Railroad Collectibles, an Illustrated Value Guide: An Illustrated Value Guide

Collector Books, 1984. 3rd Rev ed. Illustrated. Hard cover. Good. No dust jacket. Railroad Collectibles, an Illustrated Value Guide: An Illustrated Value Guide (Hardcover CONDITION GOOD-) 3RD EDITION PUBLISHED BY COLLECTOR BOOKS-1985 COPYRIGHT--111 PAGES by Stanley Baker (Author) BOOK REVIEW; Aging, but able.... Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 111 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Railroad Collectibles, an Illustrated Value Guide: An Illustrated Value Guide (Hardcover CONDITION GOOD-) 3RD EDITION PUBLISHED BY COLLECTOR BOOKS-1985 COPYRIGHT--111 PAGES by Stanley Baker (Author) BOOK REVIEW; Aging, but able. This reference gives you a starting point from which to work out a value for railroadiana today. Of course, there were tens of thousands of items made for the railroads since 1828, when the B&O first lashed up some carriages on rails to a steam powered pulling device, the proto-locomotive that kicked off the whole railroad era. I doubt that anyone has ever found them all, and new ones are probably discovered each year. So, Baker has given us examples of each "class" of item, for example: Railroad lanterns from various eras, various fuels, lighting devices, etc. each slightly different, but all falling under the designation of a lantern. Or lapel pins for unions, for service awards, retirement, safety campaigns, uniforms, or just plain advertising. From there, you find others from railroads not listed, and you can extrapolate a price through similarity of function, design, materials, complexity, etc. So, consider this a starting point. Mint condition items will bring more, perhaps, unless the attraction is its used condition. For instance, which would be worth more, a pristine switch lock never used in a hundred years, or one that sat on the switch to Walong Siding at Tehachapi Loop for 100 years? In the end, nostalgic collectors' items are worth whatever one feels like paying at the moment. I've seen items, listed here for about $40, sell for over $1000. Depends on the item and who is bidding. Still, it's nice to have some attempt to document even a tiny cross section of the thousands of items out there, which gives some idea of what someone thought they were worth 20 years ago.