Anybody want to ballpark the value on a Canadian National headlight, cast number board and lighted angled number board set from a 6100 series 4-8-4, with sale documentation from the railroad in 1959?

It's in excellent shape, stored indoors in a dry basement as a display.

It belongs to a friend's father and the father is not doing well, so my friend is considering parting with it to help with the bills.

I know it's worth a fair amount of money and it will vary depending on how bad someone wants it on a given day, but whether it's $2000, $4000, or what I'm not sure. It's not something I want to just say list on eBay for them and see what happens.

You could place an ad in the classifieds here and other on-line rail forums, in TRAINS magazine, Railroad & Railfan, Railpace and whatever other places you could think of. Just state what you have, it's condition and mention that you will be entertaining offers up to a certain date. At that point, you have the option to accept the high offer or then try Ebay. Ebay has a fee structure on items sold, but I don't know the percentage (been years since I sold anything there). If you go Ebay, you can set a hidden reserve price and the item won't sell until the high bid reaches the reserve. Ebay does reach a larger audience than any other venue I know.

Another shrewd tactic I have seen used:

Contact Canadian museums seeking collectors that may be interested, with one of two options:

1) if they want it, let them find a donor to pay you a fair price for the Museum to get it;

2) Have them refer you to one of their known collectors to network for a fair price, with the Museum getting a commission or finder's fee.

I've found that some collectors are eager to make a better-than-average deal that benefits a mutually agreeable charity, and avoids the messiness of eBay, taxes, etc. I know of a certain museum's gift/book shop manager that has a long list of members seeking specific artifacts or books if they ever show up "surplus" to the Museum's needs, and that can't be the only one either. He pull out the set-aside book for the guy, says "Okay............ $60?" and the buyer says "Shut up...." and slaps down $75.

Just saw an ad for the Railroad Collectors Association. Try contacting them to see if they can help.

http://railroadcollectors.org/index.shtml

They won’t do appraisals. I hate to say this but you may be able to get a feel for its value by watching similar items over time on eBay.

Just bookmark the following URL and check it every couple of weeks.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/1444/i.html?_f ... +headlight