What is this worth ?

[Anonymous]

Let me first say this is my first post on the CTT board ( I am often seen on the MR boards though ) and I have a O gauge train that I would like to sell to get money for my HO layout which is in the planning stages. It is made by Marx . I think it is prewar because there is not a bit of plastic in the whole set. here is a list of things in the set:

New York Central 2-4-2 steam locomotive no. 999 ( no relation to that one NYC record breaker )

NYC tender

Pennsylvania boxcar no.70311

Chesapeake & Ohio high side gondola no. 44572

Baltimore & Ohio low side gondola no.254000

NYC caboose no.20102

Could anyone tell me how much this set is worth? I would like to sell it to my local hobby shop. Thanks !!

[Anonymous]

Nut,

I'm not amarx guy, but I always just run the numbers through EBAY and you will get a good idea of what people are paying for it. Its a free appraisal!

[Anonymous]

Well, your set is a Marx 3/16" scale train set. These trains are actually S scale in size even though they run on O27 track. Marx first came out with these trains in 1941, but soon had to stop production because of the war. They continued making them after the war into the late 40's, but stopped because of the coming of plastic. The values for each piece from the Greenberg Marx guide are as follows:

999 engine: The value on this one depenps on the cowcatcher. If it is plain and smooth, it is worth $20 good, $40 excellent. If it is open spoked, it is worth $60 good, $100 excellent. If it is spoked, but only embosed and not going right through, it is worth $50 good, $75 excellent.
Tender: $15 good, $20 excellent. This is called a wedge tender because if you look at the top it is wider at the front and "wedged in" at the back.
PRR boxcar: $20 good, $30 excellent
C&O gondola: $10 good, $15 excellent
B&O gondola: $8 good, $15 excellent
NYC caboose: $10 good , $15 excellent, but if it's lighted it's worth $80 good, $160 excellent

Good luck in selling your set. Remember, though, the hobby shop is out to make money on it, so they would most likely give you only 50% of it's value.

[marxman]

These MARX 3/16 sets were made until 1957, Most likely yours is post-war as very few were made before the war. The dates on the cars are the design date of the lithography, and not the production date. All similar cars have the same date on them regardless of when they were made. These sets were made by the thousands in the post-war years, so yours most likely is worth less than $100. A hobby shop is only going to pay you 50% or less of its value as they need to resell it to make a profit. If you can find a buyer and sell it yourself you will realize much more of its value than selling it to some one who must then resell it.

MARXMAN

[Anonymous]

I appriciate your help, Thanks !