I'll throw my limited experienced hat into the game!!!
The total value of steel (weight) on a K-37 at current market price is somewhere around $16,000.
Now to the "fine" details (warning, I don't know much about specifically scrapping steam locos):
Scrapping:
If there was a scrap yard within a small distance (i.e. same county), and you wanted to haul the entire engine to the yard, and you could find a truck to do it, and paid all the permits, and this scrap yard would take the bulk engine; you would be lucky to break even if the engine was given to you (or you owned it already).
If you hired a crew of men to cut up the engine, hired the same or different crew to load the pieces onto trucks that you hired out, and the crew knew what they were doing, rented lift equipment to load the pieces, it would probably take a week minimum, and cost you at least $10,000 in labor and machinery to achieve. You might come out ahead. Any variables, however, would increase the price. If the crew had to do studies to learn proper ways to cut up the engine, if the trucks encountered any obstacles, or materials weren't ready for pickup when trucks arrived, asbestos removal, anyone was hurt in the process, etc... than you again, would be lucky to break even if you didn't have to pay for the engine.
If (and a BIG IF), you owned your own truck(s) and scrapping equipment, and you did the job entirely yourself, paid no crew for any additional help; I would bet it would take you a month of seven day work weeks, if not more, to scrap the entire engine. Not to mention several refills of gasses for cutting, fuel for the trucks, your own personal equipment costs, and more I am sure to forget. This would potentially be the most profitable way to go, but it still is not a big pay day.
The only way it really works, if Mr. Harper, or the C&TS (for example) decided to get rid of an engine. They had access to volunteer labor, or crews that were already getting paid for work with down time. You could potentially make a little cash from the scrapping, but it still would not bring much.
All this assumes you have no fluids in the engine, and no coal to remove. If you took the time to separate the precious metals from the "long iron," such as brass, copper, lead, or any others, you might make a few more bucks, but with the added labor and limited weights of those metals, I still doubt you would make $20,000 on the total metal, but still very little profits. In my opinion, the only real advantage scrapping a locomotive gives you is freed up realestate!!!
Restoration:
A cosmetic restoration of any locomotive (in my opinion) brings very little revenue to the table, but will prolong the life of said engine. A hand full of people will definitely come out to see the engine, but with no operation, the engine cant make any real money. We did go out of our way to see 318 when the museum finished the cosmetic on her, but, for example, I think my brother, my wife and I totaled about $15 in entry fees to see it.
It seems the general consensus is about $1 million to restore any "small" locomotive to operational condition. This combines a variant of volunteer labor, good operational parts, limited new parts, and an extended wait time as most work gets done in off times.
If you have an operational railroad, a restored operational steam locomotive can make money. The initial restoration is where you should spend most of your money. If you cut corners here, you will only pay multiple times more to fix overlooked issues later.
I have personally talked to a lot of people about tourist railroads, and riding trains. I'm sure it is no surprise that most people want to ride behind steam. If you live in a big city, you can ride behind a diesel for less than $10 all day; why would anyone want to pay $100 plus to do this on "your" railroad. All the personnel, amenities, luxury, food, and scenery can only do so much. Seeing an operational steam engine is like meeting your favorite celebrity, but actually getting to see them act!!!
We were going to take a trip to the Texas State Railroad this year. We picked a month, were going to camp, invited about 10 friends, and were planning the specific weekend. We were all going to ride the train, and were planning on doing first class all the way. When we discovered they were only running diesel for this time, the entire plan started to fall apart, until everyone just kind of gave up...
All in all, tourist railroading is an uphill battle. some will come out on top, and others may not. Steam is the best way to go for drawing people, but it still may not net any real cash!!!
Casey
BTW if you read this entire post, I'm sorry I wasted your time!!!
