Model Railroading is a great hobby. It allows people of all ages an opportunity to enjoy trains and railroading and rail-fanning as well as develop a wealth of useful skills that can be employed in other areas of life. And one of the best benefits is that it serves as a common denominator for many people to come together and enjoy one another and the social aspects of the hobby. It is not uncommon for people to develop lifelong friendships and associations as the result of their activities in the hobby. And of course one of the central themes of model railroading is building your own model railroad, or alternately joining a club or coming together as a small group of people and constructing a layout. Additionally the families and friends of the model railroader are often pulled in one way or another, whether willingly or otherwise, to play a part or else at the very least to “put up” with the model railroader’s activities and demands for space. As model railroaders progress through the hobby and develop their skills and their layouts, and hone their interests, and develop their friendships, the span of time is often measured in years. Such is the nature of model railroading, for many people, it is a life-long endeavor.
Sadly, however, there comes a time when all things must end. And accordingly our intrepid model railroader must necessarily take his or her last ride to that “great roundhouse in the sky”. What becomes of his works? His layout? All of the stuff he leaves behind? His artworks, his structures, his locomotives and rolling stock, his layout and everything else associated with his hobby? This is likely to not be a topic that many model railr
My wife knows that I would first like to offer my stuff to my friends and with their help, they would help her sell it the remaining items off. She also knows that some items, which I have very few of now, I would like have donated to the CB&Q Historical Society or the local city/county museum.
Hopefully that day is still a few years off but it is best to be prepared.
I recently got to visit the bones of John Armstrong’s Canandaigua Southern layout. It’s residing in a basement about 25 miles from John’s home, and has been substantially altered, but in a good way. The new space is actually much larger than the original, so the new owner has been able to spread it out quite a bit to improve sight lines and bring more focus to particular scenes.
I don’t know how the new owner came into possession of the layout, I assume he made some arrangements with John when the curtain was coming down.
As for my stuff, I expect I’ll put a couple of my regular operating group in charge of dispensing with it, with any proceeds from sales benefiting my family.
I expect the layout would all end up pieced out, but I wouldn’t need it, that’s for sure!
Pretty basic with me. My Wife knows I see it as a Thing that I like. Basically remove the buildings, loco’s and rolling stock and give them to My Son. Then take a sawzall and chop the layout up. Then hand the sawzall and rest of tools to my Son. What he does with them from that point is His business. I do request that a bottle of decent scotch and a few cases of beer are toasted before the chopping begins. [:)]
Edit: oh and If I’m fortunate to live to a good old age. There will definitely be a rumor about how I hide my money in the scenery of the layout. That way there will be plenty of people present for the toast. [:D]
I have been called on 2 or 3 times in recent years by widows of model railroaders to help dispose of railroads. I was not able to help much. One widow was sure that a layout 10 feet long needed to be sold as a lot-- unwilling to sell off individual items.
Some of my models I think are great, but I don’t think they have a lot of resale value. I am more concerned with the specialty limited-edition railroad books that are great value to those interested in specific prototype- in my case, Santa Fe rolling stock, car class by car class. I wish the railroad historical society could accept hard-to-find and out-of-print stuff like that as a donation from an estate, sell it to make it available to hobbyists, and keep the proceeds to support preservation activities.
I have begun donating local history related items to a regional archive, and I am considering inventorying my thousands of area railroad, industry and architectural photos captured fror modeling, keeping digital copies to post and use for research, etc. and donating originals to the archive where they are local history importance.
I had a jarring experience 12 days ago to remind me of mortality. I am a member of a small church built into the back of the minister’s house. The minister has been ill a month, staying in bed, and the congregation’s vice-president has been holding the services. Things did not seem normal- he went in the residence just before service to check on the minister, then came out and dragged me inside to whisper, “She’s dead. What do we do?” The church meeting space is part of the building which is now part of the personal estate, NOT owned by the church congregation. Rather complicated… Reminds me to get my own affairs in order.
I hear ya on having an experience. I’ve had a few myself. Dont let it affect your decisions. However if you have historic photos consider digitizing them and storing them electronically. A basic scanner is all it takes and a few minutes a day.
Also in the OP’s picture, was that the Lincoln funeral train?
I expect to predecease my other half and brother so it will be up to them what to do with my trains. If I postdecease them {if that’s a word}, it will be up to who ever cleans out the house after I am gone.
I have no children/won’t have any either to take care of the trains.
I know of no one in my family that would be interested in my layout or the locomotives and rolling stock. I have an engine or two that I’ll leave to my grandson and the rest will probably go to the modular club I’m a member of. Selling off equipment is a little more involved than one would think, dealing with Ebay or some other avenue of disposal. I really would hate to give someone that chore.
My wife and I are going to have a heart to heart on this matter and I’ll see how she feels about it. My guess is she’ll donate it all to the club.
Most of you will probably consider this the strangest of all. My oldest granddaughter has been helping me with building my layout since she was about 6 or 7 years old. She has an artist’s eye and has been a great help with scenery and details over the years. (She is planning a career in fashion design.) She mentioned a few times over the years that she would like to have my layout and everything that goes with it when I die. Because of her age, I didn’t pay much attention to her. She is now 17 years old and very independent. She was here recently to take some pictures of it to show a friend back home and we spent some very enjoyable time reminiscing about the many hours we spent together doing scenery work. She stated in no uncertain terms that she wanted the layout when I die and told me that she would store it until she had a house of her own where she could put it back together again. Well, kiddo, you’ll get it when the time comes. She’s a very unique girl and teasingly blames me for warping her development by getting her into model railroading, carpentry, power tools and house remodelling when she was still in grade school. She also gets marks that I would have killed for when I was in high school.
My layout and equipment will go to my club if it is still in existance. Hopefully in the really distant future. My layout is mostly modular, cut through the track and scenery at the joints and away it goes. Hopefully to a new home.
I have to say when I first saw the title of the thread, I thought it meant the end of Philosophy Friday or the end of your participation in this forum.
Anyway, I have had to deal with this situation with my father. He got involved with scale model railroading when the family grew too large to have a Lionel layout in the attic anymore - the attic was converted into an additional bedroom. This was in the '60s.
Eventually, the kids were grown and gone, and model railroading became one of his hobbies in his retirement in the 1990s. He built a separate, conditioned room in the basement and started on his dream layout. It was primarily a twice around main on a 13ft x 16ft donut with a separate, outside attached yard, not too different from #76, the Ouachita & Ozark RR in 101 track plans. He joined the NMRA, attended a decade’s worth of conventions, and made serious progress towards his MMR.
Around 2000 (I’m not exactly sure of the year), he started having trouble with his back and shoulder. The duckunder, even though 48" of clearance, became too uncomfortable, as did working on the wiring under the layout. At that time, the track was laid, the yard was fully operational, as was a single loop of the donut. Scenery had just been started. Progress ground to a halt on the donut despite my offers to do the wiring for him.&nb
Dad and I were slowly proceeding in the upstairs on the layout. We got a ghood run outta life, but Cancer gave him his ticket and he took his ride to that afrementioned Roundhouse May 1st.
There was no will…
Forutneatlye, we had some warning and was able to get a almost all of the trainstuff, though I know at the Sherriff’s auction somebody will probably walk out with some model for dirt cheap, as well as a handful of things I wish we could have saved from other hobbies. I’m missing a Bachmann FUll Dome in SP that could be packed away.And besides that, the benchwork, though fully portable, is now stuck inside. Because of the lack of elcetricity, it’s too hot to work upstairs, and I am at the mercy of the DeWalt’s battery. When we did have power, things that have money value were set in advance of wood. Smart, though I still wish I coulda gotten the dominos, as when I move out of mom’s, I sincerely doubt that I’ll have a lot of places for lumber cutting, stuff that was already done would be nice.
Did I mention there was no will?
Here’s a tip. For the Love of God, Trains, and those of your family,
GET A WILL.
Here’s what happens in a lot of places. No will, some/most/all things default to the State. They go through a court proceeding, appoint someone to handle what’s of your stuff, sell a bunch of it to pay for the court ringamarole, and ten the family will get to do with about 1/4 of what’s left. Even if it’s a napkin that says “All of my stuff goes to my family” and has a bunch of signatures on it,
This is a good question actually. When my dad died, all his stuff came to me, which was only natural since I followed in his modeling footsteps. Unfortunately I have no kids, so the pass-along stops with me. A few special items I have willed to friends, even though they are not model railroaders…just a token of remembrance I guess. The rest will go to my sister, assuming I predecease her - she’s not a model railroader but she does (unlike most people) appreciate the value and beauty of quality miniatures. Certain items (pre-war and post-war oldies) she can do with as she wishes. Cheers.
Depending on how long I live and who among my potential executors is senior at the time I check out, that person will have the problem, which may be dealt with in a variety of ways:
The layout is designed to break down into easily removable (through a 16-foot-wide garage door) sections. There are also lesser subassemblies of specialwork designed for easy separation from the main layout.
Structures, when I build them (or install those already built) will be mounted on their own bases, designed for easy removal from the scenery as units.
Rolling stock will be maintained in operable condition. If I can no longer operate, the rolling stock will be turned over to my ‘executor of the moment’ for disposal. While original boxes are, for the most part, history, each unit has a complete pedigree and maintenance record, which will be maintained until that unit is withdrawn from service. (Unit in this context means anything with flanged wheels under it.)
The electricals are, and will remain, fully documented. However, I realize that both my operating system and most of the hardware will be considered long obsolete. If I last as long as I expect to, a lot of it will probably be nearing (or beyond) designed service life.
My executors (all relatives - my wife, our offspring and one granddaughter) know me, know what I expect and won’t be hit by any surprises when they inherit the job of emptying the garage so the house can be sold. It isn’t impossible that the executor might simply decide to occupy the house and keep the railroad in operation, but I do think that’s improbable. Since I won’t be around to comment, the executor’s decision will be final.
I expect to get the most out of my modeling while I’m here to enjoy it. I don’t expect it to be t
I have given this some thought over the years especially since I had been following the work of John Allen from 1949 until his death. In the Epilogue of “Model Railroading with John Allen” some of his letters provide some interesting insights and premonitions on this topic. My conclusion is that it is a shame when the works of the greats of the hobby are not preserved whenever possible. However in my case, I will leave this question up to my heirs who may try to keep a few items and then throw the rest out because most likely, nobody else would want it which, seems sensible and OK with me. Peter Smith, Memphis
