Auction folks called back. Nebel lathe is roughly 18" swing (US) X 48" ctc with about 2" spindle hole. Total length is roughly 10 feet. Has a 3-jaw, steady rest and taper attachment and some misc tooling (that they have found so far). Didn't get model or serial number. Preview day is May 8th.
This lathe makes no sense for Mr. novice semi-retired farmer fixer here. I know a couple of locals that have big lathes, know how to use them and have tooling. On the rare occasion that I need something bigger done, I got friends. (Almost) Only reason I would bid on this is to save it from the scrappers. Not a great reason to buy something this big to move, place and god forbid, start buying tooling for. If this lathe is a high quality American Machine in good shape I suppose I or Chef Juke or whomever has a least a tiny bit of a responsibility to consider doing the right thing (and in my case hope to be outbid).
benmychree: Thanks for the serial number date info. Unfortunately, the Auction folks did not get me a serial number. The Nebels you have used were not super-special. I assume if its roughly the same vintage, likely same is true of the one in my and Chef Juke's neighborhood. If you or others have thoughts on whether this might be an old piece of American Iron worth adopting, pls shout out.
Cheers, Chuck Forman