I haven’t seen anything about this on the forum, but it is being reported on other forums and blogs: The New England, Berkshire & Western is being forced to move. Its future is uncertain. Read more, including a message from the club, on my blog at https://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/2019/01/end-of-line-for-new-england-berkshire.html
John Longhurst, Winnipeg
The NEB&W is truly one of the great pikes of all time and should be preserved as a national work of fine art or better put…a national treasure. I do hope for the best for John and crew. Years back I had the pleasure of visiting, and was deepely impressed.
HZ
It seems to be a trend. The Illini Railroad Club here at the University of Illinois is more than a century old. They lost their layout last year due to a major rebuild of the dorm whose basement their layout was located in. So far, they’ve been offered no alternate location. The local Mass Transit District has a club and they’ve generously opened their doors to the IRC for several ops sessions. One hopes at a school with one of the top railroad engineering programs, there might be more attention paid to finding a new location. Good luck to the NEB&W!
Clubs loosing their homes is becoming the norm…Ohio’s oldest club the Columbus,Ohio Model Railroad Club recently lost their long time home that was located on the second floor of a former office building at Buckeye Steel casting. I wish both clubs good luck in finding a new home.
The Columbus club hits home as I help build that layout after the club was force to move from the basement of the A&P store on the corner of Third and Rich Streets.
The Baltimore Society of Model Engineers, one of the oldest clubs in the country, formed in 1932, has also just been told they must move from their long time downtown Baltimore location.
Nothing is forever, but owning your land and building, or building your own building on public parkland, like “The Model Railroad Club” in New Jersey, seems the only reasonable secure path.
While I surely appreciate all the great club layouts I have visited, and had the privilage at a young age to be a member at the Severna Park Model Railroad Club, I no longer find the club environment a good place for my modeling.
Best of luck to all these groups.
Sheldon
I had hoped to see the NEB&W, as I only live 2 hours away and often go through Albany.
Our club, the Adirondack & Lake Champlain, doesn’t have to worry about losing our space- our layout is modular!
In November, someone was shot in a robbery at a bus stop in broad daylight two blocks away. I’m surprised the club is still in that location. They have O and HO scale and their final open house is a week from tomorrow.
Crime aside, I never understood why anyone would want to deal with downtown logistics for this kind of activity? It kept me from ever desiring to be a member.
Sheldon
The task and logistics of removing something like this must be monumental.
The rolling stock, structures, infastructure such as briges, track, turn outs, wiring, signals, wow, a lot of stuff to deal with.
And then there’s the removal of the scenery and benchwork, all into dumpsters, and they are located in a down town city location. It’s not like you can park a dumpster out the door or a window.
What a job.
And I think about when we want to move to a retirement community (5, maybe 8 years) to get away from the stairs in our current cape cod, with a full basement, and my current layout is only about 52 sq. ft. ! [(-D] A piece of cake!
Mike.
I have seen electric chain saws used to cut a club layout into movable pieces that we loaded into members pickup trucks.
A sad job…
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I already own a single story, no basement, no stair house in what used to be a retirement community, but that is changing. I have owned it since I was 30 years old.
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Every time one of the retired neighbors passes on, their house gets occupied by a family in their 20’s, times are changing.
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Scale Rails of Southwest Florida lost their home, on CSX property, 15 or so years ago. Thanks to several wealthy members, they now own their own building outright. They are now as permanent as a group can be. If you want to retire somewhere with a good railroad community of fellow retirees, Fort Myers, Florida would be a good choice.
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There must be wealthy alumni with fond memories of the NEB&W. If this layout is not preverved, it will be due to lack of effort by those inerested in the preservation.
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-Kevin
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Yes, moving or dismantling the BSME will be a job. They have both HO and O scale layouts.
Retirement community? What kind of retirement community? I would rather just steer the truck into a bridge abutment…but that’s just me, I could not live around a bunch of people in one of those places.
At 63 and 61, the wife and I just moved from the 2-1/2 story 4,000 sq ft 1901 Queen Anne into a 2200 sq ft brick rancher. My plan is to be carried out…
The new basement allows me about 1400 sq ft for my next layout, which will fill every possible sq ft.
But, it will be built in such a way that if/when necessary, it can be removed without cutting it up. Just in case I do want to move again, or someone actually wants the layout when I am gone. If I go first, the wife can give it to anyone willing to move it, trains and all.
Yes, clubs should own their buildings…
Sheldon
I’m actually the same way. She (wifey) on the other hand, is trying to get me psyched up for the adventure, but she’s a way more of “socialite” than I ever was, or will be.
They do have, and are continually building, some “nice” facilities around here. Most of them, your actually not part of a huge cluster, and more to your own.
We’ll see.
My mother and step dad planed nothing. Their attitude was “let the kids deal with it”. I WILL NOT be like that.
Mike.
We have plan, the will is going to read, “being of sound mind and body we spent it all”, so they will have little to fight over. Which ever one of us goes first, will likely get rid of a lot of what we have kept in this recent move. It is a big transition from 4,000 sq ft, pool, large 6 car garage/barn, down to 2,200 sq ft.
A very positive transition I must say. It will give me a lot more time for trains…
But I will be building a small detached garage for the pickup, tractor and tools that do not fit in the 1-1/2 car garage attached to the new house. That is just for her car…
We actually have more land at the new place, but much simpler landscaping to care for…
Take care,
Sheldon
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You must be thinking of The Villages… I would rather end it now than have the possibilty of living there.
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Some retirement communities, or even assisted living facilities, are very nice and appealing.
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We have quite a selection down here.
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-Kevin
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We have a 4000 sqft house with a 1200 garage. We will be moving at some point as my Daughter is off to University this fall and could end up in Edinburgh Scotland medical school. With the #1 son in Ottawa, staying where we are will not be a consideration, too many people for our liking.
I started planning my financial life as a teenager. Knew what I would need, to have what I wanted. Nothing extravagant, just a carefree middle-class life. So far so good. My wife wants to show dogs as long as she is on this Earth and I want my hobbies as well. We may downsize a bit but not much, dogs and trains require space. We will be able to hire people to clean the house and ride the John Deere if it comes down to it and my wife would like a coach house for a full time “live in” to care for the dogs when we are away. There are always Vet assistants looking for a nice place to live free in exchange for doing dog care.
I am in the camp of I want to stay in my home as long as I can. The government makes it easy for seniors to stay at home as it is much cheaper than institutionalizing them. We have three seniors in our extended family that still live in their houses and my mother was the same. The medical system provides in-home help to those that need it starting with maybe a couple hours a day right up to full time 24 hours day care as they age and become more incapacitated.
I have observed that people that have hobbies and interest in life get plenty of social interaction through those. So many people that I admired died with their boots on enjoying their passions as close to the end as possible. My Mom died in her eighties and was out, field training dogs up to the last year of her life. Near her end, she came to live with us. We had a nanny for our two kids and the government provided in-home care for my Mom. It was funny watching the Nanny and healthcare workers competing to do the housework.
Before anyone thinks we are z
Brent,
As we are on a lot of subjects, you and I are very much on the same page with all this.
When we sell the big house, which will go on the market in a few months, the proceeds will be all free and clear, largely excempt from taxes under various rules for people down sizing in this country. And there is no debt on that property…or the new to us one we just moved into.
We also have some investment properties which we will gradually start liquidating, to make life simpler…
If we can’t live the rest of our lives on what we will have at that point, then shame on us…
The only parent we have left between us in my mother, I doubt I will have to take care of her, she would rather my sister do it if she can’t stay in her home. But mom is 1,000 miles from here…
Our kids are all long grown up and on their own, youngest is now pushing 34.
So I plan to build my new garage, make a few small changes to this house, and fill the basement with the new layout.
It was a long a careful search, but this is the perfect house, on the perfect 2.3 acres to keep people away, with the perfect basement.
My wife’s pet of choice is a cat. I like cats, they are very low maintenance, clean box and open the cans. I was not really a kid person, so that makes me not really a dog person…
Anyway, the new property is everything we need and want, nothing we don’t need or want, situated in a perfect spot, secluded but close to things we need and like to do.
I am thrilled. No assisted living hotel, or cookie cutter condo old age community for me, thank you. I don’t want to walk out my door and feel “obligated” to talk to someone on the sidwalk…or worse in the hallway - we don’t have sidewalks out here in the rural country side…
But if I want to socialize or interact with people, one of the highest rated small towns in America is only 8 minutes away:
Probably 90% of the clubs I have known have lost their space at least once…some in only a year. Some clubs have built their own building and if the finances can be worked out…it is by far the best way to go. While in the Army during the 60’s, I was privy to visit a really great Pennsy steam era layout. It was built in a stripped down construction trailer purchased for under $1000. I think it was either 50’ or 60’ x 10’.
The builder was a career Army engineer and construction was flawless and strong. The beauty of this was mobility. Being in the Army meant being transferred often and he was. When overseas, the Army would store the trailer in the motor pool and if moved stateside, the Army would tow it. He painted it dark flat brown and had brown wood skirts to hide wheels and open spaces. Today zoning could be difficult, but certainly worth a try. He was a full colonel, but possibly lessor ranks would not enjoy the priviledges he had.
Food for thought,
HZ
Sheldon, one thing I was going to add was a story about my wife’s Uncle, a great guy I really get along with. He had a beautiful home on acreage up a mountain with a view as far as the eyes could see. His 5 kid’s, one a paramedic, badgered him relentlessly to move into town saying it would take an ambulance 25 minutes to get to you. He finally gave in and did so, to a seniors condo complex. Ten years later he is still alive, big strong and healthy, but the day he left his home it was as if his soul was sucked out of him. We talk every time we see each other about the mistake they made leaving their home. I say I would gladly risk the long ambulance response and be happy about where I am. He sure wishes he could turn back the clock. My kids have also seen Uncles mistake take its toll and completely understand our way of thinking. Where we are looking it would be a helicopter response anyway.
Just curious about the tax you pay on the sale of your home. We pay no tax on the sale of our “principal residence” but pay a capital gains tax on recreation or investment or second or other residences (s). I think the tax on those is pretty fair, though when I started selling off my investment properties the cheque I had to write the government was a lot for this blue-collar guy to take.[(-D]
I hated being a landlord/babysitter, even after I had a company take over the duties. As soon as my financial goals had been met I was out of that business. I bought my places starting in my late teens and was out by 37 I believe. I am 63 on the 29th and think about what they are worth now. Absolutely no regrets getting rid of them, by forty I was on easy street and got married, had a job I loved, other than health issues, life is perfect.
Brent, here we have a one time capital gains tax exclusion on the sale of a principal residence. But, on any principal residence real estate sale, there is no capital gains tax if you buy another property of equal or greater value.
So the exclusion is aimed at people like us, selling the big house, and buying one only half its value.
Yes, the sale of the rentals will be taxed, but who cares, they have more than doubled in value in 23 years, and have been largely tax free income as we are allowed to write off depreciation, and apply paper losses against other income.
But once a few repairs are made for sale, the net gain will be reasonable and the capital gains tax reasonable…now that our income is in a lower bracket with the wife retired.
We have always managed our own properties, and only recently, last 3-4 years, has it started become tiresome. At one point we did have 6 rentals, we got out of 3 of them over a decade ago when the market was real strong.
We are also now about 30 minutes farther away from those properties, that is a factor too.
First one goes on the market Feb 1, likely sell one a year for the next three years…
Our new home was built in 1964, and about that same time, the construction of I-95 caused this little village we live in to be bypassed by the relocation of a state highway. So its a sleepy little spot, but close to everything, and built out enough to likely not change much for a very long time.
We spent $375,000. That buys a fair amount around here, but this place is really worth about $420,000. It was an estate and the 50 year old grown kids just wanted it gone. Their parents took perfect care of this place right to end.
Sheldon