auction site".It really "grinds my gears"! If it's something I'm interested in,I send a note to the seller explaining that steam locomotives and tenders are made as a unit,a pair and should be sold together and that oftentimes the value together is much more than the pieces separately. Sometimes they re-list sometimes they don't. 

It's truly amazing how much greed is exposed when sellers split up matched engine / tender sets. It makes me feel good when the seller is "stuck" with the the other piece.

There are a lot of folks who go even further, and start disassembling and selling pieces.  I would never, ever bid on a split lot, but apparently some do - the split Sunset Consolidation, when added, has reached its market price.

I had a friend who collected Lionel 700-series stuff.  He would get it, disassemble it, and move the pieces to separate boxes.  He told me it was to thwart the casual thief.

Careful...I noticed some recent "neutral" feedback and one "negative" feedback on that seller.

Tom

Well as Gomer Pyle once said, "Surprise, Surprise" but I am saying it sarcastically. I totally agree with everyone on this matter. I hate it when sellers split up engines and tenders. Yup, it's all about greed.

I just don't bid on these auctions because I know the odds are high of winning both auctions and I don't want to be stuck needing one or the other. 

A current offering on ebay is that someone is selling a Standard Gauge version of a Hiawatha set.  One auction has the loco and tender and the other auction has the streamlined cars.  I would think that when someone originally bought this, they bought the loco and cars together since they're very matchy matchy.  You can't really split them up and run different things with them.  Listing them separately was verging on greed for me and the seller probably hopes on selling the loco first and making a windfall on the cars know that the new owner would want a matching set.

It may also be a matter of ignorance. How many times have you seen the tender listed as a "Coal Car"? There was a Lionel N&W Y3 that had been on eBay for months. His "Coal Car" sold quickly. The engine just sat there and sat there. I made what I considered a generous offer for what amounted to a "parts" engine. The seller was less than pleased with the offer.

His combined asking price for the two items (used) was the full retail catalog price.

Gilly

K-Line was/is, to date, the only mfr. that knew people want tenders separately; they are the only ones that "got it".  There is a separate sale, I think, K-Line oil fired Vanderbilt tender on THERE now, at the price of both engine and "coal car", if not more.  Since I would have to modify this tender to coal...uh, no.  I could use coal

Vanderbilts in three lengths, if could be found, and if affordable...do not exist.

Lionel was offering some sets, broken up, that had an 0-8-0 entry engine with

Vanderbilt coal tender.  I have one...would like to sell off the engine and keep the

tender for another engine.  Others are probably doing the same.  Blame the mfrs.

This was business as usual up in Buffalo, NY, at many of the trains shows in the area when I lived nearby.   Thought it was totally nuts, but to each his own.   Remember telling one of the vendors that he should then take all his 6464 boxcars and sell the frames and trucks separately!   Who knows....maybe he did !

Best to walk away from it, unless you need the tender or engine for parts...

The seller has no idea the value of the stuff he listed: he posted on another forum a 'what's it worth?' thread.  It's the same guy-he used the same pictures on the bay as he did on the other forum and even announced his location for local pickup.

The same seller also listed Lionel 6 pack reefers-at the low price of $500 ($280 when new).

Some people....

Back to OP, I'd steer clear of it.  There are plenty of 'complete locomotives' out there for sale and you'll save yourself lots of frustration later. 

It bugs me too when a seller sells the tender separately. But there have been times when I've wanted just the locomotive because I want to build a custom tender. 

I see it all the time......

Either through ignorance or they figure a bidding war will increase the price. 

I ignore these....not matter what it is.

I like the guys that split them and call the loco 'big heavy locomotive' and then list the tender as a 'nice and fancy coal car'.

Which is also why I hate to see individual passenger cars on auction rather than the entire set.  Although separating the loco from the tender is taking that nonsense a step further.

David

I heard of a train store burglary where the crooks took mostly engines without taking the tenders. Ignorant as well as misguided, eh?

but you do see this from dealers that know the locomotive and tender are supposed to go together. A worse case is when you see a dealer list parts from a locomotive in several auctions. That's good for the guy fixing one one, he can get the original parts, but I hate to see perfectly good trains broken up that way.

It's equally annoying when you see 10 different listings from the same seller that make up a "kit". I understand that there are requirements for individual components, but to see pieces that obviously belong to the same item rubs me the wrong way.

And another thing; what's with the consistent ability of many to have the tender posed backwards to the engine?

There, my crabbiness is gone; better now.

let's be honest.  it's a matter of opinion.  the opinions i've read so far is that you should preserve the integrity of the item.  theirs is money.  when you buy to sell, you want to sell as high as you can.  why would you give a rats a** to keep the set together?  and as i've heard and noticed myself, some people are looking for the engine or the tender because the one for sale may be better than what the buyer already owns. 

Sounds and smells bad. STAY AWAY from this one

As I look at the newly listed Sunset/3rd Rail stuff daily, I saw this odd listing.

While it common for postwar lionel sets to be broken up on eBay (many times the 'sets' don't have the right tenders anyway), you don't usually see that with modern sets.

Guess someone wants a vandy tender.  It will be interesting to see what the engine itself sells for.

Although I already know the answer, I did send the seller the following question: "You note, "ENGINE TEST: RUN BOTH DIRECTIONS WITH WORKING HEADLIGHT AND SMOKE" is this without the tender, as it is not included in this items sale?"

Jim

If you don't like the packaging, just don't bid, that's how I handle these auctions.

Tom, 

I think you need to take a second look at his feedback, it's 99.9% positive and the recent neutral post was whining about the price of shipping. 

Based on the sellers feedback, I wouldn't have any qualms about buying from him.

Jim

Gee so no matter how many positive fb's one has some people out there really think a neutral or one neg is a reason to avoid a seller. Really ???

I actually like that you can buy both ways. I have bought locos for conversion for use with scratch built tenders.

This ticks me off too A few years back I saw a 773 (1950) for sale hit sellers other items theres the tender and both had boxes.Sale Starting out with these were my gramps trains and I grew up playing with them.  Hey I understand we like to buy both ways but things like that 773 stick with me THAT WAS JUST WRONG!!! together for 60+ yrs and some idiot breaks them up. Bet when he went to vist gramps resting place a hand came thru the ground and grabbed him buy the throat.  I watched that auction end and 2 buyers paid alot of money and dident get both.  Shame

In this particular case, I'm not so sure that the seller IS BREAKING UP an engine/tender set. The locomotive is #2843, and the tender is #329(Union Pacific).

I suspect that these were not originally a paired set. They MAY OPERATE together alright, but I don't think that they were originally shipped together. There is a pic in the auction that shows the owners manual, and it clearly shows the model available in SP as well as UP. My Lionel UP versions of this model are #ed in the 32X series, and the SP versions are #ed in the 26xx series, so in this case, I think that the seller is selling a UP TENDER, and an SP LOCOMOTIVE in separate auctions, NOTHING WRONG with that, IMHO.

 Something else that I suspect happened here is that the SP TENDER, and the UP LOCOMOTIVE, may have been accidentally sold previously as a set, either by this seller or a previous owner, and now, there is NOT a matching set to be sold as a set, VERY possibly in an estate sale situation by someone not train savy.

This seller may well be AWARE that these are not a properly matched set, and is selling them separately for that very reason, just think how many "Look at that IDIOT, selling a UP tender with an SP LOCOMOTIVE" comments he would get selling them as a set. I think that the seller is just trying to sell off some mismatched equipment in the best way possible.

Just MY thoughts anyway, YMMV

Doug 

BTW, thanks for the thread, the seller did have a passenger car that I put on my watch list. Unfortunately, none of the Champs Decals that he had listed were any of the ones that I am looking for.

Doug

My only problem with the listing is that the seller states the engine runs both directions with working headlight and smoke.  To the more naïve buyer, they may think that the engine can be run without the 3rd rail tender.

Jim

That is a Legitimate concern, and could well cause the seller a headache later.

Doug

Well,I dunno guys...I get what you're saying,but...

 One of my "go to" sellers does this very thing, and you know...sometimes I just need a part. Guess I'm savvy enough to know what I want/need,so this doesn't bother me too much.

After all, it's his model, and can present it for sale anyway he choses,right? It's up to us, the potential buyers,to accept or reject said offering. 

As "bob2" would say..."opinion"....

Mark in Oregon

Doug wins the prize!

I received the following note from the seller: "Hi, When we received it, it was a set. The engine and tender cable connector was a match we test ran it, but we realized the numbers wasn't a match. So we listed it separately. Thanks"

I have to admit, if this was a coal vandy tender, and not oil, I would be interested in it. 

Jim

I fully recognize that it is within the seller's right to offer his/her items for sale in whatever form they choose and that on occasion a buyer would appreciate the opportunity to place a bid on a split item because they need a part.  Having said that, to date, I have never bid on split engines and tenders because after viewing the items it is usually apparent the seller is trying to "squeeze" his/her potential customers and I don't like it.  Granted, prices are dictated based on whatever the market will bear but I just don't choose to bear it.  That, and because any part I require can normally be located elsewhere. 

The whole discussion should be mute. If you don't like how the seller is selling his items then pass him by. I know I would. He may just be ignorant of what he is selling.

It is his trains he is selling and can do with them how he pleases. I may not like it but nobody is forcing anybody to bid on them. My choice is to ignore it. 

After 200 purchases, no negatives, I quit da Bay. Not fun any more.  Let the market place decide on what the guy is doing.  If I really liked the engine I would go for it sans tender.

The engine and tender are not a matched pair to start with. #329 tender is U.P. Loco #2843 is S.P.

I do not bid on obviously separated engine/tender pairs; it's insulting.

If it appears that the piece has come to auction simply as an orphan - not uncommon -

I will consider it. I have some nice orphan tenders due to projects that I have done.

Strangely, I bought an orphan, 3rd Rail UP 2-8-2 loco last year, and it needs a tender.

A V'bilt, to be proper. It runs (I tested it with a Williams brass green Southern tender;

the AC - DC tether circuits are the same. That was a strange-looking pair.)