This is a post that has its origins fogged with the age of half a century or so . . . be not too harsh on me. The precise figures are perhaps less than, er, well, "precise."
As a boy I had the Lionel CP passenger set. It was featured in the 1957 catalog IIRC. I sold it ca. 1960 or so. Never gave it a thought for decades. Then the internet happened. I checked on ebay out of curiosity to find that the CP passenger set I sold for peanuts was going for THOUSANDS!!!! IIRC, I saw $8000 asked for it at one point. Not sure it ever sold for that.
Last I saw were the locomotives, CP2373 I think, in a shop in NJ. They had a price tag of several thousand dollars on them.
Astounds me. Even as a boy I thought these were lousy models. The portholes didn't even have lenses? Molded in handrails. Garbage, really by today's standards. I would have zero interest in owning such a crummy model today.
And I don't think they sell for anywhere near what I saw them listed for ten years ago or so?
The value of used trains seems a highly variable thing. Once collectors enter the mix, anything goes.
