So my father apparently collected a MASSIVE amount of american flyer s scale trains but really has next to no expertise on them whatsoever. We are thinking about selling off the collection but since he has no idea what hes doing on a collecters level its hard for me to accurately price these
i have a 332 here....
but i dont know what some of the terminology im reading is for determining what this car is. would love some help....
my main concern is that he thinks its a DC or AC (forget what one) but the pics i see online have the AC next to the 332
Hello and welcome to the forums!
Just so that you know, there is NO buying and selling here on the forums. Your post skirts the very hairy edge of that prohibition. If it crosses the line, the thread will get yanked. Please take a look at the site rules at your earliest opportunity so there aren't any misunderstandings.
BTW, nice loco! My Dad had a lot of American Flyer and Lionel stuff that I used to play with as a kid, and I have a lot of fond memories of setting up railroad empires on the floor of my grandparent's basement...
John
jwhitten Hello and welcome to the forums! Just so that you know, there is NO buying and selling here on the forums. Your post skirts the very hairy edge of that prohibition. If it crosses the line, the thread will get yanked. Please take a look at the site rules at your earliest opportunity so there aren't any misunderstandings. BTW, nice loco! My Dad had a lot of American Flyer and Lionel stuff that I used to play with as a kid, and I have a lot of fond memories of setting up railroad empires on the floor of my grandparent's basement... John
so far from what I can see the person isn't asking any one to buy a item there asking for info on it. And can tell they know very little to nothing about it. asking for an idea on value.
For that answer I would recommend you goto Ebay and search the engine there and follow a few to get an idea what there selling for then price it about 1/2 as most bidders won't bid if its close to the ending price from the word go. A lot also consider the shipping cost as what there going to pay also.
by the way welcome to the forum if you come in to get ideas how to describe something a lot will help you but just to let you know as stated above no buying or selling on the forum but a lot will come here and ask an idea what something might be worth to get an idea how much to ask elsewhere.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
I agree with John. We get a lot of posts along this line: "I just found/inherited these trains and plan to sell them somewhere else. What are they worth?" I'm sure some of these are innocent; but I'm also sure some of them wouldn't mind a bit if a forum member or two made offers. As long as straight-up advertising is not allowed, I think that posts asking for appraisals should be disallowed also.
Bob Nelson
I agree, if a person has no interest other than selling off a relatives collection and no intent to keep them or use them they should do the research themselves. If it is only about what they can gain from someone’s collecting I think they should do as Bill suggested and go to e-bay and hope for the best. No offence, JMHO. Even if they are innocent in their request. If they are not into the hobby then don’t ask those of us who want to keep it alive how to kill it off.
As anyone can tell you, something is only worth what you can get.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
I think this is an innocent enough question. A lot of people who find or inherit old trains may think they've just hit the lottery. I call it the "Antiques Roadshow Effect". Of course on that particular program they seldom show you the 90% of people who go away having been told "this was a commonly manufactured item in the day, and is not worth much more than the $10 to $15 your great-aunt paid for it at the time."
Those of us who collect vintage trains in the main collect them bacause we love them, not because they are going to someday send our kid to Harvard. I am curious however how the original poster, who said that he inherited a "MASSIVE" collection, chose to post a question about the one item that actually is the more valuable. And the fact that they knew that this engine came in AC and DC variants says that someone has been doing some preliminary research.
To speak specifically to the question. The 332 was produced from 1946 through 1949. The 332AC and 332DC designations only appeared on locomotives manufactured after 1951. Before that the only way to tell the two apart was the presence of a reversing unit (a solenoid device) in the boiler. AC units needed one, DC units did not because they were controlled by reversing the track power.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
er.... there is no alt motive here... our family needs the money since things are not doing so hot and my dad doesnt know enough about the trains.
i get that im not a hobbyist and they are not my passion but they were my fathers as a child, and he cant afford to keep them so i dont get why there is all this hostility.... if people like my father didnt sell his trains many of you would not have the collection you have today. i cant even see how im "killing the hobby". i guess if i was going to break them? or take them out of circulation but if i was a collecter (my hobby is warhammer models) and someone came out of nowhere with a set of trains they couldnt afford to keep i would be very happy. thats JMHO
and for the record i owned a marklin train set my father gave me and i was pretty into that. he never shared his hobby because he was always busy with work so preciate you jumping to such bold conclusions and opening a nice little wound of mine :)
this is a response you tend to see on childrens video game forums "go away guy whos trying to sneak one over on us" i kind of expected a bit more from an older crowd not to mention this could have been intentified in a matter of seconds AND if i REALLY wanted to sell my fathers rather massive collection i woulda posted a giant list. i didnt, i asked about one train that i was confused with.
That is a 1948 production 332 with a DC motor. The lack of a white stripe along the running boards, the natural brass weight on the link coupler on the rear truck of the tender, and the DC motor requiring the two wire connection between the loco and tender, and smoke unit in the boiler all point to 1948 production.
For '49, Gilbert painted a white stripe along the running board edge.
This 332 in the pictures should be worth $300-$400 to the right buyer in my opinion. Very clean piece.
rvpinkey er.... there is no alt motive here... our family needs the money since things are not doing so hot and my dad doesnt know enough about the trains.
There are published sources that you can go to help evaluate your father's collection. The one I use is "Doyle's Standard Catalog of American Flyer Trains." The other authorative source is "Greenberg's Guide to American Flyer S Gauge". Both will provide an evaluation of fair market value of the individual pieces of your father's collection.
I have to agree with the majority of the respondents on this one.
I am not challenging the veracity of the OP's statements, but if his father is a "collector" of a "MASSIVE" amount of american flyer s scale trains but really has next to no expertise on them whatsoever, there is a disconnect there. But, be that as it may.
The title of the thread is "Trying to figure out what type of 332 this train is", but the concluding question is how to accurately price this loco.
I agree that this forum should neither be used to offer items for sale, however direct or indirect, nor to request pricing information.
There are other and better sources for this purpose.
Rich
Alton Junction
its true the question will lead to "how am i going to price this loco" but i was never intending on selling it here or trying to get anyone interested in it
as to my fathers expertise on the hobby. the man has no eye for detail. him and his friend dickey w as i knew him by, used to go to where ever they did and just buy trains like a kid with no bills to pay and a large amount of money back when they were single. he has for example many many trains from dif sets. he has 2 missouri pacific sets and 1 of the sets has cars clearly from dif sets while the other is clearly the same. he didnt know that the missouri pacific set had two makes with paint over the doors and another with paint stopping at the doors. the man he bought this from prob did one over on him and he didnt know or care
it doenst register in his mind if the steps are broken on a car of if the smoke stack isnt there. he collected them because he loved them as a boy and he was poor as a boy imo.
i think we all overcompensate in some ways.... is it that farfetched to picture a man who loves AF trains but has little to know understanding to the complexity that is the hobby? me personally i can list every detail down to the smallest for whatever it is I do, he cant we are all dif.
anyway i think nothing more needs to be said. i received help from someone, i learned a bit about this car and DC and AC motors in general which is always a good thing, and I feel safe selling my item when the time comes
i wonder how many of the "angry posters" have purchased trains off people here. bet all of you
Personally I'm glad they didn't chase you off. Even if your not a train buff you can learn a lot here about a item now if you came in here and asked what the difference between a dc and ac 332 I wonder what type of response you would of gotten. To me you never even hinted for someone to buy it.
to answer your question thou I haven't tried to buy anything off anyone here as to me its a real risk especially to some one thats new as thats a good way to get taken ( not saying most or some would do it just a possibility of it happening and I think thats why the rule is here) I have even report ones trying to sell on here.
just to clear it up a little more you can't even say its available on ebay or some where especially with a link. I have said I have put some of my items up on ebay which is really grazing the gray area I would say but no link or not even mentioned my seller name which is different than my user name here.
Any way when you get ready to sell one of the best ways to get an idea is to search your item and try to check closed sales thru the advance search on ebay. wish you luck and have a good day
I haven't noticed any "angry posters". Until now, all the posts have been quite civil and, it seems, willing to give the original poster the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that a request for an appraisal has the same effect as an offer for sale, whether or not the poster meant to evade the forum policy; and there is no way to tell an innocent violation from an intentional one. All the opinion against appraisals posted here is directed at the principle, not the present original poster.
I and many others have given away trains and parts to other forum members; but I would not buy from someone who offered something for sale here, whether explicitly nor implicitly. There is a saying that, "our suspicions of others are aroused by the knowledge of ourselves."
I doubt that we will ever hear from the OP again unless, of course, he has even bothered to check this thread any further in which case he may strike out. From his last post, he is the only one who sounds angry.
It is uncommon for a first time poster to post or reply agressively. Most start out passively, anxious to become part of the forum and to learn and to participate. This OP seemed much to savvy to be a typical newbie. He knew how to post multiple photos, he was knowledgeable about the details of the loco, he knew what to ask. It was not your typical newbie post, "what is this loco, is it worth anything".
That said, it is not like we sent him packing. There was a cautionary tone to abide by the rules of the forum. I believe that every one of us who responded did so correctly and politely.
Now let's get back to the real issues, namely, debating which is the superior brand: American Flyer or Lionel.
I know you ment it in jest but I have seen even that begin flames in here within the past couple of years I would say, so I stay out of that comment even in jest but my preference is 3 rails which is superior I say niether as I'm one that like all gauges and if I had the land and the $$$$$ I probably would build a small reall layout circling my land but it would be the superior engine type diesel with passenger cars probably so if I ever hit the lottery watch out but it would have to be a big one because that would take some serious $$$$
Strictly in jest.
While I had American Flyer as a kid, my two best friends had Lionel.
We loved to run each others trains.
I respect all model railroaders and toy train owners.
I only wish that American Flyer were still around as a manufacturer.
Lionel guys are very lucky in that regard.
It's like still having your parents around.
richhotrain Now let's get back to the real issues, namely, debating which is the superior brand: American Flyer or Lionel. Rich
Let’s see. Would that be the trains of yesteryear or today? As far as today I think they are both made, by the same guys across the pond to the west. So at that point is it 2 or 3 rails you like? I can’t say, I cut my teeth on 3 rails and have never had anything else to do a comparison with. When dad was done collecting and passed it on to my Sister, brother, and I we all had close to 100 pieces of rolling stock. He kind of made sure we stuck to 3 rail.
Let’s see. Would that be the trains of yesteryear or today?
As far as today I think they are both made, by the same guys across the pond to the west.
So at that point is it 2 or 3 rails you like? I can’t say, I cut my teeth on 3 rails and have never had anything else to do a comparison with. When dad was done collecting and passed it on to my Sister, brother, and I we all had close to 100 pieces of rolling stock. He kind of made sure we stuck to 3 rail.
My father sold our American Flyer when I was about 3 or 4 I don't really remember them but do have pics of them. He replaced them with the new fangled trains called HO I do remember them coming into the house as I was about 5 when I was like 9 my father bought a train set from his lawyer at the time no boxes but had 2359 B&M GP-9, the satellite car satellite gone exploding box car sides gone 6544 missile firing car missiles gone security car guns and light cover gone and super O track it was given to me as a Christmas gift and I flipped over it. My father never could get me to go back to HO trains as much as he tried. And tried he did I like them but was more into my O gauge trains I could handle them better and all. I don't have any of them anymore as during my military days I moved and just didn't have room for them It hurt me to sell them but did. by the way the set when I got it was only about a year old so you can see how well it was taken care of by original owners.
Had a neighbor that had a s gauge set but hardly brought it out
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