Scrap Metal Value of N&W Big Steam

[NW Mailing List]

Kevin

I don't have my notes handy on scrap price, but it was based on price per pound. If you look in the book "Three Times A Lady" about the 611, you will see a photo of a Class J being pushed over the scales at Portsmouth to get its weight for scrapping.

I seem to recall that a Class J was somewhere close to $5,000 each in 1959, naturally, the bigger stuff was more.

I'm curious about your comment that an effort to save more, the lost engines coming to mind. The so-called lost engines were sold for scrap to Virginia Scrap Iron and Metal in 1950-51, they were simply stuffed into the yard and the owner was waiting for prices to rise to make more of a profit on scrapping them. He had no interest in "preserving" the stuff, in fact scrapped quite a bit of other stuff over time, those just got stuck in the back waiting for prices to rise, and later on stuff was coming in so fast, there was no place to keep it, so cutting was done on those first. 

United Scrap Iron and Metal in Roanoke had three Y6s, cutting up the 2189 in the mid 1960s, and the 2143 and 2174 in the mid 1970s, a sad story on those to have gotten away. 

Ken Miller

On Jun 5, 2017, at 3:02 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

> I am sure many of us lament so few N&W steam locomotives were saved from the scrapper’s torch. Though, from what I have read, there was quite a bit of effort to save more. The "Lost Engines of Roanoke" come to mind. However, business is business and if the powers at be decided it was better for the bottom line to sell them for scrap value it is hard to argue ... to a point.
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> In all my reading over the years I have found quite a bit of detail of when and where various locos were sold for scrap, including dates of disposition and names of the acquiring business.
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> However, I never recall any discussion on the scrap value of any N&W locomotive. Maybe I have over looked such info; but, nothing comes to mind. Of course, time and place and who was buying would make the value vary. I wonder what was the “typical” scrap value of say an A, J, Y, K or even a Z? I am especially interested in the activity of the late 1950’s to early 60’s when most of the scrapping was occurring.
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> Any insight is appreciated. 
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> Thanks!
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> Kevin Byrd
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> Chesterfield, VA
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