New to this site and new to trains


J

Jedi5

New Member
I everyone. I just came across quite a few train sets and box cars.
Not knowing much about trains, I am hoping maybe someone
can chime in and let me know what I have.

I'm not expecting to be sitting on a goldmine, lol.
But I would like to have an idea if possible of the worth
if i decide to sell.

Thanks.

Train Pics
 
You have mostly low end stuff that the people here would probably not want--although a few might cherry pick one or two. You best bet would be to sell them on eBay. List them for $.99 and let the market decide what they are worth. My expereince is that you will get the fair value or maybe a little more for each item.
 
Hello and welcome! Are you thinking of getting into the hobby yourself, or just looking for somebody to buy these trains?

Jedi5 said:
... I'm not expecting to be sitting on a goldmine, lol.
But I would like to have an idea if possible of the worth
if i decide to sell...Train Pics
Click to expand...

I'm glad your expectations aren't too high! ;) I saw mostly "vintage" Tyco, AHM, and Life-Like (non-Proto2000) in your pictures; Those brands don't get much respect from serious modelers, as they are essentially toys rather than scale models. They tend to perform very poorly on layouts.

I've heard there are people who collect old Tyco stuff, but I've never actually met any. But they'd probably want the stuff to be in their original boxes [which most of them appear to be] and wouldn't be planning to actually run them.

Now if this was old Lionel, that would be a whole different story....!:D
 
CSX_road_slug said:
Hello and welcome! Are you thinking of getting into the hobby yourself, or just looking for somebody to buy these trains?
Click to expand...

Not sure. Maybe both? Whatever I don't want, I'll sell and maybe start to pick up the hobby with what I keep.

From the little and let me stress "little" that I know, I think there is interest
in the AHM Big Boy and Conrail steam engine.
Not sure their worth I'll keep digging.

thanks
 
The AHM Big Boy is probably he best piece you have but even that is the old version with the large flanges and is not as sought after as the current Big Boy. The Conrail steam engine is nothing special in terms of either being collectible or performance. The rest of the stuff is standard AHM and Tyco material from the 70's and 80's and not particularly desirable to model railroaders.

I see from the site where the pictures are posted that you actually bought all these items. That's somewhat different than "running across" them. I have no idea how much you paid for all this stuff but the time to price things is before you buy them, rather than afterwards. While we may be able to give an approximate value on model railroad items like brass engines, most of of us rarely have any of the type of material you bought or, if we did, got rid of it a long time ago. I'm sure the cars will sell on e-bay for a few bucks each. The train sets, I don't know. Maybe there's someone out there that got a train set like that for his first toy train and the set would have nostalgia value. You'll just have to list them and see. When it's done, you'll know if you got a good deal on what you bought.
 
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Wow an AHM Big Boy!

In comparative values, as everyone said, they're more low-end stuff. "toy train" starter sets basically. However, I think you might be able to drum up collectors, those boxes look amazing! Where they every used?

Welcome to the forum!
 
I agree. As you can see from my username, I'm not new to collecting. I mostly stick to vintage (77-90) SW related items though. I try to know the worth of something before I dive in and make a purchase.

Like I said, this lot was not purchased to flip and make a profit on. We bought this to keep but the more we looked at the pieces, I decided to see what we had in our collection.

No, nothing pictured was ever used. Some handy man did some work for a wealthy family. Not only did they pay him but they also gave him everying pictured as a bonus. Probably junk to them? They handy man had for a few years in his home (no kids) and now we have it.

I've posted this question on several different forums because I want hear and learn as much as I can about this. One forum mentioned the big boy and conrail. Other than that, they pretty much said what you said about the rest.
 
That big boy is worth about $100~$150 on ebay because of the reasons stated above. But the rest is of no major value, sorry.
I got 2 of those big boys and a challenger from an estate I purchased almost a year ago. Sold one on ebay for $125.
 
Nice starter stuff if you're thinking of putting down the light saber, not flying an X-Wing fighter and becoming a RailRoad Robber Baron [;)].
The things you have found or run across are a helluva start for a new layout to get your feet wet in model RRing. If your thoughts are to sell it all and buy a scale Millennium Falcon, then post them to eBay and let the market determine it's worth. I'd bid on a couple of the items myself, if that helps you decide.

Scoot
 
jbaakko said:
I think you might be able to drum up collectors, those boxes look amazing!
Click to expand...
Especially the boxes that are "AHM True to Blueprint" with a locomotive front image on the left side. If they have foam in them rather than the plastic trays they could be worth something. If not foam the fuzzy plastic trays are "better" (collector value) than the smooth ones.
 
What a nice trip down memory lane! That collection looks like much of the stuff I inherited when my grandfather died years ago. I grew up playing with some of the low end stuff on the garage layout and dreamed of playing with the Big Boy when I got old enough.

Like others have said, there isn't much monetary value to what you have. A few items, such as the American Freedom Train items, might do well on ebay. Even though from a "quality" standpoint, in terms of the models' fidelity to the prototype, durability, etc. these were rather lackluster models (even for their time), a couple pieces look to be in good condition and in the original box. You might have a couple diamonds in the rough there with those American Freedom Train models.

The rest of the stuff, the Big Boy notwithstanding, was never really reliable and was mass produced enough in the 70s to avoid having any real collectability except with a few diehard Tyco and AHM fans. They're out there on ebay, and some of that stuff might do quite well. You never know what people are looking for, so I'd suggest giving it a shot.

I'll tell you right now I'm interested in purchasing at least two of the freight car models in your collection. PM me and we can discuss if you're interested.
 
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