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Hello,

I'm new here and I am a G scale guy and not an "O" scale one. I was recently contacted by a woman looking to sell off her father collection of trains, all "0" scale, . I went and looked tonight and made her an offer that she accepted. There are mostly brass locos and cars. At least one loco is a SF livery made by Ajin (not sure of what diesel model, only looked at it fast). There is also two NIB Overland Amtrak cars that also appear to be brass. Some long brass passenger cars, some that the owner spray painted. Brass gondolas and flats also. Can someone give me an idea of the value of these items. I will get more info once I pick them up. I will be selling them as I also fly RC planes and the woman's father also had a collection of those too. Too much stuff for me to keep. None of the locos or rolling stock appears to be Lionel or anything else other than the high end brass stuff. There is some Lionel and Gargraves 3 rail track but also some scale profile hand laid rail that I will be pulling up. Some NIB building and bridge kits, NIB truck pairs of different types, Walthers two handle transformer, 2-3 MRC trans, etc.

 

Thanks in Advance,

Ted

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Chistech,

 

Your description is NOT nearly detailed enough, that anyone would be able to give any kind of educated guess at a price. Saying it is a brass gondola, or a brass flat car is a totally inadequate description, unless maybe you just want to blow the stuff out.

 

To sell brass you need to know who imported it, who built it, what it is, is it painted or not, is the paint factory, pro paint, or just some amateur doofus,  what condition is it in, does it have it's original box, just  for a start!

 

If you don't want to invest some time identifying what you have, taking several good images of each item and putting it on that well known auction might be the way to go.

 

Simon

I understand that my description isn't too detailed but I did describe one loco and the two Amtrak cars from Overland so that is why I said I would get more info when I pick the items up. I actually pick up a lot of RC stuff for the wives of my club's deceased members, catalog, photograph it, research it, then help them sell it. I was just trying to get a ball park idea to start with so I know I made the woman a good enough offer. She has had a stroke and I want to help her out as much as I can without it costing me. I was hoping for averages of what they might be worth. I believe the Santa Fe Ajin loco will be worth more than a few hundred after looking at a few site on the web. It appeared in pristine condition when I picked it up in my hand but like I said, I will have better info when I can take the time to go through each piece. Most of the items appeared to come from Overland as their name is on all the boxes. I post on a lot of forums and I am a scale RC contest builder. I am surprised at the somewhat hostile attitude I've gotten with one question from members here. I don't find this on many forums. Sorry I asked.

Last edited by chistech

Chistech,

 

Don't let a few grumps get you down.  Just continue like you say you do with the airplanes.  Keep checking the auctions, pick up a couple of O Scale magazines and by all means look on every web site you can find.

 

Please keep in mind, the more info you have the better (just like planes).  Photos are a real help along with a critical evaluation by you or someone more familiar with model trains.

 

If you want I can provide you with the names and contact info for folks that buy and sell model trains but keep in mind most are in it to make money and many will low ball you if they can.

 

Good Luck,

 

Jay

Participants here can occasionally be rigid about what can or cannot be discussed, but on the whole it seems like a friendly place. Here is what I would do - get some photos, and post a few pieces on eBay.  Be sure to put O Scale 2-rail brass in your title, so they show up for those of us with standard search categories.

 

My imprssion is that normally you will get more than an item is actually worth through the auction process, unless you get tricky and put a reserve on it or start it at some high number.  I start everything at $1.99 and I am usually stunned and embarrassed at what I get in the end.

Christech

 

If you have the boxes the labels on the end will provide the needed identification information.  The label info, several photos, and condition description will greatly help prospective buyers in determining if they want to bid on it.  As brass models were built in limited quantities, unlike toy trains, resale market pricing can be all over the place.  By listing the item on eBay under O scale imported brass with good descriptive info and low starting prices (say $100 for a brass car, $300 for a brass locomotive) the auction bidding will usually get you a fair price.

 

Ed Rappe

Hello All,

Thanks for all the positive responses. I figured that the initial couple posts weren't the norm but still it surprised me. Anyway, I appreciate the help and I will contact those who have asked me to. There are lots of boxes unfortunately, the cars aren't in them, they are on the rails so I will have to take my time and go through them again once I pick them up. I gave her an offer that she was happy with based on the RC stuff she had plus a few hundred. I believe after doing a little looking that I will be able to go back to her with some additional money which will really make her happy. She now lives all alone and it's hard for her to get around since her stroke. Every little bit will help. Thanks again to all and Merry Christmas. Pictures to come.

Ted

Hi Chistech,

 

The Overland Amtrak cars are probably the superliners that were manufactured in several runs, 1990,92 and 98. The were priced at about $595 for the first run and about $675 for the last run in 1998.

 

There were several different loco types built by Overland in the Amtrak scheme. EMD E8 built 1989, GE 8-32BWH built 1993, EMD F40PH built 1990, and GE "genesis" AMD-103 built 1998.

 

If you have pictures and boxes with item numbers I can help you identify the Overland stuff. My email should be in my profile. Happy Holidays!

Thanks for the additional information on the Amtrak cars Superpower. I didn't see any Amtrak locos though. There is a Alco F7 unit (I believe) in a B&M livery that looks like it is part of an A-B setup as it didn't have a regular coupler on the back but a bar w/loop on it. I didn't see a B unit though. There is a lot of stuff and it's buried under other junk so it will take some time to put it all together. There was also another Steam Engine w/tender in a Overland box that appeared to be pretty nice. This engine and the amtrak cars were upstairs in a closet. I hope to pick some of the stuff up tomorrow and the rest on Saturday. Keep posted here as the descriptions and pictures come up.

 

Thanks, Ted

If you can believe it, when I was looking for track last year an older man was moving from his house to a condo and had pulled up his layout. He offered me his track knowing that I had mentioned I wanted to go outdoors in a pretty large area but could not afford to do it. He told me he wanted me to buy his track and would give me a great price and I would not be disappointed. I said OK, sight unseen, (see a pattern here, LOL) and I drove the 1 hr to his house. He had 700' of brass and 600' of SS. 4 large radius SS switches, 7 medium switches, all the set screw rail clamps and another 180' of rail in a tube. When I saw this I said there is no way I could buy it. He told me "lets just load up your truck". When all was done, and an 8' bed was pretty full he said to give him $500!!!! Which luckily, I had just that with me. I think it will be hard for me not to go with the "G" stuff. Though I am a scale RC builder and somewhat of a purist with my planes I am not that way with my trains. Like me with my planes, I know some train guys are purists with their trains and that is fine with me. The "G" stuff is far from that but it's good for me. I also live here in MA, less than 1 hr from Charlie Ro (USA Trains) and he is really good to local buyers. Here is a picture of my scale built from plans OS2U Kingfisher float plane. I have won a few awards with it already in it's short 2 year flying ready status. There are no decals on any ready-art on it. All balsa, fiberglassed cloth, epoxy paint, including all insignias, lettering, and marking. Flying weight 10.5lbs, span: 58" Superb flyer. My planes are my first hobby, well, maybe the wife is!

 

Ted

Attachments

Images (3)
  • BT Kingfisher 251
  • BT Kingfisher 253
  • BT Kingfisher 223

I did plug it in and turned it on. It showed an output of 12v on the top meter. I believe it has a transformer in it already. The rheostats are nice and white and it looks like it got very little use. If you can believe it, while looking underneath it, I can't remember looking for the transformer itself as I just assumed it was there. With the weight of the unit and the above visual voltage it must be there. I saw so much stuff my head was spinning. I am suffering from CRS right now.

Ted:

 

The CUDO Wasatch trucks are very nice and sell for around $140-$160 new. As Superpower said, nice pieces.

 

BTW, the sea plane looks great. Wasn't that design used during WW2 on battleships? I remember seeing photos and the ship would have two of them hanging off the side for recon and they'd fish them out of the water when they returned.

Last edited by AGHRMatt

Hello Guys,

Thanks for all this info and if you can keep it coming. I'm trying to find more info on the F7 units. They are phase I units and look like they might be worth $1000-1400. I may be way off but I'm comparing to others I've researched. It's a shame the original owner had a thing for that blue paint. The passenger car is beautiful with full interior including operating cabin doors. The GP38 KTM has some use and I have no idea what it might be worth. The guy only had 4 straight lines of track about 18' long. I doubt any of the engines/cars got much usage. There was no loop just point to point. I have a decent amount of rail, a box of cork road bed, and about 15 plastic cars too. Lots of stuff. Going back tomorrow to pick up the boats and will give the house a once more around. Found a Overland box for a 080 Ajin loco but no loco! OH well, guess I can't get greedy. Will be giving the woman a lot more money tomorrow.

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