Reducing my HO rolling stock and layout supplies

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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Like many of you, over the years I’ve amassed a lot of HO rolling stock, structures, and layout supplies. “Someday” I would be using all of it, so I needed to stock up to prepare for the future.

Well, the future is here, and today I find myself with an almost finished (scenic wise) layout, and a double closet filled with extra built and unbuilt kits, and many unopened packs of figures, vehicles, WS products, etc., etc. As I’m 73, I recognize that this is my last layout, and all this extra stuff will not be used.

My first thought was to set up one of my kids, grandkids or nephews/nieces with all the stuff to build their own layout. Ha, they are either not interested, or not willing or capable of doing such an endeavor.

My next thought was to bring the stuff to a LHS and either donate or sell, but my local hobby shops (Larrys & Spring Trains) are long gone.

The realization is, that in my 36 years here in south Texas, I’ve never met anyone interested (other than ooooh and awwww) in model trains.

It was suggested that I just bring everything to Goodwill. Well, we have given a number of items to Goodwill over the years, and its my experience that stuff like MR equipment would be treated as disposable toys or just plain trashed before they hit a shelf. I just can’t see stuff I value being mistreated - even if it is a gift.

So it looks like “Mobilman44” is going back to his old standby - Ebay. I’ll start up auctions this weekend and continue until its all gone. Hopefully my stuff will go to a good home and be appreciated.

ENJOY !!!

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I know your feeling. In the early stage of my modeling it was common to hear that if you see something you may want you better buy it now as it may never be available again, particulary with locos and rolling stock. I actually have some cars that have never seen the track.

Several years ago I just stopped buying anything but scenery material. I will admit that several months ago I saw a Chessie SW-1 switcher I just had to have [:D].

See you on e-Bay

Bob

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Mobilman44,

You might want to check out the opportunities to sell at HOswap, a Yahoo group. There’s a couple thousand members that search for and offer to sell (in your case, in

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When I start to thin things out or croak, I will (and have told the family) try selling things in lots to make it worth the effort, or try to sell the more valuable things on Ebay and give the rest to a club. That being said, a lot of clubs have tables at train shows to sell things to make some money for the club. So I think the family will just call a club or two up and say come and get it. I have about 130 metres of Walthers track and about three or four dozen Walthers T/Os. I am sure someone would be happy to get it.

How much is a ten-year-old DCC system worth anyway? Living rural, it cost more to drive to the Post Office than I would make going through all the hassle and time to sell stuff. Helping out a club is helping the hobby.

At train shows, I see a lot of single mom’s with their train crazy son’s talking about what they can afford. I would be thrilled to give my stuff to a kid that would really appreciate it.

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Man… I wish you lived close by.

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I would drive over and get it all today. I am just about to start my last layout, and I am amassing this collection myself. I could use all the stuff that won’t sell on eBay, opened WS packs, partially used items, leftover kit bits… all would be appreciated.

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Good luck with your auctions.

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-Kevin

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I have been on the recieving end of a generious benefactor a couple of times. With my limited income and being on the austim spectrum, combined with a love of old vintage HO stuff like brass engines and craftsman kits, affording what I want can become challenging sometimes. I have been at shows running my little portable layout that I really should rebuild and have had an older gentleman walk up and start chatting with me. I usually wear one of my “Autism Awarness” T shirts and most pick up that its not my kids that are on the spectrum but myself. Twice now, they said they had a box of “old trains” that nobody seemed to want and would l like to have them. Both were a treasure trove to me of older kits, a few tyco/bachmann items and once an old brass caboose was in the bottom under lots of stuff. I would go into buying and selling estates just to help fund my desire to collect and enjoy older HO stuff if I had the bank roll to do so. I hope your sale goes well, I have used ebay myself to sell items but have become really put off by the fees that I get charged after the auction. They have really gone up and up over the past few years. Mike the Aspie

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Funny, I have been though this and the amazing thing is I got back most of my hobby money, the junkiest things brought me far more (sometimes even a profit) than things like brass locos. In fact just sold an old peice with a Bachman pancake motor for over $100.

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Shame that idea of giving it to family didn’t work out that kind of stuff is really what got me going except it has been many other modelers I know the ho swap yahoo group works pretty well and for stuff that won’t sell try to find a club or other modelers with A low hobbby income it always helped me.

keegan the 16 year old model railroader and clinician

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I have been using Facebooks Groups to buy/sell stuff for several years now with relative ease. Dont look for stuff on the main page, but I go to the groups page. It is easy once you get used to it.

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Ebay is a good place with a huge audience. They charge about 13% fees between them and PayPal which beats what most shops or auction houses would charge.

I have had very good response selling on various yahoo groups. For general HO stuff try HOExchange or BACKSHOP. They have about 500 and 1000 members respectively. There is no charge and the response depends on what you have and the price naturlly.

If you have higher value items specific to a certain railroad there are also a lot of railroad specific groups like B&O, PRR, SP, etc. They have been pretty good places to sell too.

Sorry you have to dispose of so much stuff. I’m doing a similar purge. I retired and my Mega Central has shrunk from a proposed 25x50’ buildings to a 14x16’ building so all the zillions of items I had been acumulating over the years are now mostly excess stuff.

I have about a 40% success with feebay but the groups generally rate higher with a 75-80% selling rate. If you have any brass items try yahoo’s BRASSCOLLECORS group. I have sold about 80-90% of the tems listed there.

Best of luck. Did Spring Crossing finally close? That place was such a mess when he moved to his new location many years ago. I just loved the big pile of mechandise piled on the floor. A truly new sales technique! Last time I visited Larry’s before moving from the area they were eliminating the “train side” of the building and compining it with the airplane/RC/plastic side. I figured the end was near. I’ve seen that way too many times over the years with other shopd. Remember when the Scum City area had so many great shops? Bellaire Roundhouse, TrainSource, G&G, Inwood Hobbies, Larrys, Clear Lake Models and Spring Crossing? Good times!

oldline1

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Yes, Spring Crossing finally closed earlier this year. On good days it was fun to go there, for you never knew what you would find or where in the store you would find it. But the “good days” gradually disappeared and I quit going there.

As you wrote, Larrys downsized (high rent) and trains went from 50 % of the store down to maybe 20 %, and the knowledge base pretty much ended.

They both got a good portion of my “MR bucks” over the years, but now they are gone.

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I’m in the same boat My layout space got reduced to 1/3 the size of the one I started buying and planning for years ago, when my son moved home.

Did donate some stuff to a club that has tax exempt status, so I was able to claim a deduction. There are three such clubs about 50-60 miles from me in various directions, so when nip comes to tuck, I think they will all be getting donations.

There is going to be a show near me in Nov and I plan to have a table and see what I can get rid of.

A heart attack the end of last week has me thinking I will put a little more effort into reduction. Am feeling fine now, but expect to have some limitations for awhile. May be a good time to start building that long awaited smaller layout.

Good luck,

Richard

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Cowman, I’ll have a table at the aud. I’ll gladly share/split it with you.

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GraniteRailroader,

Got your PM,

Thank you,

Richard

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There’s also a Facebook group called HO Yard Sale and another called Athearn Trains Buy/Sell/Trade Group

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Have you tried giving the stuff to a YMCA/YWCA or boys and girls club? Sometimes receiving a donation of model train stuff sparks the interest of the kids.