Gold Hill Express g scale

[Spinnerbaitor48]

I have come into possession of a brand new in the box complete train set including 4-6-0 steam locomotive w tender..operating headlight...speed synchronized steam sound....realistic smoke...combine & observation cars...20' steel alloy track and ul listed power pack....have no idea how old it is or what its worth.....also a n Emmet kelly jr set also brand new in box....have the comic book instruction manual for the Gold Hill Express big hauler in perfect condition....any info would be greatly appreciated.....Bob

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi,

Set 90090 The Virgina & Truckee "Gold Hill Express" was produced only in late 1997 and was one of those sets never in the catalog.  It was sold only through Hobby Shops and was part of Bachmann's effort to give hobby shops somthing that was not available in other types of stores.  The 4-6-0 was a woodburner and was beautifully decorated and looks great in front of the combine #16 and observation #17  "Azaela"   Unfortunately the locomotive had the version 3 chassis which was very poor and undependable.  I have never been able to find out how many sets were made, but is is definitely harder to find than many other Bachmann sets.  The msrp for this set was $250, but the street price was about $135.   This set shows up on Ebay, but not very often.  The lowest price was$61 The highest was $145, and the average seems to be around $100.