Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I think there's an area on e-Bay entitled "Collections" that would probably be the best area to list these trains in if you decide to go that route, because you probably won't get very good bids if you list them in an area for trains. As others have pointed out, the sets you have were not for model railroaders but were meant to be more of a collector's item.
gravytrain wrote: I opened one factory-sealed box to get the model number. The other box is still unopened and factory-sealed.
gravytrain wrote:Cazephyr,Thanks for your ideas. I do have one question--this will show that I am way out of my league here--when you say "the collectors set is not normally purchased or used by model railroaders" what do you mean? What kinds of trains are you guys using?!Thanks again.
Many of us who build model railroads try to build and operate them for a certain era. I prefer the late 1940's and the early fifties since both steam and diesels were used. It was a time when the passenger train business was still great before the airlines took over and our modeling world can recreate those scenes with great detail and close to exact models. The models are detailed and weathered much like a prototype would be and we can review history as it was, at least in our perspective. Many who watched the trains of that era can remember details by pictures and books to create these scenes.
I normally would not purchase a set of anything because it does not fit into the era, but that does not mean everyone is not interested. Ebay is still the best market for anything like you are talking about and it can be sold.
Good luck on your sale.
The picture is a little fuzzy when I blow it up enough to see any detail, but my first guess from the color of the power supply that this is an AHM set. Tyco sets usually had golden colored power packs. However, as far as I know AHM never made an F9. Both Tyco and Bachmann did. Bachmann however did not get into HO scale trains until 1970. So if they are pre-1970 they cannot be Bachmann. A few other possibilites are Pemco, COX, Marx, or Lifelike.
Reguardless, as CALZEPHYR says, any value is going to be to collector value for people who collect that specific brand of toy trains, or that specific brand (Gravy Train or Del Monte) of merchandise. For this type of person the boxes these come in are often more valuable than the unit itself. I personally have paid $10 just for an old "Varney" box, whith no train in it, just because it was in perfect condition.
Bachmann Collectors http://tycotrain.tripod.com/bachmanntrainscollectorsresource/
Tyco Collectors http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/
There is one EMD F9 listed on Ebay under Gravy so you have something to watch. It is a set, and its final price as it is being bid is a clue.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bachmann-Gaines-Gravy-Train-complete-set-HO-F9-Diesel_W0QQitemZ170024384808QQihZ007QQcategoryZ19132QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
gravytrain wrote:I have two train sets that were given to me when I was working for the manufacturer of Gravy Train dog food.Not being a train gal (yet?!!) I'm hoping to get some help identifying the approx. value of these two train sets and how I might go about selling these sets. I opened one factory-sealed box to get the model number. The other box is still unopened and factory-sealed. I looked up "completed sales" info on ebay but that wasn't helpful because they only listed the last 2 weeks worth of pricing info. Any suggestions? Please be kind as I am new to this model train thing...Additional info. below:Factory sealed box labeled: "GAINES GRAVY TRAIN CUSTOM HO TRAIN SET. MADE IN HONG KONG 86/10"Instructions say "EMD F9 DIESEL"Thanks for your help!
No knowing anything about the set you are asking about, we can only speculate what it is and what it would be worth. Please post a picture if you can so we can determine if it is a collector set or promotional type set. The F9 Diesel that is included in the set is a small clue to its worth, but that only indicates it was possiblily made by a certain manufacturer, and is a standard set with Gravy Train printed on it.
You can get a Dale Earnhart set, an Elvis Presley set and many others with the name printed on what is called a collectors set, but not normally purchased or used by model railroaders. Companies have these done for promotion much like limited edition plates or other collectables and they are not authentic.
It probably will not be worth much money unless you can find a Gravey Train collector to buy it and who knows, they might be out there.
I would list them on Ebay if you wanted to sell them and hope for the best. You can always remove them from the listing if you don't get any offers.
Hope we helped a little.
Interesting..Can you post a picture?