train value question

[Anonymous]

can anyone tell me where i can find out the value of a prewar american fllyer train set and a hefner building set. i posted a question about it earlier but did not get much of a response . ant help would be appreciated.
thank you.

[mersenne6]

If you'll post a list of the numbers on the cars and the engine in the set and give some kind of description of the hafner buildings I suppose I could give you a guestimate of range of value. The big problem here is the issue of condition and grading. Without seeing the items the best you can expect is a range of values that will border on the useless.

A better bet would be to go over to e-bay and do a search on completed items and/or find items similar to yours as they are listed and then track them to auction conclusion. I've done this from time to time and, unless there is some kind of bidding war going on, the final price will usually give you a reasonable idea of the value. The section to check is O scale, Model RR Trains. For Hafner just type in Hafner in the search engine. It may take awhile for your items to show up but unless you have something really obscure a similar item will probably come up for auction sooner than you might think.

[Algonquin]

Hi,

I looked at your previous post. I believe your set with the 3112 engine and cars are pre-war O-gauge American Flyer. Greenberg (now published by Kalmbach) published a book on Pre-war American Flyer O-gauge trains that gives values for various conditions of trains. I have a copy at home. I will look it up later tonight and try to provide you with some information on the set and give you some ideas on value.

The building you are say are labled "haener" are most probably made by Hafner. William Hafner partnered with William Colman to start the American Flyer line. Hafner left to form his own company shortly after and made clockwork trains and tin toys during the pre-war years. I believ Greenberg published a guide that included Hafner Trains some years ago. It may be out of print now. Someone may have a copy of this book that may be able to help.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

[mersenne6]

Ok, from the 1928 AF catalog, Set #1337 is the Oriental and it should contain the following:

Boxcab electric #3112 in orange litho
Baggage Car - 3 window orange litho, orange enamel roof
Passenger Car - orange litho Paul Revere, orange enamel roof
Observation Car - orange litho Lexington,orange enamel roof

The last Greenberg Guide to AF Prewar gives a price range of $15-$40 per car (Good - Excellent) and a price of $45-$110 for the engine. The publication date of the revised edition is 1997 and, assuming that you can quantify your estimate of very good (take a look at TCA grading standards) to somewhere between their ratings for Good - Excellent there is a good chance that the guide book range is low.

The building descriptions sort of sound like later Hafner and later Hafner signals, however, the passenger shed with lights is either a home modification or something else because Hafner never made an illuminated passenger shed.

The Greenberg Guide to Early American Trains (1993) puts the loading dock (long thin building with a thin stamped metal "loading platform" and a single door in the $10-$20 range. If the brick building is of a similar shape with three lithoed windows and two lithoed doors then it too is the late station and the guide quotes the same price. The signals are listed in the $2-$5 dollar range.

I'm partial to pre-war Flyer and the Hafner accessories and I can tell you that in the last four years, the cheapest asking price (TCA Good) I've ever seen for one of the signals was $10. I've never seen either the station or the loading dock with an asking price of less than $25. If the brick building is not long and thin but is about 6 1/2 x 3 1/2 or so then it is the earlier version. While the guide gives the same 10-20 range, I've never seen one of these with an asking price less than $30.

[Anonymous]

thank you for the information.