New Generation!!!, Just getting started and looking for some guidance.....

[92hatchattack]

^^^.. yes, i plan on running everything i buy ... my dad always said that whats the point of owning that expensive train set if your gonna put it away and never use it!

i have already bought a tm price and rarity guide book that should come in in a few days..

Heres a question .... restoring pre and post war trains.... lets say even just repainting a 2026 steamer... how much does this bring the value of the train down??? is it better to not restore them at all???

i have a nice new version ...(bought new about 10 years ago) of the blue commet that i should get to have back in a year or two, but thats staying at my moms house for now... as well as an original ZW transformer which i absoluty love!!!

im not a huge fan of the deisels, allthough im sure ill buy one or two one day .... i LOVE the old steamers though ... always facinated me. In fact i remember when i was young i had a huge one painted on my bedroom wall :)

[railfanespee4449]

My reccomendation is get trains that visitors can relate to- like a Turbine. If they don't remember their train years, get a Santa fe alco like a 212 for $100 instead of $350+ F-3s I know about saving money on trains as I'm 12. Same with passenger cars. instead of fluted aluminum cars, get stuff like a 2434 car for $25

[daan]

Welcome 92! (the hatchattac included[:D]).
Since I live in CET (central European Time) I can help you even in the middle of the night..
Starting a collection of postwar is not that difficult. What's difficult is to find good condition trains at low prices. I would search ebay or hobbyshops having also postwar offers. First watch and see how things go, see what prices are asked and keep in mind what you would be prepared to pay. The steamers, like the 2026, 2036 etc. go from $10 to skyhigh, and that's with a lot of other items too.
I started with a lucky shot on a 2353 offered in germany, but it was a real lucky one, since the seller had no idea what it was and the prices paid for it. I got the set with 2 postwar aluminium cars for a nice price. Since then I pretty much bought everything I could get in Holland, that included a lot of junk for far to much money.. That was learning fee, and that's how you shouldn't do it.
Browse ebay, look and listen carefully and keep some money on your account to be able to jump in and buy if you see something special.
Buy what you desire, it has no use to buy a special steamer if you like diesels. You can also try to get those remakes of special postwar trains, BUT that's not the real stuff.
The cheaper remakes turn out to be a disappointment. I've tried that road too and learned to stay with the postwar stuff, because I like that technically too. The cheaper remakes use electronics, can motors and traction tires, while the postwar relies on weight and magnetraction with powerfull pullmore and horizontal engines.
The 80's machines from Lionel (I have a 8030 Illenois GP) are also great machines with pullmore engines, but have traction tires.
May be you are lucky and get a chance to buy from someone leaving the hobby for a nice price.
The trains you mentionned your father has can be valuable if they come with their boxes and are in mint condition, but in train land you always have to find a buyer wanting to pay that price. Value is depending on the amount of people wanting to have it. that's why you can have great finds on ebay, if no-one is interested and you are, you can get it real cheap.
Hope you will have a great time collecting (and running?) trains, just as we all here do.

[Anonymous]

Greatings 92!! Are you a gear head? The reason why I ask that is it seems like most famlies that pass the hobby down are.
No big deal if you arent, welcom to the hobby man!
My advice is to buy a copy of, Complete service manual for Lionel trains, you can get it from K line among other places, If your into the old stuff "post war" this is a pretty handy book to have around.
There's so much to tell a guy about the things to watch out for in building and collecting but the main thing I can tell you is when your child can load those logs and dump that coal and deliver that milk and,,,,,,,Well you get the picture, You too will see you made the right choise in a hobby that has endless fun and is not just running a train around an oval or figure 8 track!
There are some great guy's on this web site who are very knowledgable and willing to help,,,,,,I don't think they all are up at 3:55 A.M. though, I work the night shift, but always readdy to answer any question.
Happy Railroading!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the hobby. It's a great hobby, and you've come at a good time. As the doc says, purchase what you like. If it tickles your fancy, buy it. There can be a lot of great information gotten from this forum and the OGR forum (ogaugerr.com). Both are very good and have a lot of intelligent people sharing information. I post over there too (alfick3). Have fun with your new hobby.

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

The [}:)] Doctor is in !!! My humble, yet evil two cents is this: Look at old catalogs or the
Greenburg's reprints (there is a book of catalogs) and buy what you feel like ! No one man or evil doctor for that matter can tell you what you want !! I buy Post-War Lionel because I grew up on it(it was a lot cheaper 2nd hand back then) I also have a Pre-war
Ives set my misses Fu gave me(belonged to her uncle) I want to buy some Pre-war Lionel, both Standard & 0 gauge. But I buy what I like, not what someone tells me to buy. Hope this helps, and welcome to the fourm !!! You are among friends>

Till My Next Missive, I Remain The Humble, Yet Strangly [}:)] Doctor !!!

[92hatchattack]

hey all, this is my first post here, or on any model train forum at that....I recently moved out on my own and had a baby boy and this is our first christmas as a family. Now it time for me to begin my own collection of trains....

now i dont know much, my father is more of a collector... he has alot of older postwar trains that were his fathers... a 2025and a 2026.....and alot of other post war cars....crane car/cable car/ you name it hes got it as well as about 5 huge boxes of super ok track with about 5 kinds of every switch there is... lol

Does any of that stuff have any value??? not like ill ever get it out of his hands till he goes but i was just wondering .... I really prefer the old time postwar feel better than all the electronic sounds and stuff they have out now ... the sound of the steel and winding whistle really has much more of a feel to it ...

SO, im looking to start my own collection ... Of course being on short noticed ive already ran out and bought a $160 steamer, cause I HAD to have something around the tree.... But im looking to start a bigger, rarer colection over the years and am looking for help!

What makes one post war engime more valuable than another??? Im realy intrested in starting a solid Post war collection in good condition before i move into any other collections

What can you guys recomend to me???