1991 Flying Scotsman Train Set Value

[0fftherails]

Hi all, I bought the set from Beatties in 1991- I paid £75; I took it home, wrapped it & put it away; I didn't even remove it from the box to see it running.  A few weeks ago, I realised that I was never going to use it & decided to sell....on eBay. Sold for £100. Shortly after, was contacted by the buyer who stated that there was no motor in it, so wouldn't run! I initially thought he meant no motor in the loco, but after requesting further info, he said that the set was 'tender driven' &  the tender was faulty. I was very surprised by this as, for all intents & purposes, it was brand new (albeit 28 years old), & should have operated properly. He also said that he had borrowed another tender & then the set ran very nicely. As a result, he wanted a £40 refund; I suspected sabotage & refused. He then demanded a full refund which I gave. I am now left with a train set which is, in its' current state, unplayable & certainly unsaleable as 'new'! So, that is why I'm seeking your advice. Despite the above, it seems to me that there is still some value in the set (ie  mainly the rolling stock), the question is how much is it worth? What I would like to know is:

(1) should I relist it on eBay (the original box with all its' contents), but stating clearly that the tender is faulty - if so, how much? or

(2) just list the loco & the 3 carriages - again, for how much? If so, would the remaining items in the box (15 pieces of track - should be 16 but buyer damaged 1 - & the controller) be more or less worthless? 

I did write to Hornby describing all of the above in the hope that they might offer me something but, nothing doing! 

Would be very interested in all of your comments. Many thanks. 

 

 

 

 

[NWR-Gordon-4]

0fftherails, welcome to the Hornby Forum.  😀

 

Perhaps the motor has seized up. If it has never run in it's 28 year life, so I suspect the oil may have dried up.

 

If I were you, I would relist it on eBay describing it's condition, or you could at your own cost, find somebody to repair it for you, to try and increase the value of it. As it's a none runner, it's worth much less than £100.00.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[JJ73]

WOW -  Beatties - I remember them - do they even exsist any more???

What I want to know is why did you buy an F. S. Train set then take home wrap it up & put it away in the 1st place - why did you even both to do that???

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Jimyjames, perhaps 0fftherails purchased the train set originally back in 1991, intending to use it and build a layout in the future and / or purchased it as an investent, hoping that it grows in value to resell it in the future.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[EnGee]

Put it up for auction on Ebay, ensure that the listing for it states exactly what is in the box and exactly what condition it's in.

Market forces will decide how much it's worth.

[atom3624]

If the original recipient opened it and tried it, it is obviously no longer 'NEW IN BOX'.

 

If the original purchaser had any 'modelling sympathy' other than simply putting a 29 year old locomotive on the track and expecting it to run like a new from factory locomotive, he/she should have done a  a 'pre-flight inspection' - including the odd drop of oil or 3, touch of grease on gears, checking everything is free-running.

 

Common sense says this is obvious, but that's history.

 

If you're familiar with model railways, I would check everything over and ensure it runs properly, as it's already been opened - clean the contacts, remove any dust, etc.

If you still want to sell, then at least you'll know it works and they can't pull that trick on you again.

 

Whatever you do, try to be as clear and honest with the description as possible.

 

As far as value is concerned, it's simply whatever somebody is prepared to pay for it.

Check for similar models / condition and see what they're offered for / selling at.

 

Al.

[JJ73]

Well like Atom says...if they wanted for an investment for the future -

he/she should have done a  a 'pre-flight inspection' - including the odd drop of oil or 3, touch of grease on gears, checking everything is free-running.

 

Can't expect to keep some for 28 / 29 years then expect it to work 1st time - it is like when I was about 12 yrs old my um got me a Scalextric set & then I got more cars & track over the next 10 odd yrs then I pack it all up - put it back in all it orginal boxes - kept it under my bed in a big wooden draw - then about 3 yrs ago I got it out to see what condition it was in & found it didn't work to well  ☹️ een though when I had put in in the boxes all them years ago - it worked really well!!!

[LCDR]

Model Railways stored unused for twenty or more years are not always going to be unplayable. in fact when I moved to York 25 years ago I packed up the large family collection of 'blue' diesels (about thirty Hornby, Lima, Mainline, Wrenn locos) and they were stored in our attic until two years ago when I got them all out and tested and serviced them to pass on to my grand children. Only two failed to work after cleaning and lubrication. 

 

This may help

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/beginner-question-set-not-working/

 

 

 

[DBfan]

 Or why not try and get it repaired ????

[atom3624]

I would expect it to run very well with a little TLC.

 

Original purchaser was short of a few bob where it mattered!!

 

Al.

[0fftherails]

Thank you to the vast majority of you for your input:

Gordon-GNR-4: that hadn't even crossed my mind & in hindsight, it's very likely that the oil (lack of) is the problem. 

JimyJames: at the time, I had a room in a shared house, but thought that I would one day have my own place where I could devote an entire room for a track layout - unfortunately,  that never materialised hence my reason for selling. 

Atom: very useful info. 

Just goes to show how useful these forums can be when others share their knowledge. 

Ta ta,  over & out. 

[bruce_johnson]

In 1987 I bought a Blue Streak train set (tender drive A4 made in England) for my son. I nailed the loop of track (2 half loops of radius 1 and 4 short straight sections) to a small board. This was used for about 3 or 4 years then stored away in the dry. Then about 16 or 17 years later we moved and the train set came with us. It somehow ended up in the shed. The box (well battered by now) was kept between 2 drawers of 1960s Scalextric (thats another story and on my to do later list).

 

After another 6 or 7 years I found a trainset in the shed and brought it into the house. The track looked like real unused track (rusty). Fortunatly the Loco, coaches, etc. had faired a lot better. I cleaned the rust of the top of the rails wired it up and put the loco on it sort of moved (when near the power plug), it wouldn't be replicating the Mallard's record breaking run, but it wasn't dead despite all. After the track was removed from the board and cleaned up the loco had a bit of a clean along with a new set of tyres and was running again, it even managed to pull 9 or 10 coaches so long as there were no inclines.

 

Eventhough it works and the Lpco and coaches are in resonable condition (only 1 buffer missing) and all there. I doubt it would sell for much as the box is tatty (very), but then why would I want to sell it when my son has just had a son.