Most are Lionel, although there are a few others, including American Flyer and Bachmann. Almost all are expected to bring modest three-figure prices, according to presale estimates in the online auction catalog at www.LiveAuctioneers.com, where bidding is also possible.
The exceptions are two pre-World War II Standard Gauge lots: a segment of a No. 444 roundhouse and a 400E steam locomotive. The roundhouse segment, made in Italy (and probably one segment of three), and the steam engine, with two drive wheels, a two-axle pilot truck and a two-axle trailer truck and a tender with two three-axle trucks, are each expected to sell for $600 to $1,200.
Prewar and postwar World War II is the big dividing line in vintage model trains. Trains made before then generally draw the top prices at auction, whether they are old Standard Gauge models, built to a scale of one-half inch to the foot, or the early one-quarter inch to the foot O-Gauge models. (A large O-Gauge layout is on display during the holidays at the Brandywine River Museum.)
After the war, Lionel introduced a cheaper, slightly smaller "027" line, possibly to attract buyers with less space at their disposal. It featured tracks that ran on a circle 27 inches in diameter.
Stephenson's sale offers a number of lots from this era, which also was marked by an emphasis on novelty items, such as motorized accessories and brightly painted rolling stock advertising brand names. A No. 282 Lionel Portal gantry crane in its original box with controls and inserts, for instance, is expected to bring $100 to $200.
