Canibals!!!

Yep sad but it happens all the time. They are not train folk, just out to get the bigger buck. I always wonder how long it will take them to sell one half after the breakup or the remaining parts that do not sell.

I suspect that many if not most of the units that are parted out are non-running units that are already missing some hard-to-find parts, and would be more trouble and expense to put back in good order than they are worth. I have cannibalized plenty of locomotives, rolling stock, etc. at home and I've done it to create something better. 

Chop shops!  You wonder if and how many are stolen, as with cars.

quote:

They are not train folk, just out to get the bigger buck

There are plenty of train folk who part out trains.

And its been going on for years. I can think of a few people who made a business out of parting out trains, long before EBay or any significant public use of the internet.

Plenty of folks separate engines and tenders too.

Gee...I'm one of those that separates engines and tenders, swapping them around, and kitbashing Lionel engines, so they will never be worth those great prices everybody

knows they will appreciate to...I'd be a buyer for some of those tenders, IF they

weren't priced higher than the engine...

Lee,

You hit the nail right on the head!!!!

Who knows, as the individual parts have no serial number(s).

Probably some stolen goods from a train shop, which was just recently mentioned on this forum.

The creeps who steal will get theirs!!!!

Ralph

Some of us are making some pretty heavy assumptions here, without any evidence. The market for 0 gauge Big Boy parts is not really comparable to the market for Toyota fenders. I see no reason to believe that any particular ad for train parts is any more likely to be stolen goods than any particular ad for a complete item. 

Williams has parts, and some time back I bought a pantograph for one of the older GG-1 units.  Have you checked with them?

I must agree with CW on this to some degree. The real upsetting area of this parting out thing is showing up in the prewar market. I've noticed more and more Std Gauge pieces are becoming available. This just makes the average seller think his C-4 trains are now made of gold.

I don't know why parting out an engine would be upsetting. Think of all the other trains that can be fixed with original parts from the one that is broken down.
I never did it for resale, but I have parted out many trains, including locomotives and everything else. 

My pet peeve is when there is a separate listing for the engine and the "coal car". 

A lot of engines  were saved from the parts bin when MPC started issuing trains with identical PW parts. Sadly all the parts were sold before Lionel moved it's repairs to Ohio. So the same thing will happen again some day. And parts for the new stuff has a very short shelf time, I guess it's just gonna happen.

Yep; probably the same people who always get the coal car.... oops, tender backwards when they photograph it with a locomotive anyway....(my pet peeve)

I just posted a parted out train for a friend.

He got it very cheap, and when it came, the whistle unit was dead, the axles were bent and the loco wobbled down the track. (it was a 2026)

He paid $50 for it... Probably over $100 in parts for me to fix ( no labor costs) so I told him I would separate it out for those needing the parts for restoration and he can hopefully get his money back and some guys doing restoration can find parts that they need!  And I have some extra pieces in my parts bin for repairs.

No hidden agenda!???

I've been searching eBay for 4-5 hours a day for the past couple of weeks, looking for some specific trains and I've noticed a lot of weird things going on. I saw a seller with a train, missing the rear truck. He said it wasn't there when he got it, yet one day after it sold, the same seller listed the rear truck for almost the same price as the train. I saw a big lot of track, with no pins and the same seller offering a large lot of pins with higher shipping than the track. I could go on and on. I have noticed at auction that some engines are selling for $50-80, while the same engines on Buy-It-Now are $150-250.  Tenders are also going for insane amounts. For instance, I saw a used "sound of steam" tender, sell for $75, while a new one just like it , in the box with an 8800 engine, ended with no bids at $40. But back on track (pun intended), small parts are selling for big money, making it hard to restore a fixer-upper train for less than a nice complete one would cost. I do see a few bargains out there, but it's never items that I'm looking for. LOL

What makes it difficult is the people who actually pay the inflated prices more than just the people selling it.

The big name parts guys like Train Tender, etc. have many of those parts and don't use ebay and sell at a reasonable price....  I use these guys all the time.

When I post, I usually post on ebay for pretty much what will move the stuff out of my house ( I have a job - I don't need to pay my mortgage with post war part selling)

Its just a sign of the times.......

Sometimes if there is Personal attachment to a locomotive (say: It was mine as a kid) you may want to find the part (original if possible) to return it to something that works and was yours.

But like my friend.  He got it cheap - didn't work - Ebay Cheap! and recoup and start over.!

I frankly do not see a problem with this practice. I have quite a few friends that will practically try to give away project locomotives and no one buys. They end up parting out them on online. Seems to be a market driven issue. I can understand the person not wanting a whole locomotive to buy just a part needed. Seems like a waste and they want just to fix what they have. Why is this a problem?

Andrew - Keep your eyes peeled on the Bay.  I bought a set of Williams scale pantographs for my Williams scale GG 1 brand new in the package off the Bay. I also bought new insulators for the pantographs on the Bay.  Just keep looking ... They do show  up from time to time. 

In almost all cases in the past I bought the entire engine to fill my need for parts. Both at that time and down the road. My complaint is focused on the remaining sellers thinking that their C-4 engines are made of gold.

quote:

My complaint is focused on the remaining sellers thinking that their C-4 engines are made of gold.

Folks can ask any price the wish for an item. That doesn't mean its going to sell. I like to think of those folks as being "hopeful".
When it comes to buying, I have my own ideas on what I am willing to pay for any given item, and rarely, if ever, consult a price guide for pricing. I just wait for one to come along in the condition I want, at a price I am willing to pay.

I use to do the same thing with old boy scout uniforms a few years back when I was collecting BSA memorabilia.  I'd buy uniforms on ebay, strip the patches, keep what I needed for my collection, then sell the rest individually. 

As far as train stuff goes, I've occasionally done the same thing with "lots" of accessories and the like.  Buy a group, clean them up, keep a few I wanted, and sell the rest. 

The closest I've come to parting something out was actually the reverse.  I had a postwar operating freight station which I bought some parts for, but never got around to completing it, so I sold it with the spare parts I had bought.  Guess I did it wrong, lol.

For purchasing parts I usually go through Olson's or Brausseur's; they usually have better prices than the parts I find on ebay.

who cares that someone does this?? its been done in the car hobby taking parts off 4 door cars that no one would restore, taking items out of houses to up grade another house, model trains are no exception. if it wouldn't be worth while no one would do it and there wouldn't be a market for it. and you never bought a used part for your car, train, house etc????

CW,

You are so right...again. I'm in no hurry for hard to find parts.

now that's a friend I'd like to have!