Mantua Southern 312-40 Mikado/Tender

[Anonymous]

I have a Mantua No 312 Mikado 2-8-2 & Tender. I bought it about 25 years ago, never used and still in box. Can anyone give me an idea on it's value. Appreciate any input.
Thanks

[Anonymous]

well, im not an expert on this kind of stuff, but do you know the brand? that is usually important.

[dknelson]

Another posting has been discussing the value of Mantua trains. The answer is "it depends." True Mantua is one thing, Tyco can be another. Mantua in the late 1950s used pretty good motors and the dies were still in good shape. Over time they began to use motors of lesser quality.
Gradually more and more plastic began to be used-- first the cab, then the tender and then I think the pilot. Not that there is anything wrong with that but I suspect there is some collector's value to a truly all metal model.
A few years ago I bought a Mantua 2-8-2, very nicely assembled and painted by someone who has since retired from Kalmbach Publishing so you can assume the guy was a pretty expert modeler, for $20 and I think that was a fair price (it was at an auction and there was only one other bidder). When I first subscribed to MR in 1965 you could get a Mantua kit for this locomotive for about $16 from America's Hobby Center although the list price was much higher.
About 20 years ago Mantua or Tyco or whatever they called themselves tried to enter what I call the "franklin mint" market of special items inteded to be collectibles. While the paint was nice and shiny I doubt if they ever really took off for collectors -- the detail had become very blunt by then due to the age of the dies.
My suspicion is that you could probably get $50 for your locomotive and perhaps more if there is some particular collector's value to it, such as the paint job. But frankly, the very older Mantua engines from 35+ years ago were so well designed that as we, ahem, older modelers (or our estates) sell off our collections there is quite a flood on the market of Mantua depressing the value.
Dave Nelson

[orsonroy]

There were so many Mantua engines made over the decades, and they're so indestructable, that the engine's not worth much. I saw them going for as little as $20 with an original box two weekends ago!

[Anonymous]

Most of the larger Mantua/Tyco engines, 2-8-2, 4-6-2 & etc, can be reworked into a very respectable , good running locomotive. This is done by installing a can motor and a NWSL 28-1 gearbox. Also you could detail it for your favorite road. All of this will take some work but the result can be great and well worth the effort. Have fun.