Steam & Excursion > Steam whistle on Ebay not C&S

Having collected and restored steam whistles for nearly three decades I've worked hard to try and dispel any misinformation that I see getting spread regarding whistles. Thet being said, there is a 5-chime whistle on ebay right now that the seller claims to be from a Colorado & Southern narrow gauge locomotive but the whistle is actually a Northern Pacific whistle. Now I suppose there is a slim chance that a NP whistle did end up on the C&S narrow gauge but I'd hate to see an uneducated buyer spend a boat load of money only to find out they'd been duped. You used to be able to contact Ebay bidders but you can't anymore so I thought I'd try to get the word out here.

For the curious, here is an Ebay link:

\\http://www.ebay.com/itm/Colorado-Southern-Narrow-Gage-5-Chime-Whistle-Live-Stem-Locomotive-/291223242430?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43ce4206be

-Fred-

crackerjackhoghead Wrote:
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> Having collected and restored steam whistles for
> nearly three decades I've worked hard to try and
> dispel any misinformation that I see getting
> spread regarding whistles. Thet being said, there
> is a 5-chime whistle on ebay right now that the
> seller claims to be from a Colorado & Southern
> narrow gauge locomotive but the whistle is
> actually a Northern Pacific whistle. Now I suppose
> there is a slim chance that a NP whistle did end
> up on the C&S narrow gauge but I'd hate to see an
> uneducated buyer spend a boat load of money only
> to find out they'd been duped. You used to be able
> to contact Ebay bidders but you can't anymore so I
> thought I'd try to get the word out here.


Agreed....I had 25 NP whistles at one time in the early 1960s and this is just like all of them. No way was that on a C&S n.g. loco. I sent a question to the seller; who knows what he'll reply, if anything. I noticed a question from someone asking what engine it was from, etc. and the answer wasn't satisfactory.

I agree, it is not a C&S N.G. whistle. Still the price reflects the fact that the bidders know it is a nice 5-chime. If any bidder actually thought it was C&S the bids would be higher by now.

Martin

LoggerHogger Wrote:
bidders know it
> is a nice 5-chime. If any bidder actually thought
> it was C&S the bids would be higher by now.

Who knows what bidders are thinking. I've been trying to, practically, "give away" a nice marked W.P. 5-chime for a couple months now and haven't had a single offer!

Yes, and the starting price was .99 cents so I don't think anyone is getting ripped off since those 5 chimes are expensive.

I just looked the listing. The seller says the South Park ran through the San Louis(misspelled) between Denver and Buena Vista. Wrong. Went thru South Park (hence the name). He claims to have used it on his sawmill in Buena Vista and it had "a beautiful deep mellow sound that echoed up and down the San Louis valley each morning and evening when I blew it." Anyone who know anything about the South Park would conclude that what was heard was more likely the audible result of being full of beans.

Steven Forney
Lakewood, CO

Actually Buena Vista is in the Arkansas Valley, which makes it even worse as he obviously doesn't know where he is (was)...

I smell a rat.

I ran a 3-foot gauge Crown a lifetime ago that had a nice five-chime that was found in a local Phoenix, Arizona scrap yard. It had the same casting marks on it. I wonder how a NP whistle made it PHX AZ....

crackerjackhoghead Wrote:
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> You used to be able
> to contact Ebay bidders but you can't anymore so I
> thought I'd try to get the word out here.

Yes you can, though he will probably ignore you.
Scroll WAY down to the bottom of the listing and look for "ask a question" or something like that.
It will give you a selection of about 10 things you can ask. Ignore everything but the last line, the others just give you stupid FAQ answers that don't apply.
The "other" line will, perhaps with two or three more clicks on "yes, dmmit!" buttons, let you enter a question to the seller. You may have to solve an unreadable captcha to be able to post the message to the seller.

Now that you know that, there is also an eBay fraud link, and I would suggest using that if you are convinced the seller is deliberately misrepresenting the item. If he is doing it this time, he will likely do it again, and quite possibly has done it in the past.

lwilton Wrote:
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> crackerjackhoghead Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You used to be able
> > to contact Ebay bidders but you can't anymore so

> Yes you can, though he will probably ignore you.
> Scroll WAY down to the bottom of the listing and
> look for "ask a question"

BIDDERS, not the seller. There's no way to warn potential bidders. I did contact the seller and sent him pictures of an NP whistle and a C&S whistle and his reply was that if it was a NP whistle on the C&S, then it was worth even more money, being so rare and all.