on sunday of last week i was antiqueing looking for some more dary equipment to put in my biulding at an antique tractor show at rollag minnesota when i found an ho scale set of the american freedom train with 4449 as the locomotive. the locomotive runs great needed some minor gluing to the steps to the cab. the three cars are a museum,external display, and crew observation all three are in not mint but great a few scratches on them but nothing too deep. i know what you are asking i payed a ferm $ 10.00 for it how much is it worth and when was this set made and how many cars came with it orriganaly? thank you big boy
You got a pretty good deal, especially if the locomotive still runs. Back in the 70’s I bought two of the Lionel GS-4’s, one Freedom Train and one SP Daylight. IIRC I got them from a discounter called Charles Ro Co. for around $30.00 each. I think there were only three cars in the set. After Lionel dropped out of HO, I believe that the locomotive was made available by Bachmann, they were imported from Hong Kong. My SP Daylight one now has a Bowser mechanism under it.
What it’s worth now is hard to say. What you’re calling minor scratches may be a major flaw and ruin the collector value of it. Someone familiar with Lionel HO train collecting would need to examine it to tell you for sure. Did you get the original boxes and inserts?
There are several catalogs/guides to Lionel trains and their current values, MR has some of them listed. I have one, unfortunately it does not list HO. Check with your LHS, they may have one. If you knew the set number it would help, since you do know the name of the set, that should help.
I remember when HO started in the Lionel catalogs, I thought some of it looked neat, but always looked down at it. Don’t ask the value of all the HO stuff I have waiting for a layout now. Some of my Lionel did survive a house fire and is scheduled to have a small layout of honor before I no longer can enjoy trains.
Good luck,
thank you for the info when i bought the set i had asked if the box was with it and unfortunatly its not. the minor scratches that are on the cars are likley from a derailment. if i change the set from horn hook to knuckle couplers will i degrade the value more? thanks big boy
Shouldn’t as long as you don’t do anything irreversable.
Good luck,
I’m sure that someone on eBay will gladly pay more than $10 for it, but keep your day job.
Most of us here, though, are layout builders and operators. We mostly see trains for their running value. Collectors are a different breed entirely, and I suspect that the right one would be very interested in what you have.
Pretty much my feelings as well, however, I always had an eye out for one of the GOLD Chessie/B&O GP9’s from the 70’s. I always understood they were only available in a set.
Thanks to expert yard sale “sleuthing” by the wife, I now one, in excellent condition. Not a bad runner, but details could be better. Now has Kadees, & lives in the display cabinet.
I remember when HO started in the Lionel catalogs, I thought some of it looked neat, but always looked down at it. Don’t ask the value of all the HO stuff I have waiting for a layout now. Some of my Lionel did survive a house fire and is scheduled to have a small layout of honor before I no longer can enjoy trains.
If you were running Athearn or Bachmann at the time, there was no reason to look down on them, as Athearn and Bachmann built HO trains for Lionel under contract, and were sold under the Lionel name. The GS-4, and the freedom train were producd for Lionel by Bachmann. A lot of the Lionel HO freight cars were produced by Athearn.
Lionel’s third forray into HO in 2003 consistd of Die-cast Challengers and Veranda Turbines, with Dual mode DCC decoders and sound. I have had very experinced and knowledgeable modelrs mistake one of my Lionel HO Challengers for brass. Actually, my Lionel Challengers run better than the West side Brass locomotive that I have.
Doug
If all you paid was $10, you stole them. I’ve seen the locos alone going for a lot more than that, and not in mint condition. Put the Lionel name on just about anything and the collectors go nuts, and it’s a replica of the Freedom train to boot.
I met Ross Rowland about 14 years ago in the train station that was his office, and he had that whole train on a display shelf that went around much of the room. He was one of the major forces behind the whole Freedom Train concept.
i am a operator and collecter. i had asked that as a curriosity to see on how bad of a clue the antique shop had on the value of the locomotive. i am not selling since the 4449 made a stop here in fargo in july of '09 i had wanted a model of her. i would of liked to have one in her daylight colors but the a.f.t would due so there is not a mix up with one of the members in my model railroad club. big boy
with the 2101 or the 4449 in HO scale? and how many cars did he have? when i saw the $10.00 on it i was like a kid in a candy store. that $10.00 bill didnt come out of my wallet fast enough. my fellow club members all say the samething with them allso saying that they would of done the same thing that i did. big boy
Put the Lionel name on just about anything and the collectors go nuts,
That is a common misconception, that many not familiar with O-Gauge have. People se anything that has the name Lionel on it, even if it is pretty beat up(not saying your’s is) and think that they have hit the lottery jackpot. Then when they ask someone who is more knowledgeable about them, they think that the person is trying to cheat them, or rip them off.
With the scratches you describe,and lacking the boxes and any paperwork, it sounds like a great runner, but not likely to have much collector interest. For $10.00, you did get an Excellent buy, that no doubt you could make money on if you did decide to sell it. I can’t tell you what it would be worth, but definitely more than the $10.00 that you paid for it. Would I have bought it myself? Yep.
Doug
I did say just about anything. [;)]
I know there’s plenty that hasn’t appreciated much, if at all (MPC era, for e.g.), and most Lionel HO hasn’t gone into the stratosphere, but the Lionel name still carries a cache that can make it more collectible than a comparable brand. Fifties era Rivarossi C-Liners can fetch around $100, but I saw a pair of dummy units branded for Lionel that went for over $900. The Kader Freedom Train is nowhere in that league, and is probably sought after more for its historical significance, but as we’ve all said he still got a heckuva deal.
i would never say that someone is cheating me out of something. i just wanted a price range for it. every time i go to that antique store in morehead weather im looking for railroad stuff or farm related stuff i have allways come out with at least $200.00 worth of stuff for less that $150.00. last winter i bought a book that so old that the newst locomotive in it was a 2-8-2 and the book was leatherbound telling you how every part on the 0-6-0, 4-4-0, 4-4-2, 2-8-0, and the new 2-8-2’s works. i payed $5.00 for it. took it to an antique aprasel and they sayed i had a $100.00 book. big boy