Today, I received a New Bright RC train made in 1985 and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about them. It was given to me, but I will probably list it on Ebay as a collector's item, unless it is considered to be junk.
It is wired, so it is a walk behind remote control with sound and smoke...at least there is a button for sound and a place to put oil for the smoke; it is untested. I believe that it requires 4 C batteries for the controller, which should turn the wheels, but that is untested, as well.
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5469935
Thanks!
Jason
There's some interest in New Bright trains, but the primary reason for the interest is because they're inexpensive. They're aren't considered collectible. The main attraction is that they're inexpensive to acquire and customize, so someone on a budget can build a nice G scale railroad.
Since it's R/C, and has a reasonable amount of detail, I'm guessing it's probably G scale. You'll want to determine that before you try to sell it. If it's G scale, the distance between the track rails will be about 1.75 inches. New Bright has also made some O gauge stuff, and there's virtually no interest in that.
You can sell the set as a whole, or break it up. You have a chance of getting a better value if you break the set up, since someone who's looking for a locomotive might not be looking for cars, and there may be people looking for inexpensive cars and don't need the locomotive. Be sure to sell the locomotive and tender together, however. Separating those tends to offend people.
As far as value, you can buy new ones for about $30 and they're available almost everywhere around Christmas. They've sold a ton of them in recent years, so they most likely are fairly common on the secondary market as they don't come with enough track to maintain a lot of interest, and most people don't know where to go to get more. You may be able to get $30 total by selling the engine/tender, cars, and track separately, but don't expect to get a lot for them unless your salesmanship is absolutely brilliant.
If you want more information on New Bright trains, the Garden Railways forums are a good place to check. That's where the G scale folks hang out.
"No childhood should be without a train!"
Thank you for the very good replies. I appreciate hearing from people who know what they are talking about........I think I will just clean it up and put it on the shelf in my sons' room. Maybe if I feel froggy one day, I will install an ESC and a transmitter/receiver so the boys can drive it around. At least then I won't have to worry about them breaking anything!
Cheers!
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month