I know of two upright piano stories:

Bruce, an ex-marine technician I used to work with, had an upright in his basement that he needed to move out. My friend Arne was helping him. They got it to the bottom of the stairs, and Bruce put a single 2x4 across a doorway and attached his come-along to it. Arne asked him--are you sure this works? Bruce said "Sure it does". The piano got about halfway up the stairs before the 2x4 broke. Fortunately, everyone was at the top.

The other happened to my Dad. I was there, but too small to help much. We'd had the upright in the basement for years, it was time to sell it. My Dad was really worried about getting the piano out of the basement in one piece, so when he sold it (for $100), he made a big deal out of the fact that it was being sold in the basement, and it was the new owner's problem to get it out. They got it out just fine, with the exception of having to cut the floor out of a coat closet above the stairs for clearance. When it came to the top of the stairs, for some reason it had to be tipped a bit. The front panel opened up and not one, but two $100 silver certificates fell out. The new owner graciously offered my Dad $20 to cover the closet floor...

Steve