I know nothing about trains. I have a Lionel train I think its electric with the number 726RR on its side. Is thius train worth anything? If so does anybody want to make me a fair offer?
People may need more info, like what other cars, etc. are with it, if it's a set, to help identify it. Most have a 3,4, 5 or even 6 digit number on them as identity.
Your 726RR was Lionel's top of the line steam locomotive in 1952. You should have with the locomotive a tender (coal car) #2046W (the W means the tender had a whistle unit built into it). The locomotive without its tender has much less value than it would have with it.
The 726RR was available for separate sale, and as the power for a 1952 premium set #2189WS which Lionel named the Five-Car Transcontinental Fast Freight.
If you have the set, you also should have a #3520 rotating searchlight car, a #3656 operating stock car with stockyard and cattle, a #6462 NYC gondola (black or red), a #3461 operating lumber car with 5 logs and a black plastic bin to receive them, and a #6457 caboose (which is illuminated and has operating couplers at each end -- most Lionel cabooses had only one coupler.) Premium sets did not come with transformers, track or uncoupling/operating track sections. Those had to be bought separately.
Values for any or all of what you have depend on popularity (rarity and demand)and on condition. You can't do much about popularity, but you can easily determine the condition of what you have. Are there lots or almost no scratches on each item? Does each item look as if anything is missing or broken, etc? If you have boxes, are they complete or tattered, or somewhere in between? If you have the set, collectors of sets would want to know if you have the set box and the individual boxes for each of the items in it. Boxes are not quite as important to those who buy old trains to operate them.Boxes are nice, but they seldom add much to the value though they may help you seal a deal for any sale.
Once you've noted what you've got, itemize each item and then take your list to the nearest Borders or Barnes and Noble bookstores In their collectibles sections you're likely to find a rather large book entitled, "The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains (1945-1969)" You'll find each item listed there and several levels of value. Locomotives and tenders are listed together under the locomotives' numbers). That will give you an estimate of the value of what you have, or at least a staring point for the bartering for any sale. Good luck!
