I AM NEW TO YOUR SITE, LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE TRAIN SET I HAVE FROM MY CHILDHOOD. IT IS A MARX SET IN ITS ORIGINAL BOX WITH ALLSTATE IN UPPER LEFT CORNER OF BOX AND SEARS AND ROBUCK IN UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF BOX. I RECEIVED IT IN THE LATE 50’S OR EARLY 60’S. THE ENGINE IS CAST WITH 666 BELOW THE WINDOW. THE CARS ARE PLASTIC. CARS HAVE 2 SET OF 4 WHEELS. 1 BLACK COAL TENDER, PLASTIC, SAYS ALLSTATE. ONE BLUE TANKER SAYS ALLSTATE MOTOR OIL. ONE ORANGE BOX CAR WITH FIXED DOORS SAY SANTA FE ALL THE WAY. ONE FLAT CAR MAROON SAY ERIE AND HAS A SEMI AND TRAILER THAT SET ON AND ATTACHES TO IT, IT IS AL ALLSTATE TRAILER (ORANGE). CABOOSE IS MAROON WITH NYC 18326 ON IT. THE ORIGINAL TRANSFORMER HAS CATALOG NO. 1239 ON IT AND I HAVE THE BOTTLE OF MARX LOCOMOTIVE SMOKE ALSO. CAN ANYONE TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SET AND ITS VALUE?
Hi Dave:
Visit our site www.modeltrainjournal.com, then click on articles, then click on the Faux Toys link.
Dave is an expert on Marx and will be able to help.
Thanks,
Bill
Well, I can tell you some things. Allstate was a Sears brand name that Marx sold trains under for them. As for value, here’s what the Greenberg guide states as the values for each individual piece:
666 Steam Engine: $20 good, $30 excellent
Allstate Tender: slope back tender (the end come down at an angle) is worth $15 good, $20 excellent and if not it’s $10 good, $15 excellent
Allstate Tank Car: $20 good, $40 excellent
Santa Fe Boxcar: $10 good, $15 excellent
Erie Flatcar with Allstate Semi: $125 good, $175 excellent
NYC Caboose: if it’s black, white and green it’s worth $25 good, $40 excellent, if it’s white it’s worth $15 good, $25 excellent and if it’s any other colour it’s worth $10 good, $15 excellent
The track and transformer have little value. Of course the value of it as a boxed set would be slightly more than the combined individual values. As you can see, the flatcar with the semi by itself is worth more than the rest of the set combined. These are quite rare and usually the semi cab and trailer have gone missing over the years. I hope this helps you out.
Hi Dave,
Welcome to the CTT Forum
Hope you continue to post here often.
tom