Steam Gauge Collecting AN AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE
(Page 3 of 5)
March/April 1994
Barry L. David
The Price is Right?
RELATED CONTENT
Most antique dealers use the B & B Approach (big &
brassy) when pricing the occasional steam gauge in their shop. The
bigger and the more brass, (brass ring and case as opposed to a
nickeled ring and iron case or all steel as in some traction engine
gauges), the better in their eyes. So be it, I just laugh and move
on.
Periodically, my collection will truly profit from this
ignorance. On more than one occasion, a dealer displayed several
gauges for sale. Invariably, the presence of a big shiny newer
gauge was priced out of this world leaving an old rare gauge priced
for my picking. Case in point, at an antique store near my home, I
came across two gauges (side by side). The one, a 6 inch (across
dial), all brass, generic (no user) 1940 Ashcroft was priced at 3
times its little companion. The other gauge was 3? inch, iron case,
with a nickeled brass ring. The exciting point was the user
company, a locomotive brake company (see picture
2) and the gauge maker mark (used between 1907 and 1929).
The price on the 6 inch was $65.00 and the small one was $18.95. I
was very happy to own the smaller one.
Antique dealers aren't your only source of affordable
gauges. The first gauge in my collection, I bought at a yard sale.
The prices of gauges at yard sales are almost always dirt cheap.
One important gauge in my collection was purchased at a garage sale
less than a mile from my home on June 12, 1993. I remember the date
so easily because it was the day before our wedding anniversary. My
wife discovered the gauge (see picture 6) and
brought it to me with a 'Happy Anniversary'. I nearly
jumped out of my skin. I think she was just pleased to give me
something I wanted (I guess I'm hard to shop for). Even so, I
still had to pay the lady for my anniversary present and an
inexpensive one at that, $6.00 (I was pleased).
All this talk of where to find affordable gauges reminds me of
the craziest place a gauge turned up. My friend, Lin Chapman,
Whistle Editor of Horn & Whistle, had purchased a very old
launch whistle (see picture 4) and set about to
disassemble and clean it. The pump plunger, approximately 4 inches
in diameter, used a series of flat round metal disks separated by
leather pads to compress the air necessary to fire the whistle. He
told me that the plates and leather were covered with green slime,
so he cleaned them. Lo and behold, one of the plates turned out to
be a gauge dial (see picture 3). Long ago, a
mechanic maintaining the pump must have felt the round dial with
its hole in the center (to accommodate the pump push rod) was
tailor made for the purpose. Lin instantly recognized it and sent
it to me as a gift. Even without its incredible history, the dial
would be a rare find with its fun user company and the rare trade
mark (only used between 1904 and 1911). Because a gauge dial has a
hole in the center for the pinion (no need to drill) and because of
the soft leather pads of the plunger, the dial is in excellent
shape.
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