Hafner Trains: Spring Drives and Values

[wallyworld]

I have a couple of their sets along with track and switches. Two questions:
1.Where can I determine the value of this collection?
2. One loco has a busted spring drive. Anybody know how to fix it? The spring itself looks as though it has unwound from it's attachment to the spring drive housing.
Thanks in advance for any replies

[Anonymous]

'm not sure about repairing the spring, but I can tell you some other stuff. Right now Hafner trains are very collectable and quite valuable. I would be better to knwo some more details about your trains. Hafner was started after WWI when John Hafner left American Flyer to produce his own trains. The earlier sets have cast iron steam engines and tinplate cars under the Overland Flyer name. In the 30's they began producing tin streamlined sets such as the Union Pacific M-10000 diesel streamliner and Hafner's 1010 steam locomotive. During WWII some Hafner trains were produced with recycled tin from pop cans, beer cans, paint cans etc. and you can sometimes see this on the trains. In 1948 Hafner was purchased by Wyandote Toys, which made them until 1955 when the Hafner train line was purchased by Marx, simply so they could eliminate a competetor. Marx made some trains with the Hafner tooling in Mexico after that.

As you can see, Hafner made a large variety trains in their time. In general though, most Hafner trains are quite valueable. There are many little variations in some that can make certain items even more valuable. One of the best places to look for a value would be to search for the trains you have on ebay. There are many Hafner sets for sale on ebay and you should get a very good idea of what they're worth.

[wallyworld]

Thanks for yor reply. I always wondered why the orange tank car #1010, when inverted, is, in reality, made from a mustard tin. I also have four switches, enough track to make two full circles and straight track sections.
There are two "cabeese" the #3057 \ #41051, three silver #91876 silver hoppers, one #2000 locomotive ( like in the Classic Toy Trains article) and one #1010 white\red locomotive. One neat feature is a small trip lever mounted on the bottom of the engines which strike the track ties as they move around, which in turn rings the engine bell. Thanks for the history, it really adds to the enjoyment of these pieces.