Climax 3.5 boiler & parts

hello. A friend lost her husband who was a keen engineer a year ago and she now feels ready to part with some of his projects. He was making a Climax 3.5 locomotive and has a G B boiler, cast wheels and 2 complete bogies (I think) plus other small parts.

Can anyone advise if these parts are saleable and where would be the best place to advertise them? Thanks.

Edited By John Stevenson on 20/03/2017 20:41:29

Hello,

All model-engineering parts are saleable - I suspect that the issue us more likely to be what price you might realise! Be-warned; prices for part-completed models are often relatively low - for a number of reasons.

The locomotive that you have parts for, possibly constructed according to the Hiraoka construction book, is of comparatively limited popularity in the UK, despite making an attractive and very interesting model. In addition the waters are muddied by there being two gear-train options, and, still more if you are prepared to do a little 're-designing'.  Do you have the gears with your 'collection of parts'?

If you have an idea how much you would like to realise from the sale then you can always list it here in the 'personal ads'. Undoubtedly photographs will help! The other simple option is to place it on ebay and see what the market will pay. Obviously you have options where you can have a hidden reserve, or a public starting-price, etc., etc.

Perhaps others may give you additional ideas.

Regards,

Phil

Edited By Weary on 25/03/2017 13:18:54

Hi Phil

Thanks for your reply and information. It is associated with the Hiraoka book, there is a copy of this as well. Not sure about any gears though, will have to have another look.

I'll see my friend and suggest we put it on EBay, at least she may get something.

Not being familiar with this aspect of model engineering I was astonished at the cost of the boiler, £695 and that was 10 years ago! I guess there's a lot of skilled work involved.

Thanks again.

Ian

You could try this site, a bit (lot) more specalised than flea bay

**LINK**

However as (ex) secretary of our ME club I had a similar request from a widow to help her sell a part built Heisler, but the offers we got were very low. If you do put ot on e-bay make sure you put on a reserve. You can always advertise it here of course

Let us know when you put it up for sale.

Mr Cooper,

I also sent you a personal message - check your mailbox. Near the top of the page, thin green line, click on second icon from the left.

The prototypical gears are the crux of making a Climax locomotive, though there are ways of simplifying the issue, hence the two completely different gear trains in the Hiraoka book.

I echo Mr Webster in asking that you keep us posted please.

Regards,

Phil

I think there is a decent marked for geared locos in the USA! Facebook also has a US 3/4"-scale page with classifieds. I would certainly try that.

Hello, I've put the parts on ebay if anyone is interested, thanks for your help. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172663115135?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

You may get more bids if you re-order the photos so the boiler (most valuable part) is first, as people quickly scanning a list of results may assume you are just selling the book.

I'd also put boiler in the title.

Neil

Neil, I've revised the listing as you suggested. Quite a few views and a couple of watchers already. Thanks for your interest.

Ian.

Reading the advert suggests it is a commercial boiler. If so is it CE marked, and do you have the paperwork? If not it might be difficult for a purchasers to get certification.

Hello Duncan

Thanks for the comments, I'll contact the owner to see if she's got any more documentation.

Ian

You have a personal message in your inbox.

Regards,

Phil.

As a slight aside to this thread - the Kozo Hiraoka books are a very good read for anyone interested in small live steam locomotives and his illustrations really are quite superb. He describes how to machine/fabricate everything required, including even the wheels and gears. No castings are required at all. I've not built any of his locomotive designs as such (wrong scale/gauge for me I'm afraid) but his fabrication and other build methods can be used in any gauge. He is probably much better known in the US & Canada than over here in UK. He lives in Tokyo and taught himself English in order to write the original magazine articles. He is clearly a very talented and inventive engineer.

By the way - the books are still available directly from the publishers (Village Press) at $50 each (a bit lower per-book for a five book set). Not cheap but there's no need to pay the really daft prices I've seen some 'dealers' ask for them.

The 'User' reviews on all his locomotives (Shay, Heisler, Climax & A3 - see YouTube) are very positive and although these are not what I personally would describe as "beginner" projects - they certainly have been successfully built by first time builders. I think this must be because the instructions are very step-by-step, extremely well illustrated and detailed. I'm not sure there has been anything quite like these books published over here and I certainly enjoy leafing through my copies. As you might have gathered - I would highly recommend them.

Regards,

IanT

FYI it went for £315 in the end.

I think someone got a bargain then Bazyle - but hopefully they will finish the project, which I'm sure the original builder would have wanted...

Regards

IanT