Clockwork Trains

[Anonymous]

I have what I think are 4 sets of key wound trains made between 1915-1925. I would like to find out for sure what I have, and what their value might be. Only one engine is clearly marked with "Ives No. 25" on the engine and "limited vestibule express" on the tender. I also have a couple cars that say "AMERICAN FLYER" across the top and "CHICAGO" along the bottom. They are passenger cars, one in red and one in green.

I have a stamped metal engine that says "P.R.R." on it, another stamped metal with "328" on the tender, and a cast engine with no lettering but an olive green color with yellow striped trim on the tender.

Some freight cars say "Bings miniature railway system" on them.

I live in the Northwest Chicago area. Any help in finding out what I have would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Well, all of your trains are quite valuable to colelctors if they are in good condition. You appear to have some very good pieces there. Condition is extremely important to collectors and if what you have is in good condition, you probably have over $1000 worth of stuff there.

If you could send me pictures of them I could identify exactly who manufactured what and which pieces go together. The prices vary according to each item. I would definetly check out ebay and look for simmilar items listed, which should give you a very good idea of their values.

American Flyer was a company that manufacturered toy trains in Chicago until 1938 when it was bought by the A.C. Gilbert Co. (famous for making Erector sets), which moved production to New Haven, Conn. After the war they switched from making trains in O gauge (incidentally, I should mention that all your trains are O gauge) to S gauge. I would guess that the American Flyer set you have might be the Rainbow set, because the AF passenger cars aren't in matching colours (which they were in all other sets). The Rainbow was a set with passenger cars each in a different colour. Of course, these cars could just be from different sets or else purchased seperately to add on to the other trains.

Ives was a company that manufacturered toys in the 19th century, but then switched to making mainly trains early in the 20th century after the original factory burned down. Ives went bankrupt in 1929 because of the Wall Street Crash and was taken over by Lionel.

The Bing frieght cars are very excellent pieces. Look on them for a manufacturing mark which should either be a diamond with the letters "GBN" in it or else a "W" with a sideways "B" on top of it. If they have the GBN (Gebruder Bing Nuremburg) logo, they date from before 1926. If they have the BW (Bingwerke) logo, they date from 1926-1933. Bing was a German company which started out in the 19th century. The company was forced to close in 1933 (the year Hitler took power) because the company's owners were Jewish (they managed to flee to England and start the train manufacturer Trix Twin, however).

I hope this helps you some!