Where's the best to research old Lionel trains??

Hi Jeff!

Post some photos here & you will find out what they are & get a ballpark figure on what they are worth.

Price guides can be hit or miss as far as values go. You will get more $$$$ money if you sell them to someone who really wants them as opposed to selling to a dealer who will give you roughly 30- 50 cents on the dollar. Take Care.

The Greenberg price guides are a good resource for identifying and establishing a value for Lionel trains. Just understand that the value of an item depends greatly on its condition, and the prices quoted in these price guides are ballpark prices that you could expect to *pay* for an item - a dealer is likely to pay anywhere from 10% to 50% of these prices if he is interested at all (he may pay more if he knows he can turn it around fast).

There is also a series of three books ("The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains" series - Prewar, Postwar and modern) by David Doyle that have a lot of photos and some outdated pricing that can be helpful in identification.

If you post photos here, a lot of us can help in identifying the items and what you might expect to get for them.

Andy

Just picked up the train. It's certainly old and has been banged around a bit. I'll post pics in the AM when I have a little sunlight!

I think the most helpful aspect of price guides is to help you do two things. The first is to help you to identify exactly what you have. Small variations that might seem insignificant at first can mean a huge difference in price. The other thing that I have found them useful for is to get you started on understanding the concept of "grading" or the condition of the item. Grading is extremely subjective and most people tend to over grade their items. It is important to be as realistic as possible and it can really help to have a couple of different people you trust grade particularly collectible items.

Good Luck!

The price guides are very helpful in identifying the trains and finding out about the history of a certain item. It will also inform you about any variations or rarities.
The guides only give you an idea of what an item is worth. The value of any item depends on what the current market is willing to pay. It also depends on finding the right buyer at the right time.
To answer your original question, I would say that this forum is the best place to research old trains. It is chock full of kind, experienced and enthusiastic o gauge railroaders who love to help out fellow hobbyists.