Old Bachmann Set

[timn306]

I was given a Bachmann train set from the estate of a relative that was also a U.P. employee.  It is a Bachmann Set No. 419, Union Pacific Railroad, 102 piece set.  It has a diesel locomotive, gondola car, box car, caboose, livestock car and a box car with "Driving the Golden Spike" on the side.  Does anybody have any information on when it was made and how much it might be worth?  The set is still wrapped in plastic which is ripped slightly on the edges.  Any info. would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You.  Tried to upload a picture, but upload box was full.

[ACY]

You have to upload your images to photobucket or flickr first then link them or copy image location. Anyways the set is worth $20-$30 including shipping.

[lvrr325]

I'd want $10-$15 just for the golden spike car were it seperate, so $30 with shipping for the set is insanely lowball (when you figure shipping will run a good $10-$15 alone).  I've gotten more for much cheaper sets in their box. 

Generally, the loco is worth $10-$15, the cars and transformer $3-$4 each, brass track has virtually no value, and other accessories can vary.  A set in the original box is generally worth $40 and up, depending on who made it and what's included. 

Older Bachmann is not that collectible right now, but the best bet would be to run it on eBay and see where it goes if you want to sell it. 

Because of the apparent age of this loco, it should be checked for pot-metal fatigue; certain of the Bachmann engines from the early 1970s suffered this malady where the cast metal used in the frames and weights swell up, crack, and fall apart as they age. 

[ACY]

If he splits the set up he can get a lot more, but the cars are not worth $3-$4 by any means they are mostly $1 cars, except for the Golden spike car which is worth $7 or so. The loco is likely afflicted by pot-metal fatigue like you said making it not worth too much around $3-$4, but if not $8. The way I figure the $1 cars are negligible, the transformer and track and negligible, you basically have the golden spike car and maybe a loco. I saw this set at a train show the other day for $20, but the loco did not run anymore. When people buy things on ebay they consider s&h part of the cost. So if you consider that Bachmann's locos back then were not very good and for $40 you can get a brand new set, the only reason one would want to buy that set would be for one car. That is why I gave it the value I did, but ultimately the only way to find out for sure is put it on ebay and see what they pay.