A 1958 Burlington 216 is at $133.83 + $7.50 shipping with 3 hours left. Seller says it runs good, from the pictures it has some scratches and edge wear but looks good, the bar below the front coupler is not broken.
Last December a 212 US Marines went for a similar price. Tranz was the seller and said it was TCA C6.
These are the better of the sheet metal frame Alcos due to 3 position e unit and two axle magnatraction but I’m curious why the high prices
I am not sure. But if you are looking for the O27 style Alco I have an MPC era one with a sheet metal frame (from the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Set) and a later one with a die cast frame from Williams. The Williams version is pre “WBB” so it is a single motor and it came with three 2400 series post war repro passenger cars. As much as I’ll always have a warm spot for my Amtrak Alco because it was the first train set I received from my parents, the Williams Alco is far superior in terms of build quality. Before I spent the better part of $150 on a Lionel sheet metal Alco, I would check out one of the bigger Williams or WBB dealers (J&R, Pat’s, etc.) and see what they have. My sense is you could probably get a die cast frame, twin motor Williams Alco and a dumby unit, for that price. If you are an operator, it’s a nicer piece to run. Good luck. HTH.
Some of the ALCOs are rare , e.g. the 216, was a one year only locomotive. Others have special attributes such as the 208 with its complicated decal and paint scheme.
ALCO FA’s produced by Lionel have traditionally been regarded as budget locomotives, Those produced after 1955 have always been regarded as cheaper and a step down from the F-3’s, the Trainmasters and numerous other Lionel locomotives.
ALCOs can be fine runners (I have a number of magnetraction single and double axles and some with traction tires and a few I have customized with magnetraction/traction tire combinations.) Put two powered units together and the combination can be very strong pullers.
Also, a couple of ALCO FAs heading up O27 cars look great together. The locomotives are a perfect scale match for that type of Lionel rolling stock.
I can’t offer an explanation for why the ALCO prices are trending up. I often ponder the future of Lionel train collecting; i.e., is the bottom going to drop out of the value as more and more baby boomers vanish from the market? Newer trains from any number of manufacturers can be pretty expensive and I’m not sure if these are being bought for children. Is the future about collecting or running. Again, what about the children?
Relatively speaking older ALCOs, for example, are still affordable and durable (and also very repairable). Maybe this is why the “re-sale” value is trending up. Also, it could be that that inflation of the value is going through another of those periodic transition changes (I remember when tthese ALCOs were a $30 locomotive and a 1033 was a $20 transformer.
I wouldn’t discount the value of an ALCO as a runner, i.e., you can run the heck out of them, nick them up some more, and still have a great time. This is why I have so many. I shy away from running my F-3s as often and some of my premium s
I agree. Whenever the prices seem high it is usually due to something being rare.
Personally I never look for rare items as they mean nothing to me unless I could
buy and sell them at a profit. I buy what I like for running, looks and features. That is
why I have moved towards the newer models. Much better looks, sounds and features.
The prices however are surely not always low for the ones I like.
Unfortunately for me here is an example AT&SF 2-10-10-2: I didn’t pay new price for it, $2200, since it was used,
but it still was not cheap:
FWIW, I see Rio Grande 221 Alcos at train shows here in the MidSouth (Tulsa-Joplin-Springdale-Springfield area) going for around $50 or so all the time…
http://www.postwarlionel.com/cgi-bin/postwar?ITEM=221
Mitch
The 221 Rio Grande Alco is a very basic model, and is quite common, as is written in the link from Mitch. In my area $50 would be top dollar for one.
It does not compare with a 216 Burlington or 212 Marine in availability or features.