I've been into toy trains for quite awhile. I do not recall the terms "rebuilt", "reconditioned", or "refurbished" used to describe the condition / state of a toy train. Only the term "restored". (The words might appear as verbiage in a description, not as a one word summary)
Of course people can use any words they please to describe their goods. And that works fine so long as both parties to a transaction agree on the meaning of those terms.
When one joins a train club, one usually agrees to uphold that organization's bylaws. The organizations with which I am familar have defined terms to describe the condition / state of a train. So, wouldn't upholding bylaws include using defined terms?
Want to say your train for sale/trade was refurbished? Go ahead, the other party to your transaction may have a different idea of what that means.
Can we expect a major organization to define refurbished? Doubtful. Should a refurbished postwar lionel loco have new pickup rollers? E-unit drum and fingers? Brushes and springs? How about fresh light bulbs? How about the various bearings / bushings in there? And so on.
By the way, unless something has changed, TCA descriptions are only based on cosmetics. The train does not have to be functional. Not certain about other clubs. At one time many of them adopted TCA definitions.
In a way it is unfortunate that toy trains have become so costly that we even need to think about the fine points of describing conditions.
