Please help.

[Anonymous]

When my father passed away a little over two years ago, he had a huge HO train collection. My mother has recently decided to start downsizing and has given me some of his trains to sell. I have lots of questions and wonder if someone would be patient enough to talk to me and answer them.

Where would be the best place to sell the trains to get the most money for my Mom? eBay?

I have picked out 12 trains to start with that are duplicates of others he already has. Some of the trains are marked Varney, one is Mantua and the rest are unmarked. A few have writing on the bottom that looks like my father's writing. One says Comet 1943; another is Strombecker 1950; Athearn 1954; and just Athearn. I'm sure most of you know what these mean, but I have no clue.

My Mom said something about the couplers. She said that she learned from watching my Dad that there is a difference between a Kadee coupler and a knuckle coupler. I've noticed that some of the trains have Kadee couplers because it's marked as such. The others I have no clue about. The Mantua train is a metal caboose and has a brass coupler that is different from the others (just an oval ring).

I believe most of these trains are constructed of wood and cardstock. Is that the correct terminology? What other materials were these trains made of?

How can I find out the value of these trains? Is there a book that I can get that will help me with this endeavor? I've only started with 12 trains and, like I said, my father had a HUGE collection. I'm guessing he has somewhere around 12,000 trains.

If someone can help, please feel free to email me at [e-mail].

[lionelsoni]

Have you tried posting this on the Model Railroader forum, which is also on this site? The folks on that forum would be much more knowledgeable about HO, not that we don't wish you well on this one.

[TheJoat]

Edith,
Hopefully you're not in a rush. I agree, put a post in the other forum, as these are not traditionally considered as Classic Toy trains; they are scale models.

Ebay is not a bad option, but if you have never sold there it might be daunting. No matter where you sell them, you will need pictures. If you have a decent digital camera, you are ahead of the game.

Another option might be a local club, but there are no guarantees anywhere. As with anything, you need to find someone you can really trust to give you some good advice.

Take your time. The value of anything is always determined by the willingness of a buyer to part with their hard earned money. That amount is extremely variable.

[jimhaleyscomet]

You might consider a visit to a hobby shop to get a "low" offer so you begin to have an idea what they are worth. If you can do digital pictures and sell on ebay you will obtain the most money. Better yet find a friend who may want the whole kit and will make you an offer. Even better, keep them until you find someone local that really wants them.

Good Luck

Jim H

[IRONROOSTER]

Hi,
Ebay is probably your best bet for selling trains.

Unfortunately there is no real collector's market for HO trains like there is for O guage, S guage, and Standard gauge toy trains. A small exception to this is for engines or cars made completely out of brass. If any of the engines or cars are made completely out of brass, these have value. Valuation is tough because the last price guide for brass is over 10 years old.

For other pieces such as the ones you mentioned there is no valuation guide. Some general guidelines:

In general, older items are not worth as much because they had less detail and the engines didn't run as well. More recent items will have more value.

Some limited run items, especially unassembled structure kits may have increased in value.

Unbuilt kits generally have some value. Built kits depends heavily on condition.

Track unless new will have little value.

There will be exceptions to all this of course.

Your best bet for values is to see what the items have sold for on ebay. Since model railroaders are more active in winter, October through February are probably better months for this.

I know that there are services that will help you with this, because I have seen listing estate items on ebay, but I don't know anything about them.

Good luck
Paul

[Big_Boy_4005]

Generally speaking HO trains are not collectable, and have low resale value. However it sounds like you have some older pieces which may be an exception, but don't get your hopes too high. As Paul said, the market for such items is very small, because today's modelers want the detail that comes with modern plastic injection molding. They want modern motors too.

As far as price guides go, there may be one for Athearn, and one for Lionel HO, but that would be about it. They may be so out of date as to be of no use, if you could even find a copy.

There is a very good chance that your local hobby store will be of no help, and simply tell you they aren't interested.

Ultimately, my recommendation is that if they have sentimental value to you, keep them. If not, offer them up on eBay.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for your assistance. I greatly appreciate it.