Hello, my first post here with lots of questions

[Anonymous]

I just got my trains out Sunday, haven't seen them since 1987. Have owned them since the 50s and been adding to the collection right up to 1987. I've been out of the loop.

Now I'm hyped up again and got poking around the net which brought me here. I used to subscribe to these mags way back when. Would you all mind answering some questions please?

1) Would you guys buy off eBay?

2) Which sites are best & most reasonable for buying?

3) Best sites for repairs, ZWs, operating cars, track access.?

4) Which guide books do you suggest? I have McComas & Tuohy (1986); and Greenberg's (1987). What is out today that is the most accurate and most reliable?

5) After all these years I finally got to build myself a train house which is 16 x 20 and my wife thinks it's a shed! What are some good books for layout designs?

6) I don't want to wear out my welcome here yet, so these questions should hold me over for now.

Thanks, look forward to participating here!

[Dr. John]

First of all . . .[#welcome]

As to your questions,

Yes, I would recommend buying from eBay. I have had good luck finding postwar items at a reasonable price. I always check the seller's rating first.

Best sites? Wow! There are a bunch. Here's a few . . .
charlesro.com
mapajunction.com
http://www.homestead.com/ogauge/links.html

You might want an updated Greenberg's guide - probably the best guide book available.

Here's a good site with some great layout plans:
thortrains.net

Hope this helps! I'm sure you will get some other good responses.

[laz 57]

JAMES,[#welcome][#welcome][#welcome] to the forum.
These GIZ are a grerat group to have on your side to answer any questions you might have.

As far as your questions...
Ebay is ok to bid on stuff. I have gotten lots of things there. But remember buter be where. I do not deal with anyone who has a rating lower then 98%. I have bought quite a few things including engines off EBAY and am satisfied with all my deals. Just remember to ask for all costs in shipping before you bid. Watch out for being "sniped" at the end of the auction too. Guys will bid in the last 20 seconds and you loose.

As far as train sites I like just trains out of delaware. Good GIZ and great deals. Check their site at
www.justtrains.com

The other stuff maybe some of the other GIZ can help.
Again WeLCOME ABOARD.
laz57

[Anonymous]

I am a rookie when it comes to posting so far, however I have had good luck ordering parts from Hollash's trains via the internet. A lot of items available if you like to tinker and have things you would wi***o fix yourself, accessories, engines, or rolling stock. The site's run by part number if you are going to hunt for parts its a little easier to look it up previous than scrolling through everything. The books you got will easily do that.
I got a nice 1668 off of E-bay, watch for sniping as mentioned by laz57 above, can be madding, pick a big enough number it let her rip!!

[Anonymous]

ebay is fine for anything, heck its a buyers market right now I think. Parts from Olsen's in Ohio although there are plenty of others as well. Unless you have trouble using a knife and fork, learn to fix them yourself (my opinion)! Have fun and run some trains!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replys so far guys! Dumb me, I'm so out of the loop it ain't funny!

I didn't think of the time lapse and my train of thought, all my stuff is from the late 40s, 50s & a little from early 60s. I guess I'm what you would call a "Post War Guy", mainly because it's all I've ever known.

I guess I should have been more specific in my questions.

eBay & sniping, yeah, I've had that happen several times and the bad part is that my connection way out here in the country here is a slow 26.4 Kbps which means it takes me many many minutes to outbid someone. Most aggravating!

Is anyone out there located in Virginia? I used to have a nice circle of fellows I dealt with around the Norfolk area, but then I moved far away. Now, I just have trees and animals. I sure miss going over and hanging around with the guys, talking trains, trading, buying, selling. Ah, those were the days.

Well, that's the info update. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ogage

ebay is fine for anything, heck its a buyers market right now I think. Parts from Olsen's in Ohio although there are plenty of others as well. Unless you have trouble using a knife and fork, learn to fix them yourself (my opinion)! Have fun and run some trains!

ogage, what do you mean by this? Why is this? I noticed the other night some items going on eBay for far less than I paid for the same back in the 80s. I even commented to my wife about it. She said the low prices were probably because we (us 50s kids) are all old now and the kids who came up behind us just want to play computer games and could care less about trains. She was joking, but maybe there's some truth there?

Why do you think this is?

[brianel027]

James, the train market is soft. There are too many train companies chasing the same audience. The train market demographic is mostly older men over 50, and some are passing away. Meaning fewer buyers and more trains coming on to the after-market. Add to this the advances in train technology, advances in scale realism and a less-than-enthusiastic effort from the train companies to put money and ideas into growing the train market with youth - and there you have it.

It is a buyers market today, and will probably continue to be that way for the foreseeable future. I don't put a lot of credibility into the price guides and I never have. They tend to average out in favor of the highest dollar value and most folks when reading them don't pay much attention to the "condition" variables. People find they have old Lionel trains sitting in the attic, look at the price guide and their eye goes to the mint/like new price without considering the trains they have may need work, are probably dirty and haven't been run or tested.

The other factor is that dealers love to drive up the prices of trains. An example is the first issue gold aquarium car from 1995. The following catalog year, prices on those cars doubled, tripled and more! This was not dictated by the market... this was dealers hoping to set collector values themselves. The first issue Neil Young Vapor Records box car is another example of something that went through the ceiling at first. Dealers were more than happy to charge $250-$300 for that $44.95 list price car at one time. You can find them now well under $100 if you look.

My rule of thumb is that something is only worth the amount of money that someone is willing to hand over to you for it. And it depends how desparate the seller is for money too. Over the summer I saw a set of postwar New Haven F-3's for $150 at a yard sale with the box! The guy needed some money and real fast for health care concerns. I couldn't afford that one but got a Bronx Zoo operating car for $5.00 (whoopee my price range too!) - both prices well under book value in any condition. And these were all in very good condition. On the other hand at another sale, I saw 4 busted, beaten, broken Scout steamers for $1,000.00. Two were even missing tenders... had they been brand new with their boxes they still never would have been worth a grand!

A good idea is check the closed or completed sales on eBay and get an idea of what folks have been bidding and actally paying for items you are interested in. And it pays to ask questions and be wary when folks say things that raise more questions than answers.

[CSXect]

I am a vidiot(computer game player) but I still have to have my trains. I am 36 and the lack of market share is due to lack of marketing to the general public everything is geared to the collectors.

Try the OGR forum as well http://www.ogaugerr.com this is the O gauge Railroading magizine forum they are geared to people who run/play with their trains where as CTT is mostly a collectors publication.

If you like postwar stuff williams makes some nice postwar style trains and reproductions that are nice. A GP7 with 3 passenger cars for $199 is a good deal will be picking up a set my self soon. http://www.williamstrains.com

[nitroboy]

Just be carful on e-bay. Always check their feedback rating. I haven't had any problems yet.

[Roger Bielen]

James, welcome to the forum. Like you I had been away from O-gauge for a number of years before getting back in 12 yrs., or so, ago. i was amazed at the technical changes. The best thing I believe any one getting back in after a long absense is to get the mags. and start reading on what's been going on. As to places to buy, I've had luck on e-bay but initially I used the ads in CTT, and OGR, and eventually their websites after I brokedown and bought a computer.

Have fun and stop in at the Coffee Pot for a chat.

[Anonymous]

Wecome the forum James,

1) I have bought a few items off of Ebay and have had no problems to date. Ebay is a great site to browse. You never know what you'll find. I would suggest doing a little research on an item before you bid. You can get burned if you don't know an item. But then you can have a lot of fun. A couple of good ebay retails I've delt with. Amhobbies, Trainz.

2) I like www.charlesro.com , www.trainworld1.com , www.islandtrains.com , and I'll second or third the motion with www.williamstrains.com. If their were only one train company out there I'd hope it would be Williams.

3) Your local hobby shop. I am unfamiliar with on line services myself.

4) Both..I lean towards the Greenburgs guides.

5) I'll second the Thor train site. It's very good. I don't think you'd go wrong with any of the Kalmbach publications or those of others.

6) Have a good time!

[Brutus]

Greetings! These guys can really help you out here!

I've bought on ebay from a few sellers, including clouseouttrains1 (?) which is affiliated with Island Trains. Island Trains is also good, as is Grzyboski's Train Store.

[FJ and G]

howdy, James,

The bug has bitten you too! I recall my 1st trainset in about 1961 so you've beaten me by a few years. At the risk of showing favoritism, I think you can't beat, for your money and operating pleasure, starting sets from MTH off the Internet; places like Charlie Nassau's in New York, for example. Don't have his site on me right now. Also, Eastern Depot in Pennsylvania.

I usually call when I order to chitchat and to get a feel for things.

People on the forums are usually biased about certain brands or things. You kinda gotta surf around the web and look at CTT and OGR to get a feel for the terrain.

[Warburton]

I would second grzyboskitrains.com as excellent. Very reliable. Also trainexpress.com.
And Charles Ro is fine as well. Check out traincity.com, too. He's a straight shooter. If you don't mind first rate reproductions of postwar Lionel at a great price, check out Williams.

[nitroboy]

For parts, you can't go wrong with:

www.ttender.com

[1688torpedo]

Hello & [#welcome] James! The Trading Post in Cleveland,Ohio is loaded with Postwar Trains. His phone# is 1-216-661-7300. He also has Williams,MTH, & New Lionel. Plus, his prices are usually $ 20-30.00 less than MSRP on most items. Olsens Toy Train parts has a website and diagrams for old lionel,flyer,and marx trains.Also,tons of parts. Jeff at the Train Tender in Pittsford,NY is another good parts source and is very helpful and he has a website as well. Hope this helps.

[4kitties]

James, you won't wear out your welcome! We're glad you're here.

I've been an eBay member since 1998 and my experience with it, both as a buyer and as a seller, has been overwhelmingly positive. I have picked up many great train items at fair prices. If you browse the listings for a while, you will figure out which sellers are knowledgeable collectors. From eBayers like these I can count on getting train items that are accurately graded and often in better condition than I can find at meets. In my experience, your first purchase from a seller tells you everything you need to know about him or her, and if you are like me, once you find some good ones you will go to them over and over.

I want to add JusTrains of Delaware (www.justrains.com) to the list of good dealers. In a word, these guys have been superb. Case in point: I've been on their waiting list for a long time for the new K-Line PRR F units (which finally shipped without cruise control.) [:(] I happened to see they had some of them at the York meet. I asked whether I should grab them there or wait for them to ship to me. The person I spoke to told me to call the store the following Monday, because they were in the process of working through the list of customers who wanted them. I called them at about 11am on Monday and altered my order to be an A-B-B-A set, and the locos were in my hands (Baltimore, MD) the following day. This isn't the first time I've gotten an order from them in about a day, and one can't ask for better service than that.

[Anonymous]

James,

Welcome aboard.

As far as books go, Greenberg's stuff is nice but you have to buy a bunch of them to get the overall picture of the Postwar era.

However, this is THE best book going out there right now. A TON of info for a very low price. LOTS of good reading.
It is called "Standard Catalog Of Lionel Trains: 1945-1969" by David Doyle
Hit this link and you can buy it for pretty cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873498909/103-7825612-3971868?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance

Best regards,
Rich

[MTsteamfan]

Hi James, from one newbie here at the CTT site to another. (Well I've been around a few months but am still pretty new, I guess.)

I'd like to add Nicholas Smith Trains to the recommend list. They have nice prices even on the newer stuff. Have bought several things from them and have had no problems. www.nstrains.com

Another good place, not near you however, is Caboose Hobbies in Denver. www.caboosehobbies.com They claim to be the "World's Largest Train Store" and are a bit higher priced than some, but their service has been great and the guys there are very helpful. They're the closest "big" train store to me.

[lionelsoni]

Before buying Doyle's book, read
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23391

[ChiefEagles]

James Reilly, [#welcome] to a good ole Virginy boy. You might keep an eye on these sites for some good used engines and rolling stock. Picked up a bunch there.

http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/1961048701

http://svctrains.com/bboard2.cfm#top

As Roger B suggested, come over to the Coffee Pot and post. We need help with keeping those Ohizo boy s in line. [;)]

[Anonymous]

James,
With regard to the book by David Doyle, it is a GREAT book with tons of Good information.

You would be safe in ignoring "lionelsoni's" comments, he seems to be in a VERY small minority with regards to this fine book.

For the money you will not find more value in any other book. To get the equivilent in those put out buy Greenberg (though these books are well done) you would have to spend $150+.

Hit the link I left in my earlier post and pick up a good source of information on Lionel Postwar trains.

Regards,
Rich NYCRR1

[lionelsoni]

Please do not ignore Rich's comments. Read everyone's comments.

[FJ and G]

Bob,

I missed reading that post last year. That's quite a thorough comment on a book! Interesting though.

[IronHoarse]

Welcome Jams, lots of good people with good information here. I have been into the hobby for only a few months and have found a lot of help on this forum. This has been mentioned above several times but I think is worth repeating. Justrains is a great place to buy from on line.