Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

I stop at every antique shop I can find when traveling, even if it's for a quick minute to ask if they have any engines. They are nothing like they used to be... many are turning into "antique malls" and the owner of the item is rarely there, so they don't deal like they used to... I think most have turned into multi-dealer shops because a single dealer just can't make it anymore. And of course cash means nothing to them nowadays and you're almost always stuck paying sales tax.

The Empire with pump on the previous page had been in the shop for 3 years. The owner now lives in Missouri and I had the guy working at the shop call him to make the deal over the phone. They seemed kind of annoyed by me