Hello, just looking for a little help on a puchase of an early steam locomotive brass bell I was thinking of spending around 3K let me know if this is a fair price. you can see it here ; http://www.ebay.com/itm/110996888754?sPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
Thanks,
Stanton
Personally, I think that without provenance to some famous locomotive that is way over-priced at the starting bid of $2K. But desire can outweigh value and it could go for a whole lot more than that.
You can get a “farm bell” of the same relative shape “brand new” for 1/2 that. Without provenance that it even came from a steam loco or that it is from the 1800’s leaves me thinking a brand new farm bell would be a better route to having a brass bell.
I’m with Semper on this, Stanton.
How do you really know this bell is from a steam locomotive? I’m not really familiar with bells but I’ve seen listed as “railroad” when they really are not. For example, silver plated objects like a sugar bowl and “caboose stoves” on 4 spindly legs. I would want to have proof this is a steam locomotive bell. And if I could get that proof I would be sure to keep it safe in case I wanted to sell it.
Once the word “railroad” is added to anything the price goes up. Way up.
Of course it could be an authentic railroad locomotive bell. It it is, buying it is your decision. Just be sure.
Number and or railroad name or insignia stamped someplace on the bell…then check the number against locomotive records of that road and of that number along with the disposition of the locomotive.
Do you trust the seller? Can he verify the provenance? Pictures. etc.
Really, how big is it? Small bells are not locomotive bells nor are giant church bells. But that is a generalization which is not always true as railroads or people connected with the railroad or locomotive may have donated such bell to a school or church or municipal building.
Consult with and be sure an expert on railroads, locomotives, and bells.
5). If unsure and cannot confirm, do not buy.
Mikee, call me old-fashioned, call me a fossil or a dinosaur, call me what you will and I won’t be offended, but before I spend that kind of heavy money on ANYTHING I want to SEE it, and not on a computer screen.
I haven’t gotten in trouble yet.
I would call you a guy who has worked for what he has and is not inclined to waste his hard earned money.
Aw, shucks.
Seriously, let me tell one and all that there’s nothing that beats seeing the article you’re interested in firsthand. Photos can lie, and even if they don’t lie they can miss details the eye won’t.
And if you miss out on it, so what? It’s just a thing. You can always find something else to spend your money on.
This is an argument I sometimes have with my family. They say I’m cheap. They’re right. I’m not ashamed of the money I’ve worked hard to earn.
My father had a genuine steam locomotive bell - real railroad paraphernalia is much larger than it appears in pictures. Bell was about 2 feet from bell mouth to crown and approximately 2 feet in diameter - weighed in at 300 ± pounds.
He sold it rathter than give it to me - the one thing I can’t forgive him for.
Don’t steam locomotive bells have a saddle shaped mounting flange that bolts to the cylindrical surface of the boiler? This bell has a stand that appears to be made to mount to a round steel post as shown in two of the photos. Therefore, I conclude that this bell is not a locomotive bell.
The size of the bell was often based on the size of the locomotive so the physical size is not necessarily an indicator of whether the bell is from a RR locomotive. They ranged from less that 1 ft tall and 8 to 12 inches in diameter at the mouth to near 2 ft tall and 18 to 20 inches in diameter at the mouth… I am not too sure they would be much bigger than that.
Same is true with the type or shape of the mounting. Some were bolted directly to the boiler barrel and would thus have a saddle shaped plate on the bottom, but others were mounted on a flat platform that protruded forward from the top of the smoke box (where the headlight might have been on other locomotives) and others were mounted under the walkway along the side of the boiler (like is presently done on most Diesels). I will say that since it this one is operated by a side crank, it was probably mounted on the boiler up high rather than under a running board.
BUT! Looking at the crank arm, it is not mounted such as to be pulled by a rope from the side, but rather to be pulled “down” from below. Which is not to say that someone didn’t modify it to be a post mounted bell.
But, I tend to agree that the evidence is that it is a simple “farm bell” and NOT from a Locomotive. I suppose it could have belonged to a railroad (thus it is a “railroad bell”, technically), but was probably not used on a locomotive. Could have been on a ROW camp car to call trackworkers to beans.
LInk activated : http://www.ebay.com/itm/110996888754?sPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
MIkee:
I hate to be a contrarian, but is the seller willng and able to provide a history of the bell in question?
Bear in mind that I am no expert on bells- locomotive or otherwise. But looking closely at the bell, I am wondering if that bell might be of Marine Origins?
Down South one still finds similar configurations of bells that were used on Farms and Plantations to mark times during the work days. Many of those bells origins were from churches, schools and other origins. River boats used bells for signaling, and from a limited experience with Railroad Bells. they were a pretty closely regarded treasure, and many were kept in-house, to prevent theft and sale for scrap.
I sure hope you get your bid, but caveat emptor! [:-^]
I followed the link and saw the bell on E-Bay. You know, it COULD be a steam locomotive bell, the configuration looks about right, the mounting and suspensory gear look about right, the size looks about right, bear in mind there’s lots of sizes, but I’m no expert, not by any means.
Most farm bells I’ve seen tend to be of lighter and cheaper construction, either light brass or steel. This things looks heavy enough to be the genuine article.
Still, $2,000 is a hell of a lot of money. I’d still want to see it first hand.
OK, now here’s a couple of websites you should check out. One is www.railroadiana.org, it’s a railroadiana collectors website with a TON of information, and a big section on locomotive bells. The other is www.klnl.org, the “Key, Lock, and Lantern” railroadiana collectors. Both sites have some good information in them, so have a look and see what you can learn. “Knowledge is power”, especially in the collecting game, trust me.
I am a bit late to this thread, but yours is a very astute observation. I had no idea how heavy and massive even a steam locomotive bell would be, but I learned what they weigh when on an excursion six years ago. The story is that the bell on the CN Consolidation 2-8-0 now owned by the Kamloops Heritage Railway in Kamloops, British Columbia was stolen quite a few years ago. They went to restore it and learned that a local junk dealer was selling a locomotive brass bell. Darned if’n it weren’t the real McCoy, the very one lifted. The society gratefully purchased it, and what I learned was that it wasn’t something you’d throw into the back seat of your pickup truck. It weighed 300 pounds, and the harp (its real name) in which the bell is suspended, another 300 or so. So, the item for sale here is going to be rather costly to ship if it is a real locomotive brass bell.
Crandell
Those things are heavy all right.
About 15 years ago I was in a rail museum in Florida. The gift shop was selling a number of railroad artifacts, one of which was a steam engine bell. One of the other visitors purchased it, and at the call for help moving it I pitched in with several others. It took four of us to get the bell and its associated hardware in the back of the guys SUV. What he did with it when he got home is anyones guess.
If I remember right it had a $500 price tag on it.
I looked at both websites. It sure looks like there is a big business in railroad fakes.
You better believe it! If it’s collectable and worth heavy money I guarantee you someone’s going to fake it, guns, paintings, railroadiana, furniture, you name it.
“Caveat Emptor!” “Let the buyer beware!” That’s a sound philosphy for anything.
By the way, I don’t worry too much myself about railroad fakes. If it’s THAT expensive I probably wouldn’t buy it anyway. The only collectables I’m interested in are lanterns, and I’ve got a price limit I won’t go above under any circumstances.
If you look at the links it seems that lamps and lanterns, and especially chimneys and globes, have a lot of fakes for sale.
Oh yeah, I saw all the warnings about fakeroo lanterns, but those sell for well above my limit, so I’m not concerned about being gypped.