Hello everyone i just came into posession two trains one is a old time tank switcher Uncle Tom the other is 4-4-2 Atlantic loco could any one tell me if they are worth ahy thing and in what price range both are still in the box and in very good shape thank you
I would look for them over on that auction site, look for completed auctions, and look at several different auctions to get an average price, not just the highest/lowerst one, wierd thing can happen there, but over 10-15 auctions, you can get a good idea of what people are really willing to pay.
remember though, if selling to someone for resale, expect to be offered only half to 3/4 the going price, because they have to be able to pay for their overhead, time, and still make a little profit when they turn it around.
Boy, THAT brings back memories, LOL! I actually had an Aristo-Craft 4-6-0 Camelback WAY back in the 'sixties that I bought while I was in the Air Force. Cast metal body with pretty good detail, and a VERY smooth runner and good puller. Only drawback–it had a vertically mounted motor that drove the last axle, and pulled the weight back toward the firebox. Unfortunately, when I had my locos shipped back to my home after getting out of the service, one of the boxes broke, and I recieved the Camelback in several un-repairable pieces. I would assume that your Aristo-Craft locos are probably cast metal, and though I can’t tell you much about the switcher, your Atlantic might turn out to be a fairly good piece for a collector.
Have you ever run the 4-4-2? They were not bad runners, though they seemed to be a little ‘back-heavy’ due to the motor placement. As I remember, all the gears were brass, but the motor didn’t draw much amperage. Only problem I could foresee in selling it to an ‘operator’ would be replacing the motor and trying to figure out a way to get a replacement that was more ‘horizontal.’
But for their time, they weren’t THAT bad! I think most of them were made in either Japan or Europe.
Tom
PS: From this and your other post, you must have come into quite a batch of interesting locos!
Actually most HO Aristo Craft locomotives have a brass frame [:D]!
Sold under the name “Aristo-Craft Distinctive Miniatures”, locomotives of this line represent a highly diverse range of type and period, from diminutive post-Civil War vintage to USRA heavy power from around 1917. They were among the first major import line from Japan, beginning in the late 1950’s with a very common but highly inaccurate 0-4-0 camelback switcher. The line was the creation of Polks Hobby in NYC (one of the greatest hobby shops of the day). Construction was largely of Zamac but varied depending on the particular engine. In fact, some of the extreme high end models were virtually all brass! Toward the end of the line’s history it also included some plastic junk from Italy. See my article on the line’s complete history in the December 1995 issue of RMC.
Original selling prices ranged from around $6.95 to something like $35 for the more refined, mostly brass models. Unfortunately, those at the cheaper end often were made from poor quality Zamac and “rotted” away within a few years or decades or didn’t run very well. The CNJ 4-6-0 camelback seems to have suffered the worst from “Zamac Pest” and it is rather difficult to find a “perfect” example today. There are Aristo collectors but sums paid for most of the models today are relatively modest. Your Uncle Tom might be expected to bring $35-$50, while the Atlantic could fetch $50-$75 but it all depends on the day of sale and the model’s precise condition.
CNJ831