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I am always getting emails asking me what railroad items costs.
As much as I would like to be an expert on all things railroad or railroad signal related, I am not!
Stuff on this page, all of it, came from EBay on April 21, 2017
Unlike other "antiques" you might see on the Antique Road Show, railroadiana is a much more fluid market depending on the interest of a certain item at the time it is offered for sale. There is also the "relative" value of an item depending on someone's sense of historical value, for instance, there was once a simple 3 aspect color light signal for sale on Ebay maybe 10 years ago. The starting price was $1500 because the seller felt it was worth way more that the real street value because he claimed it came from a specific station. The first time he listed the signal, he did not even include a photo of the signal. The second time he listed the signal, because it obviously did not sell the first time around, he at least included a photo, but still had it listed for $1500. It did not sell the second time around either. I never followed the auctions to see if he ever offered it again, but obviously, the market is very, very small for a signal collector looking for a signal from a specific depot.
With that said, I present a collection of sales and ads that I have come across to give the reader some idea of what you can expect to pay. The first batch (1-62) come from the Discover Live Steam website. The majority of the remainder of the listings were found on EBay.
Some of the prices for this stuff I feel are good, some I feel are excessive... my opinion is to the left in the little signal icon, I'm a guessin you can figure out what I'm trying to convey :-)...
Again, these are just my opinion!
Whether or not a particular price for something is "good" or "bad" depends on:
What you think something is worth,
How much you are willing to pay,
And, is it something you "just want", "think would be cool to have", or "really, really just have to have it".
A few years ago on EBay, a late 1800's Banjo type signal sold for $18,000!!! Wow! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the free enterprise system, but if you think a lot of prices are good, go to a train show and see how much of this stuff IS NOT selling!Because the pages are picture intensive, I have divided up the pages into quicker to load sets.....
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Pictures are always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit is always given! Contact info is here
Western RR Supply Bell $225
Locomotive Bell ? $295 +
Adlake Switch Lamp with 2 Blue Lenses $125 +
Aladdin Maine Central RR Lamp $400 +
Adlake Signal Lantern $150 +
Lot of Train Maps $35 +
Railroad Spikes (Date Nails???) $46
Photo of Steam Engine $8 +
Southern Rwy China Plate $48 +
MILW Timetable $9 +
Kodachrome Slide $10 +
Santa Fe "the Scout" Porcelain Sign $1640 +
These are rare, so I had to include a few detail shots from the listing.....
NEW 04/21/2017
Last Modified
23-Jul-2017