My wife likes to wander through antique stores on weekend mornings, and I usually go with her because you just never know what you'll find. (In several instances I've found brass locos and other model railroading paraphernalia for sale cheap.) So this morning we walked into a place just down the street from our home and discovered that they'd opened up the normally gated-off rear outdoors section where they keep the "junk" that doesn't need to be protected from the weather.
After peering at a whole bunch of old rusted tractor parts and pot- bellied stoves I spotted something that looked mildly interesting buried beneath a pile of old rusty bedsteads, and closer examination revealed an old rusty hand-truck that looked as if it might -perhaps- have once graced a railroad station platform.
Levering the bedsteads and stoves out of the way allowed me to get close enough to determine that it had once been painted box car red, that it had "140 LBS" stenciled on one leg and a faded and chipped "A?? F RY" stenciled on the other.
An inquiry to the shop's owner revealed that it had been sitting there for at *least* ten years, and that he'd happily take $40 for it, so we loaded it into the pickup truck and discovered in the process that (A) the handlebars are open-ended, (B) it had been standing upright for at least ten years out of doors, and (C) as a result, both tubular uprights were full-to-overflowing with filthy, rusty, stagnant rain water that spilled out all over the truck's bed. (Note to self: wash truck.)
Both of the wheels were rusted solid to the axle, but an hour in the back yard with a can of penetrating oil and a six-foot steel breaker- bar got them rotating smootly again. And, in the process, I found the letters ATSF had been cast into the steel axle-supports and had been covered with many years worth of dirt and rust, not to mention several coats of AT&SF freight-car red paint.
Herewith the URL for the entire photostream, which has front. rear, and side elevation shots that include a yardstick for scale reference.
Question: does anybody out there know if this thing should be restored? They always tell you not to do so on "Antiques Roadshow" as it can destroy an antique's value. But left to itself this thing is going to continue to rust away even if it's kept under cover, so I'm tempted to take it apart, sandblast off all the rust and old paint, and repaint it in an authentic Santa Fe freight car red.
Opinions?
~Pete