What Trains do you have you Consider Rare

My 3666,   Yellow log car with white letters, my clear shell cars, girls set from 57, my olive drab cars to name a few

We think my 1941 Lobaugh Cab Forward is one of about twelve with original parts.  Lots of fragments, since production was just about to start in December 1941, but very few all original models.

Why, every thing thing I have is "rare"; that way, when I get ready to sell on eBay, I can expect to get 5X what it's all worth... 

Mark in Oregon

1950 Lionel Hudson and the Lionel Wagon Wheel odometer from the US Cavalry days ...

Nairb Rekab posted:

My 250 watt ZW that I have never seen, still sealed in the original box, no this isn't it.

How can you NOT just rip it open?!?!

Rare to me? A 602 Seaboard my dad gave me for Christmas in 1957. Hasn't run since about 1963, wore it out, I Did! Working on repairs now.

hello guys and gals.......

Rare ?  I don't know if it is or not but it is uncommon as I have been looking at Ebay for 4 months and searching the online train stores until Mario's Trains had one.   I guess it is rare and that would be my Railking green Southern bay window caboose # 30-77243 a "perfect" match for my Southern Railking NW-2 switcher right down to the color shade of green 14 years apart !    The engine is made in 1999 in Korea and the caboose is made in 2013 China.   MTH did a good job matching the right shade of green on both !   They look so nice together !   Once in while I check Ebay to see if there's is one for sale and so far none but plenty of the red/yellow ones.  There is something more rare than this and that is very FEW people will make it to haven as people are more concerned of themselves than God.  I am trying the change that so can you.  I know its NOT easy but have to TRY.  Check out "Matthew 6:33" But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you"  This is in the NKJV bible.  My husband and I are trying to follow that.  Guys, Just remember this that NOTHING will leave the earth when we die.

"I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us -- nothing in the whole created world -- will ever be able to separate from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:39 ERV (Easy to Read version)

Tiffany

GeoPeg posted:

Nairb Rekab posted:

My 250 watt ZW that I have never seen, still sealed in the original box, ...

How can you NOT just rip it open?!?!

Schrödinger's transformer!
(...isn't Bakelite slightly radioactive?)

Some great items in this thread, wow.

I  have a rare item, and a few like this Gold Plated F3 that were hard to find.

The other item I'm not sure fits the definition of rare? Doesn't there have to be "more than one of" for an item to be rare as opposed to One of a Kind?

Anyway I am fortunate to have a pair of Atlas Nickel Plated Alp44 Shells done by Jim Weaver for the 50th Anniversary TCA Convention Silent Auction.  Jims signature and and note about the shells are on the box. 

So the fact they came as a pair and could theoretically (and will probably be done over my dead body) be sold to two different people - does that now make it rare? 

I have much more fun hunting for something that is not an almost impossible challenge. However there is one of those on my list.

I'm having trouble locating the picture - I'll try and hunt it down. I thought I posted it here on the forum before but who knows.

Edit: Here we go

Paul

I have this 1000 HP EMD NW2. Diesel Switcher built in 1948 by General Models Corporation. Not sure but would be nice to know if it is Rare.

I would say that mine is the MTH premier WMSR 734. I have seen in some posts that there are as few as 50 of the units made, but I cannot confirm that. It is definitely one of my favorites if not my favorite locomotive that I own. 

-Marc  

KRM, your General Models switcher is not rare but if it were painted white it would be. Lionel used one for PR photos on their New York Showroom Layout before their own GM switcher was available. Don

Not unique, but hard to find, I have a Western Coil Zephyr, boxed, and in like new condition.

My rarest trains are my three HO scale GG1s made between 1935 and the early 50's by a gentleman named George Stock.  He was an early pioneer in the hobby starting with kits in 1930 of mostly PRR based steam locomotives.  I have only ever seen 6 of his GG1s and one of mine is an unbuilt kit.  I was told by Lou English Sr. at Bowser in the early 90's that he didn't even know George Stock made GG1s and that he had only heard of the steam locomotives.

In O, I have one of 7 sets of the GGD Canadian in VIA colors.  My 3rd Rail "Rivets" was one of 20 made in 3 rail as the other 5 were two rail.  I'm not sure how many 1935 painted versions were three vs. two rail, but there were a total of 25 made in that scheme as well and I have a 2 rail one.  Not rare by any stretch, but my Williams T1 is number 1 of 750.  I think that's kind of fun and the reason I hold onto it.  I also am awaiting final production of some of the TCA tinplate cars from the 2016 convention and the upcoming 2017 convention when I was convention car committee chair.  For 2016 there were only about 40 O scale reefers and 40 standard gauge reefers produced. 

The rarest train that I have seen is the original prototype to the first Lionel O gauge train of 1915 that was and may still be owned by a member of my TCA Division.  This is not the production model, but the actual prototype that was eventually produced. 

I was very fortunate 45 years ago, when  a friend of my mom decided to give me an entire Lionel  Pre-War Hiawatha Set (Freight) with all the set boxes....  

Since most of my trains are modern era, none of my trains would probably be considered rare.

Probably the rarest O gauge engine item is an MTH Proto 2 light Mikado from 2007, the version with wireless drawbar. These apparently don't pop up often. Probably because everyone who has them keeps them, and I can see why. Mine has been modified as Cuyahoga Valley No.4070...just needs decals.

I don't think the Lionel 1991 lift bridge or 1992 steam clean and wheel grind shop would be that rare anymore either...

However, I DO have the hard to find Lehigh Valley ore car that was only included in the 1987 Black Diamond set. I doubt anyone would pay $70 for it now, but it's still not quite easy to acquire.

I think the dentist in Toronto has the top two items in my mind.

1 - Factory sealed prewar 700E set

2 - Mint B6 switcher set in the factory boxes.  Mint, never out of the boxes, but the seal is broken on the set box. 

Anyone got a Boys Train?  (The real Boys Train, all blue cars and engine).

aussteve posted:

I think the dentist in Toronto has the top two items in my mind.

1 - Factory sealed prewar 700E set

2 - Mint B6 switcher set in the factory boxes.  Mint, never out of the boxes, but the seal is broken on the set box. 

Anyone got a Boys Train?  (The real Boys Train, all blue cars and engine).

His name is Bernie Rubin - I have the videos TM did that documented his all Mint collection.

He also had a Mint 726 Berkshire from 1946, a Mint Canadian-version 226E, a Mint rare gray coal tender version 763E Hudson, and a Mint black GG-1.

It's no surprise he's called Dr. Mint.

Mikado 4501 posted:

aussteve posted:

I think the dentist in Toronto has the top two items in my mind.

1 - Factory sealed prewar 700E set

2 - Mint B6 switcher set in the factory boxes.  Mint, never out of the boxes, but the seal is broken on the set box. 

Anyone got a Boys Train?  (The real Boys Train, all blue cars and engine).

His name is Bernie Rubin - I have the videos TM did that documented his all Mint collection.

He also had a Mint 726 Berkshire from 1946, a Mint Canadian-version 226E, a Mint rare gray coal tender version 763E Hudson, and a Mint black GG-1.

It's no surprise he's called Dr. Mint.

Hi Thomas - 

Do you know which TM video this is?  I'd like to check it out if it's still available.  Thanks.

The rarest item I own is a KMT Stegmaier boxcar.  It took a while to get it on the eBay some years ago.

                                    Unsure how rare but likely unusual having the collection shown above of every O Gauge Strasburg Railroad locomotive made (except for current Strasburg Lionel tinplate loco, which I don't run, and a 3rd Rail Sunset Strasburg Mollie which I missed out on and am currently searching to acquire. So if you or anyone you know with a 3rd Rail Mollie has ever entertained putting it up for "adoption," I'd be interested in receiving an email to possibly work out a deal to make that Mollie the newest member of my O gauge Strasburg locomotive family. Contact me as I'd entertain a cash offer deal and/or a swap offering a Strasburg Plymouth Dockside Switcher and a Strasburg Lionel 6-11268 plus some cash.

Phoebe Snow Route posted:

Hi Thomas - 

Do you know which TM video this is?  I'd like to check it out if it's still available.  Thanks.

They were on the original Toy Train Revue video magazine VHS's, numbers 1 and 12. The first one is now a part of bonus footage on the new Toy Train Revue No.1 DVD. The 12th VHS is kind of difficult to find...

I would have to say the Lionel Amtrak Cab car

aussteve posted:

I think the dentist in Toronto has the top two items in my mind.

1 - Factory sealed prewar 700E set

2 - Mint B6 switcher set in the factory boxes.  Mint, never out of the boxes, but the seal is broken on the set box. 

Anyone got a Boys Train?  (The real Boys Train, all blue cars and engine).

I've always wondered about having new, sealed in the box, trains.  I've just one, a recent Lionel Hudson.  But if it's in the box, sealed away, I can't see it, touch it, run it, appreciate it ... just "I got one sealed-in-the-box" bragging rights at the Club meetings ... lol!

My American Flyer #21140 Northern. Have it since I was eleven.

Richard E posted:

Originally Posted by breezinup:

Originally Posted by Richard E:

I have a pair of K-Line brown & orange Illinois Central Alco FAs. I am not sure how rare they are but I've never seen an other set.

In the 90s K-line made several AA sets of these small Alcos, including those ICs you have and also some Northern Pacific Loewy passenger scheme models, primarily to match several baby streamliner passenger car sets Lionel made at that time. Lionel only made some small steam engines to go with their cars. These FA engines are around, but I suspect most people have them with the passenger car sets and they don't come up all that often. These are the Lionel cars they were meant to go with:

 

I have the passenger cars as well. I also have the K-Line Northern Pacific Alcos and Lionel Passenger cars.

These are the cars that got me into O gauge. I was primarily S gauge with some Marx and then I saw these cars at the Chicago/Wheaton show around '92 or so and was hooked.

There's the GG-1 that I slipped past my first wife. She found out about all the others. 

I know it's not o gauge, but probably the rarest car I own is this Lebu RhB meter gauge coach. These models were work shop made in Switzerland in the 70s in very limited run. They appear from time to time on German eBay, but are extremely rare to come across in the US.  The scale claims to be about 1 to 22.5 g gauge, but it's actually more like 1 to 24.  

Now this is O Scale. These are CLW FA1 kits, which are not especially rare in their own right, but the custoum detailing and painting for LNE makes these ones fairly unique. I don't have any "stock" o scale that is especially rare, although some of my sunset plastic diesels and atlas are low production runs compared to most mth or Lionel stuff.  Still not as low as some of the sunset brass though. 

Pre & post war collectors don't want to put there rare trains on here for obvious reasons.

Gentlemen,

   I do not believe there is such a thing as rare O Gauge Lionel Train, however I do have an old pre production 263E Tin Plate work train that from my understanding is pretty unique.  Beautiful old Lionel train, handed down thru my family for generations now.

PCRR/Dave 

The original 263E Lionel on the inside track, the  263E MTH Repro P2 on the outside track.  Both Great Tin!