Garden Railway Forum

I have been asked to value some model railway items. Mainly 00 junk and mostly easy to price. The one item I am having trouble with is a Big hauler trainset. It is about 15 years old and is an oval of track a 2 6 0 steam engine with two wagons and a caboose. Well used, but all there and working. The current owner thinks that it is worth a fortune, this I doubt.
I am not that up on g scale stuff and even less so on the toy end of the market so I would appreciate any input.
I know this is a long shot in the dark and asking random questions on line is not the best way of getting a value.
The collection of stuff is to be split between two grandchildren and there is a desire to be as fair as possible.

The missus bought one for about £80 in 2008, so say about £100 now allowing for inflation. I have seen them up for silly money on eBay, and occasionally the fool and his money are parted from one another. However, it has to be said that I am no expert and I am tight, so that is perhaps an under estimate of value.

Peter in AZ

They are plentiful and over priced on ebay. Viewing some of the asking prices is good for a chuckle. Sadly people who don't know better will toss good money for them eventually.

Hi Jim,
This may/may not be a help, but from what I've read in the past a lot depends on the driving mech. The early ones and some later ones are prone to splitting the nylon gear on the axles. All sorts of remedies and replacement gears have been made available. Also some have plastic rods and valve gear and some are metal. Also there is the Bachmann Annie, and the Big Hauler both 2-6-0's. Hope I've remembered this correctly, someone with more knowledge of them may chime in.
Grant.

Thank you for the information folks.