How to value fire damaged train set?
Brian Hanson
We recently had a fire and my train set (in storgage boxes) suffered
substantial damage. Most of the items were purchased in the 1950's. I had a
number of Plasticville items which melted. The cardboard box containing
switches seemed to disintegrate around them and the switched themselves
seemed to be damaged from the heat. Luckily, most of the Lionel engines and
cars seem to have come through pretty well except for smoke damage which we
hope to clean so the kids can have at least part of it. Is there a blue
book or other guide that can help place a value on these items for the
insurance adjuster? I live in the western suburbs of Chicago if there is
some local collector who would be interested in taking a look at what's
left for parts.
Thanks in advance.
Brian Hanson
tvond...@aol.com
Brian,
Contact your local NMRA or TCA chapter and ask for assistance in
appraising. They probably have some suggestions about credible and
experienced persons to perform these services for you.
Get someone experienced with model railroading. In the late 1980s I
attended a hobby shop liquidation auction and made out like a bandit. The
deal of the day was a box of PECO HO turnouts that included a double-slip,
three-ways, single slips and numerous curved turnouts that sold for about
$36. It was obvious that the auctioneer was not familiar with the items he
was selling.
I was briefly guilty about buying an Atlas RS3 for $22.
Tom Vondruska, Yellow Springs, Ohio
on the old Little Miami Rail Road, the Panhandle's Springfield branch
Darren Williamson
I was just reading this newsgroup and found this quote in another
thread -
tvond...@aol.com wrote:
<snip>
> In the late 1980s I
> attended a hobby shop liquidation auction and made out like a bandit. The
> deal of the day was a box of PECO HO turnouts that included a double-slip,
> three-ways, single slips and numerous curved turnouts that sold for about
> $36. It was obvious that the auctioneer was not familiar with the items he
> was selling.
> I was briefly guilty about buying an Atlas RS3 for $22.
>
<snip>
This caused me to think about my own "bargain stories", the best of
which
involves another liquidation auction, in 1994 (I think) in Cincinnati,
OH.
The amount of stuff for sale was huge, and the auction itself was not
very
well organized. At any rate, the lots were basically just the boxes of
stuff
as they were stored, with little or no effort made to sort it into
categories
(other than scale, for the most part), and the auction catalog bore only
a
passing resemblence to the actual items for sale. I noticed this before
the
auction and visually identified a box on which I wished to bid. The
auction
started, and much to my suprise my box was up on the block,
mis-identified as
another lot! The bidding started, and I strained my eyes to make sure it
was
the right box. I figured that had to be it, and started bidding myself.
I won
the box for $180. The contents? Only 3 Atlas RS1's, 2 Atlas RS11's, an
Atlas
GP7, and assorted other things (Con-Cor tractor-trailers and Athearn
dummies).
Later on in the auction I got 2 dealer cases of Walthers 89' flats for
about
$30 each, and a dealer case of 5-unit double stacks for $80, both cases
where
the lot number was incorrect in the catalog. I was certainly excited
after the
auction at my good fortune, but I'll have to admit, I also felt a little
guilty.
Sounds to me like an interesting idea for a discussion. So how about it?
Anyone have any more "bargain stories" to share?
- Darren Williamson
me...@aol.com
I got a Lionel 2332 (the original GG-1) for $100 last year. It needed
some work, and parts, but it's coming along nicely, and does run.
I also got my hands on a Lionel 2321 Red Roof Lack. Train Master for just
a couple hundred, in pretty good shape, and still running like the brute
it was know for being!
-Scott-
Wiz
>Sounds to me like an interesting idea for a discussion. So how about it?
>Anyone have any more "bargain stories" to share?
>
> - Darren Williamson
Several years ago, I was snooping through a local MJDesigns (craft oriented)
store, and spotted an N scale Atlas RS3 in EL paint. It was evidently a store
return, just the loco, no box or literature. It was also sitting among
several Botchmann diesels that were on clearance, and the same $9.95 tag was
on the RS3.... SWOOP!
Mike
Charles F Seyferlich
A local lumber store had a City of Portland (lionel) in the window for
$25.00 (this was about 15 years ago).
The Larch
Charles F Seyferlich (cfs...@worldnet.att.net) wrote:
I got a couple Lionel O-27 tankcars for 3 bucks a piece in the early 80's when
Kmart was clearing out their trainset stuff. Wish I'd have bought everything
they had ;^)
Fred
Christopher D. Coleman
In article <32AD99...@worldnet.att.net>, cfs...@worldnet.att.net says...
>
>A local lumber store had a City of Portland (lionel) in the window for
>$25.00 (this was about 15 years ago).
I got my Lionel #456 coal ramp for $12 (VG+ cond) from an HO store that
got it with some other scale stuff and didn't know what it was.
--
______________________________
|\ \ Chris Coleman
|*\_____________________________\ cole...@infinet.com
|**|===LIONEL ELECTRIC TRAINS===| Columbus, Ohio
|\*|**+======================+**| r.m.r Tinpate FAQ
| \|**| W&H +--+ Digital |**| Family Tree of N.A. RRs
\ |--| RR CO |L | Service |--| THE WEBVILLE AND HYPERTEXT RR CO.
\ | |{o=o}====+==+===={o=o}| | http://he.net/~colemanc/webville.html
\|____________________________| ftp he.tdl.com /pub/colemanc
Kerry R. Field
Was at a train show in the Twin Cities last winter and had a table one
row away from a guy selling a large collection of N scale stuff. Seems
he was recently divorced and managed to keep his model RR out of the
settlement as "just some toy trains". I got 3 kits; the large Heljan
brewery and the slaughter house, and another European-brand chemical
company building just made for kit-bashing -- all for just $12. The
brewery alone is over $35 at my local hobby store.
Kerry
Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.
Randy Treadway
Local Playco Toys store went out of business...
clearance sale had all model railroad supplies at 25% off the
first week,
50% off second week,
and 75% off last week before closing.
Of course, lots were gone by that last week,
but I got quite a bit of Woodland Scenics
stuff like ballast and 'trees' at 75% off.
(several boxes full).
Now, if I can just get the layout complete
to the point of being ready to install all that stuff!
Randy
DOwens5892
The hell with bargains, I'd just like to be able to buy an Atlas RS-3 for
$30 again. That's what my first one cost.
Dave Owens
Connecticut
Glen Smith
Charles F Seyferlich <cfs...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Wiz wrote:
>>
>> >Sounds to me like an interesting idea for a discussion. So how about it?
>> >Anyone have any more "bargain stories" to share?
>> >
I bought a used Bowser PRR T-1 Duplex for $20.00 CDN ($13.00 US) Last
year. Needs paint.
Three Ambroid passenger car kits WITH Central Valley trucks for $8.00
each.
Glen Smith
Port Morien, NS
Canada
Robert Hill
In <32af0909...@news.zippo.com> ko...@earthlink.net (Randy
I recently purchased a KATO Dash 9 for $25.00 from a hobby store (a
chain which shall go un-named here). It was on a table labeled
"Closeouts - Defective Merchandise). The unit did not run, the box
said. I bought it without asking a thing...fearing my inquiry might
raise the price. Got it home...one axle had a gear which had broken
teeth...and had wedged in the other gears, locking up the drive. I
replaced the axle/wheelset...and had a second UP Dash-9 from Kato:)
Ranks up there with the 6 AHM U25C's I bought for $7.99 each when a
Woolworths closed it's doors:)
Bob
Andy Miller
The rule of thumb - if you are looking for a RR bargain - is to shop the
"toy" stores and discount department stores just after Christmas. They
are busy dumping their Xmas stuff and loading up for Valentine's Day!
Most of what they carried was the cheapest of trains sets and these ar
just fodder for the fireplace; but some of them made the mistake of
carrying a few quality items which they could never sell in their market.
I remeber many years ago picking up Model Power Baldwin sharks at Caldor
for $9 each, back in the days when they has superb drives and listed for
$30. Then trio still hauls 50car+ coal drags over the mountains at the
North Shore Club thirty years later. One December 26th I cleaned out the
big Woolworth's in Boston of all their AHM GG-1s at $12 each. Now this
was the 1960's and the list price on them was also about $30 at the time.
--
Regards,
Andy Miller asmi...@mitre.org
F. DABNEY
Andy Miller (asmi...@mitre.org) wrote:
: The rule of thumb - if you are looking for a RR bargain - is to shop the
: "toy" stores and discount department stores just after Christmas. They
: are busy dumping their Xmas stuff and loading up for Valentine's Day!
: Most of what they carried was the cheapest of trains sets and these ar
: just fodder for the fireplace; but some of them made the mistake of
: carrying a few quality items which they could never sell in their market.
Many folks are afraid to "mess up" a good model and never get very far in
attaining the modeling skills that contribute to joy in the hobby.
A point that I keep trying to get across to beginners and more
experienced modelers alike is "use junk to practice on"
You can learn how to strip and paint and weather and cut and paste on a
cheap Model Power shell as easily as a Kato or Intermountain. And if you
only have a buck or two in it, you are more likely to try things you
won't if it's a "real" model. A nicely painted and detailed Tyco or
Lifelike car may still be a piece of junk, but at least you now know
what's involved and can face doing it to a more expensive and better kit
with confidence. And some of those trainset cars actually aren't all
that bad wiht new steps, decent paint, lowering, etc. Some, not all,
alas.
Fred D.
Watching the action from BNSF MP 1112, El Paso sub
RRVAN
On Mon, 09 Dec 1996 10:48:11 -0500, Darren Williamson
<darren.w...@sdrc.com> wrote:
In the early 70s I was at a discount store right after christmas and
one of the kids was smashing AHM Pennsy passenger cars over the side
of a metel trash can and ripping the labels of the boxes. I asked the
manager if he would sell me some of the undamaged cars and we agreed
on a price of $0.10 each. I picked up 25 AHM Pennsy pass cars for 2.50
Plus tax (Minus labels).
>Sounds to me like an interesting idea for a discussion. So how about it?
>Anyone have any more "bargain stories" to share?
>
> - Darren Williamson
Andy Miller
This one is a very sad tale for model RRers and occured here in Boston a
few months ago. Several of us at the MIT Tech Model RR Club have been
involved off and on with the MIT Museum. They have had several bequests
of MR stuff from the estates of alumni and have tried to put together a
working RR out of one of the donations. But that's another sad story.
One of the gifts was the brass loco collectioin of a deceased alum. It
contained over 1000 of the best brass from the last 50 years! The museum
had no idea what to do with it and determined the best thing was to
auction the collection off to raise cash. Those of us involved with the
museum gave them some guiidlines on where to find autioneers and where to
advertise the auction to attract the best audiance for them. We even
offered top purchase some of the peices. But the museum refused. They had
a traditional art auction house which they always had used in the past and
would use again. They claimed it was necessary to use an "Established and
recognized" auction house in order to maintain the museum's non-profit
status. A few months ago we discovered the entire collection had been
sold. Almost no one in the moder RR community had ever heard of the
event. The ad consisted of a "tombstone" in the art advertisement section
of a Boston newspaper and almost the only people to show were the usual
art and antique dealers. They had no idea what the collection was worth
and the average loco went for less than $50 - yes that's fifty, I didn't
leave out any zeros!! The museum lost over half a million dollars of
potential income. Thats how you maintain a non-profit status! I suspect
the engines are gathering dust on the back shelves of numerous antique
dealers around Boston and will languiish there forever - sigh.
Richard L. Kaye
No. If those people bought them for about $50, they will
turn up in one of the antique flea markets along Rte. 20
in central Massachusetts. Asking price will be about $200-
300, but if it's late in the day, you could probably get
one for about $75.
That's pure guesswork; what's even more fanciful is that
you would even be able to find a place to park there.
RLK
Craig A. & Paula R. Eddy
How about picking up a Rivarossi Heavy pacific 4-6-2 with the long tender
for only $25? The only thing wrong with the engine was one wobbly wheel on
the right side and a missing truck on the tender. IMO very minor problems.
Michael
Kim Lehvonen
If anyone is interested the Huntsvile & Lake of Bays Railway Society has a web page
at:http://www.igs.ptbo.net/~kimleh/hlbrs.htm
The HLBRwy. was a 3'-6" guage line only 1 1/8 mile long in Ontario, Canada.
Check it out.
Boone Morrison
In article <01bbf1a0$de3b24e0$04a943ce@tyche>, "Craig A. & Paula R. Eddy"
<ty...@iinc.com> wrote:
I can top that. I just spent about 21 hours making master patterns for
some castings using Styrene...about .20 cents worth...that works out to
under a penny an hour for a really good time!
Boone Morrison