Not sure how many of these there are in the world but this is the only one in the U.K.
Im not connected in any way with the owner but what a stunning replica it is. Unfortunately this miniture railway is now history, it was the finnest in the U.K.
Okay, the starting asking price is 340,000 UKP, which is $678,000 US at the current exchange rate. To put that in perspective, the asking price for Southern Pacific 1744, an operational standard gauge steam locomotive, was $800,000 US, it did not sell for several years at that price, and I suspect the recent sale to the Colorado railroad was for substantially less, quite possibly less than $678,000.
So that Big Boy is definitely cool, but I’m not sure the price/performance ratio is there. And I wonder how many 7.25" or whatever lines can handle a locomotive that long, and that heavy? And how difficult it is to transport?
If runs as nicely as it looks it would be beautiful loco. However unless some billionaire somewhere really wants a nice conversation piece for the living room, it will never sell. Price it at $200,000 (USD) and you might get somewhere. Transport wouldn’t be too difficult with a good sized pick-up and a flat-deck trailer. The thing that would restrict which tracks you took it too would be the loading facilities. A big-boy should be able to navigate the curves at most club built railways (backyard tracks tend to be a little tighter in the corners), and the physical plant of 1/8 scale railways are usually so over-engineered that weight shouldn’t be a factor. For example, LALS have a weight restriction of 475lbs/axel.