Hello, I am new here, as well as to the train hobby. I apologize in advance if my questions are silly or quite ignorant. I am a car person, and know how newbies are treated in some of forums, so I can take it.
Recently, my grandparents passed away after a long wonderful life. They were both in their mid 90’s and died with in a year of eachother. My granfather had been an avid train collector. We are in the process of going thru his stuff, dating back to at least 1938. At least that seems to be the oldest issue of model railroader we can find. He must have every issue from 1938 on. All bound and organized. No one in the family is knowledgeable about the trains, nor has an interest in the hobby. There are tons of trains, tracks, switches, buildings, people, parts, etc. It is all HO scale. I can only imagine, being a collector of “other things” myself, that someone would love to have this stuff, and that it would be very useful to an avid collector.
I guess my question is what is the best thing for me to do? Are there people out there that value collections? What is the best way to find a good home for this lifelong collection. Today we found all the trains and moved them to one area of the garage. So, the stuff is accessable for picture taking etc. I am in greenwood,sc if there happens to be a board member that is nearby, that would be interested in taking a look. Should I should post this in a different place?
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I have great memories of watching his trains, and understand his passion, I just want make sure it goes somewhere where it can be appreciated. Thanks.
There are several large shops that purchase large or small collections, but they are interested in brass models for resale. What you call a collection and what they want could be entirely different but you could always check with them.
The problem with collections is getting them itemized and that is hard if you don’t know trains. You could take pictures and send them along to the owners to look at so they could decide on what you have. Both of these companies are very good places and have purchased many brass collections for resale. I hope that is what you are talking about since most of the other models would be sold on Ebay.
I have been involved in an estate or two over the years, both as a hobby shop owner and as a model railroader. I have had individuals give me entire collections because they knew I was a modeler, and I have been asked to value and/or buy collections.
Anyone interested in buying the collection is probably buying it to resell, piece by piece. They are not going to buy if they can’t get a good return on their entire investment, so they will try to get it for nickels or dimes to the dollar.
You could contact local hobby shop owners and /or model railroaders in the area to see if they would be interested in doing some sort of valuation. You could do it yourself, by creating an inventory, and checking it against similar items sold on ebay or priced at trainshows.
As a true collectable, the items would need to be in their original boxes, in new or mint condition. A lot is going to depend on the manufacturer and the availability of the individual item, as well. Brass track is not going to have a lot of value, neither will toy train cars and engines that do not run reliably. Make no mistake, someone will be interested in things like that, but not at a high price.
There is a group on Yahoo for selling HO stuff; I think it is mentioned in a couple of older threads. That is another source to see what things are selling for; or you could list your things there without cost.
I’ll always remember the son who was liquidating his father’s estate. The dad never built a layout, he just bought stuff and kept it boxed up. Most of the stuff was 20 plus years old. The son had done an inventory; and he had bought a Walthers catalog and had repriced everything that could be repriced to current prices. Since I was a dealer, he offered me 20% off his “adjusted” price. He didn’t understand t
Thanks for all that have replied! I am learning already. I did not know that the brass ones are the collectables. I have no idea which are brass. I will need to look closely at them as I get them organized. I am not looking to make much money, I just hate to throw something away that someone needs. I tinker with old automobiles, so I understand the excitement of finding a no longer available part. One mans junk…
If you can give us an idea which metorpolitan area the collection is located in, you might get some advice on local hobby shops that handle estate sales. You might also want to pick up a copy of Model Railroader and check out the classifieds. I’ve seen ads for people who buy estates. Finally,you can check with a local club to see if anyone can give you a hand estimating value or how to sell. The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) has a listing for local hobby shops and clubs.
Pricing old HO is hard enough for those of us who are actually modelers, who at least can go to swap meets and readily recognize what we have and what others are asking for it. After a while you get a good sense of values. This would be difficult if you are not an experienced modeler yourself becaue you wouldn’t really know what you have or what you are seeing for sale. And with experience you know what people at swap meets have been trying to [have failed to] sell the same crap for sale after sale.
My general sense is that with a few exceptions (the better old brass, especially if unpainted or painted very professionally, Lionel HO, the old Mantua [not die cast] and AristoCraft steam locos or Athearn B&M Pacific, Walthers interurbans and doodlebugs, and perhaps certain Varney and John English steam locomotives), that old HO trains tend to sell for very little compared to original cost. Now if we are talking really old, back to the 1930s then there might be some genuine collector value for Megow or similar old makes. But even then, the old Roundhouse 0-6-0 from the 1930s is basically the same engine Model Die Casting/Roundhouse was still marketing, in somewhat improved form, into the 1990s, so it would be hard to work up much interest in the antique version.
My advice would be to find out if the local NMRA division has an auction that you would be permitted to sell at. Maybe not put the whole lot up for auction at once (that tends to depress prices) but experiment. And the auction would also be the best way to find out who locally has an interest in vintage HO.
Again and again, another massive train collection left for others to dispose of, now you guys out there get busy and gather all the information and wishes of people where it will go, people now are left with an impossible task of disposition and no knowledge of the value, you might as well left a collection of 15th century shoe buckles for someone to dispose of, now you know how important it is to catalogue every item, people will be forever grateful, good luck on your decisions and some of the advice on this forum is well intentioned.
You could lay it out and photograph it. Then set up an online album that we could look at and advise you better on what you have. The closer the pics, the better. Give your pictures names or #'s so we have a frame of reference when communicating. Most locos and cars should have the manufacturers name and maybe country of origin some where on the underside.
Personally, I say keep them and set them up. I’m sure that would make Grandpa happy![swg]
There is no established HO collectors market. There is interest in brass, which can have value depending on age, condition, orginial box, etc. A very few kit lines such as FSM (Fine Scale Minatures) have value, especially if unbuilt. Most stuff over 20 years old may be of interest to some HO collectors, but this is a very small market with corresponding low prices. Otherwise it has little value for most modelers due to improvements in the manufacturing process over the last two decades. More recent trains would probably go for half or less of the list price depending on condition.
If you use Google for specific items including the manufacturer’s name you can probably find information on it.
Get us pics of the collection. If it’s brass then i can give you a good idea of what’s it’s worth. I keep good info on each picce of brass that is sold on Ebay. Show us or me something that I can see. There is a lot of people here to help ya.
If your Grandfater was a member of the NMRA, National Model Railroad Association, then you can let them know. They have an estate services section on the web site. You may be able to get help there.
I picked up all the back issues of Model Railroader (dating back to 1938!) as well as a few years of HO railroad. If anyone is interested in any of these please let me know.
I am going to get the trains in the next few days and start to see what all is there. I do not think there are any brass trains. I contacted a local NMRA club member and he is going to mention my name at teh next meeting, as he is not an HO guy. I also found out about an auction for enthusiasts in January in Atlanta. Who knows, once I go thru it all I may end up wanting to keep it! I hope not, as I do not need another hobby! I will post some picks over the next few days. Thanks to all.