Mr. Beasely, I’m of the same mind as you. When I buy something from an estate sale or a widow if there is some kind of personal contact involved in the deal, I try to assure them that I appreciate the love and care and work that their loved one put into the item (usually a structure-even if it’s an unbuilt kit) and assure them that I will hold that item in the same regard and think of their loved one (and them) while enjoying it on my layout.
I think the human connection with objects is important. I’m a sentimental fool. If they’re in my region I invite them to come by and see it in use once my layout is sceniced if they’d like to.
I just feel that there’s a sort of “spiritual” connection inherent in objects that someone has focused on so intently and put love and care into and deserves to be respected.
I kind of thought I was the only one who felt that way, but you’ve shown me there are others out there who do.
I’ve asked my wife to respect my feeling on this when or if she has to give/sell my stuff away. Close friends who’ve helped me build the layout come lst. People who have an obvious love and appreciation of what we all put into our “little worlds” come next and hopefully kids to continue MRing into the next generation(s). There are several online sales sites for all scales and is less painful than Ebay to deal with.
Lots of widows and widowers won’t even want to part with their loved one’s stuff for up to several years which is only natural. There isn’t always any hurry to do so.>P< If you’re going to just throw stuff out at least see if some needy person can put it to good use. A school club, an orphanage, boys&girls clubs, whatever. Once grieving is (mostly) put behind us there isn’t any reason not to at least try.
Technology is the most limiting factor. More DCC than DC layouts these days, etc.
My plan: Keep a detailed inventory of what I paid.
Have a will/trust set up.
Post on online sales sites
Try to find a worthwhile home for my stuff that wasn’t sold and keep the hobby
Indeed. The original “estate tax” laws were written many years ago, and in their infinite wisdom the dingbats who wrote the law used fixed dollar amounts, non indexed for inflation. So, what seemed like a very large estate when the law was written has now become an issue that a lot of people have to deal with.
Trusts can help avoid some of the pitfalls, and put more of what you’ve already earned (and already paid taxes on once) in the accounts of your heirs. They can’t keep the government’s greedy hands completely off, but they can help a lot.
Be aware, though, that estate tax laws are changing. The perpetual childish squabbling that we call “Congress” has messed things up. This year, as I recall, there is no estate tax at all. Next year, it comes back, and reverts to the original low limit that was set many years ago, unless they make changes in the laws. Like all the other things that need to be done in Washington, each side has its own bad ideas of how things should be done, and neither side will budge. Somebody should tie these guys to a railroad track. Where is Snidely Whiplash now that we really need him?
First let me politely suggest this is not a road we should go down on a model railroad forum - I konw I’ve been guilty of it myself in the past.
I would suggest that the menbers of congress actually be required to READ the Constitution and that they also read Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”.
To quote Adam Smith - “the government that governs least, governs best”.
And from here I could start a long list of quotes from the writings of Jefferson and others who warned against exactly what we have let our government become.
Specifically relating to model railroad stuff, the sad truth is that most of the stuff we’ll leave behind won’t really be worth that much. Unless you collect factory-decorated brass engines (or have lots of unpainted brass sitting on a shelf) you’re model railroad stuff really isn’t worth that much. If your heirs break things up and sell them piecemeal on ebay etc. they might get some money back - someone might be looking for that out-of-stock BN Atlas RS11 you have - but it’s probably only going to be a fraction of what you paid for it.
One big problem is that the quality of model railroad stuff has improved so much over the years. Back when I was in O scale in the seventies-eighties I bought quite a few Atlas RTR and kit freight cars. At the time, they were “state of the art” for O plastic, with separately applied underbody details etc. However, compared to the newer Atlas and other brand O cars, they’re really not very desireable in O scale circles. It’s been suggested that if I took them to a flea market to sell them, about the only buyers might be someone willing to pay a few bucks for each one just to get the Kadee couplers off of them!!
For most of us that don’t have brass, probably the most valuable thing we have would be books. I know I have a lot of hardcover books going back to the late seventies that would probably be worth more than what I paid for them, because some of them are long out of print but still have a lot of usefull info.
I completely agree. A trust isn’t for people with lots of money as someone suggested. The best advice I ever received from an attorney was that if anyone has more than $100,000 in assest, there should be a Living Revocable Trust. Face it, for many of us, our homes may be worth that not to mention cars, life insurance, bank accounts, IRA’s, retirement accounts, personal possessions and collections, including trains. An executor doesn’t have to be an attorney either - it can be any trusted person who will be charged with carrying out the wished of the individual.
Along with the trust there should be a detailed list of personal property and how it is to be disposed of which, combined with the trust, almost eliminates the squabbles that could potentially happen.
Another thing a trust can do, at least in my case, is to insure how charitable contributions will be handled - provided they are detailed in the document itself. In my case, these get distribtuted first before any other asset. It would seem to me that if one were to make a contribution to the NMRA, this would be detailed so as not to create any issues with heirs.
This post is by no means legal advice - but it doesn’t hurt to consider a LRT and if, one’s situation is such, set one up. Yes, perhaps this is off topic for an MR forum, but it’s a good way of sharing information that could save someone undo expense and heartache down the road.
The value of many layouts probably decreases with time, as the rolling stock and particularly the locomotives get older, but even more as the technology of brand-new equipment slowly makes the older stuff obsolete.
I would imagine that our rate of buying new equipment peaks in the first few years of layout construction. So, as we mature and move into our later years, we buy less and less new stuff each year, until, near the end of the line, we buy hardly anything new at all. So, at least for senior modelers who pass on, there may be very little on the layout that is newer than 10 to 15 years old. Now, these may be beautiful models, and they may be in great shape and run better than new, but they not equipped with the latest bells and whistles (literally) and won’t fetch much compared to the latest stuff coming off the boat from China.
Model trains just aren’t a good investment. Their value is mostly to us, the living.
I’m not so sure that’s true based on my personal experiences. Of course, personal perspective matters. To some of us $1,500 is a goodly sum of money. To others, the hassle of selling stuff $20-$100 at a shot isn’t worth the time and effort. To further define the returns I received selling off my father’s stuff on eBay:
Bowser locomotives - $100 each on average
Athearn BB diesels - $30-$40
Bachmann Spectrum steam - $50+
unbuilt Athearn and Roundhouse car kits - $5 each (usually sold in related packs of several cars). Tichy and similar went a little higher.
passenger cars (Spectrum, Athearn) - $20 each (usually sold in related packs)
unbuilt structure kits (Campbell or better) - $40+
switch machines, couplers, signals (new in packages) - 50% of retail
All in all, only the good stuff and unbuilt kits that family members didn’t want brought in over $1,500 after expenses. In the grand scheme of an estate and insurance, this may be a pittance. OTOH, it might be important to some.
Sadly, my family will throw all my hard work in the trash and put the layout on the burn pile.
I’ve tried to explain to them what it’s all worth and how to sell it off but they just don’t care.
Value of model trains is difficult to judge. I was in antique mall last week and the one booth with trains had several MDC kits marked at $18.00 each. I don’t know whether he’s sold many at that price, but still that’s more than they sold for new. Of course unlike an auction you may have to wait awhile for a buyer.
One of my retirement chores is to list all the trains and books (and other goodies I have as well) with values so my wife and children can get a reasonable price for the things they sell…
Food for thought: When i buried Dad, in Indiana, it was 2400 PLUS the stone to do it. That was the absolute minimums. Creamted, a simple ceremony, minimal obituary, etc. Some say you dopn’t need all the fluff, that the funeral is for the living, not the dead. But it’s all still pricey. It will matter.
We were counting the money given to us, that we found, as "Thatw ill cover the Flyer. This one gets us the Star. zBelieve me, the 1500 matters