I just bought a sealed Bachman train set and it looks OLD. What is it worth?

[BCBuyNSell]

Hello!  I just bought an old Bachman train set at a garage sale for $50.  It's titled "King of the Road".  The only model number I can find on it is 40-116.  It's a HO Diesel Locomotive with operating headlights, 4 additional cars and the "Scenic Tunnel" all in one package.  It is sealed.  Can anyone tell me what it is worth?

[Terry Toenges]

Check Ebay. People have similar sets for sale from $50 to over $200. That doesn't mean they are selling. They might have been listed for a long time.
I have been selling my collection of railroad books that have been up for a long with no buyers. I did sell a bunch of them already but it took months. I'm "sargeter" on Ebay.

[Len]

I had one of those sets back when they first came out. It's not worth more than the $50 you paid for it, possibly less. The locomotive is the old 'pancake' motor type and has 'horn hook' style couplers that are not compatible with modern knuckle coupler equipment. And the track is the old style sectional track that has to be fastened down to keep pieces from seperating, especially on curves.

Len

[jward]

This set appears to date from 1981-1982, in the era of low quality train sets. The locomotives were underpowered and not very durable. This is the stuff you see at train shows with locomotives going for around $10 and cars under $5.  Personally, I avoid stuff like this, as the trains Bachmann made from the late 1990s to present day are much better quality.

[BCBuyNSell]

Dang, was hoping I had hit gold.  Oh well, thank you for the responses!

[trainman203]

There's no such thing as gold with train set trains.  Unless they are from the early 1950's or earlier.  The myth persists that all old trains are solid gold.

[Len]

There's no such thing as gold with train set trains.  Unless they are from the early 1950's or earlier.  The myth persists that all old trains are solid gold.

That's even true of pre and post war Lionel trains. Just because a very, very, few Lionel pieces are worth some money people thing all old Lionel trains are worth thousands. A fact less than scrupulous sellers on eBay take advantage of. offering "rare and hard to find" locomotives for thousands that show up regularly at train shows selling for $150 - $200.

Len

[trainman203]

The two words on eBay that make me smell a rat are "rare" and "vintage."