I’d say it was worth around $50.00 since that’s what you paid for it. You can catch Proto 2000 E units on eBay for $50.00 pretty frequently.
Don Z.
ok thanks
Life-Like made three levels of quality – a cheap Christmas train set that would be worth practically nothing; the Proto 1000 line, which was a middle grade; and the Proto 2000 line, which was their highest quality. Without knowing for sure which one you have, it’s difficult to say what it’s worth. If it is Proto 2000, you got what you paid for.
The flickering headlight is indicative of dirty track and dirty locomotive wheels, so you probably need to clean both.
The Life-Like E units were/are Proto 2000. A few thoughts about the “flickering light”…
First, I’ve found the LL E-units sometimes have the wheelsets slightly out of gauge (too narrow) which causes a loss of power esp. over switches. Luckily they slide on the axle pretty easily and can be put into proper gauge.
Second, you know many LL E-units came with a simulated “Mars Light” which was a strobe-type light usually in the upper headlight (with the lower one being constant). My Rock Island E8 had two bulbs which flashed in turn to simulate the back and forth strobe effect. Could that be what the “flickering” is??[:)]