What is your MR "exit strategy"?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I’m not about to leave the hobby, but I’m trying to think ahead and design a strategy for downsizing and selling off or “contributing” my model railroad “stuff”.

Being in the hobby means acquiring a lot of stuff. Engines, rolling stock, structures, track, electronics. It also may mean major modifications to your home in terms of removing a large layout, lumber, etc. etc. Also, the older we get, the more difficult it will become to dismantle and move things.

Some obvious ideas that come to mind:

Option1:

You can leave it all as a legacy to your children/grandchildren etc. Relatively Easy. Not much work required.

Option 2:

Dismantle everything and sell everything off. What are the options here? eBay is an obvious place to sell of components. Are there other vendors or services out there that buy up MR estates that are good?

Not meant to be a downer topic, but I think one has to have a realistic plan for this.

Thanks!

2

It is, by nature, a downer topic. And I don’t have an exit strategy because I have too many other things on my plate right now, such as taking care of a 90 year old mother, so I guess I’m working on her exit strategy and trying to prevent my siblings from draining her remaining funds now that she needs more care.

That said, my ongoing strategy is to continually look at my collection and sell off models that I don’t think I’ll use and to prevent the collection from getting even bigger.

3

I’m still young, (compared to others on this forum) so I don’t have one yet. My exit will be at least 40 years from now, so it’s going to be a future me problem!

4
  1. Something similar to what my antique dealer aunt and uncle did when they wished to retire. Each of my cousins got to pick one piece of furniture by order of birth, the rest was sold as a lot at auction (and my cousins eventually inherited a lot of the proceeds). I think I would vary it by having my friends cut cards or something similar to determine the order they got to pick, then have maybe two rounds, with the balance being donated to the club I belong to.
5

I have no exit strategy.

I’m only 36.

6

Actually it is a very good idea to have a will, even if you are 36. One never knows when one’s number will come up and it is best to have a will, just in case, especially if you are married or have children. I know people who have passed without a will and their families really struggled with gaining access to stuff and legal knots. A will cuts through a lot of that.

7

Well, I have a photography hobby to compare.

Analog, chemical, mechanical photography is nearly dead. My equipment has very little value except for a few cameras and lenses.

The valuable stuff is being sold off on ebay. The rest may go to Goodwill vs trash can.

For the railroad, I may start listing the DCC converted locos on ebay (I only have on factory quipped DCC loco).

8

I need to set something up. A lot of the historical documents (maps, rule books, timetables, etc.) should probably be donated to historical societies. I would probably want to arrange with some friends to catalog, pack rolling stock, then dissasemble the layout. Possibly having a sale of some of the stuff. The reaminder will have to be auctioned off or sold to a dealer who can piece it out.

9

I am going to post this in two posts.

First: You might not need an exit strategy.

For years, in this area, I was known as a layout-removal-guy. If your husband built a massive layout in your house, I would remove it for free, just leave everything on the layout as I remove it. No cherry-picking before I get there.

In Punta-Gorda Isles, Burnt Store Marina, and Quail West there were actually models of retirement homes that featured 20 by 30 “studios” that became many train rooms. I removed probably 20-30 layouts over the years working with my friend Randy. It usually cost us between $500.00 and 1,000.00 for equipment rental and landfill fees.

I have a few salvaged buildings from these layouts that will be on the next SGRR layout. I amassed a huge collection of spare parts, details, tools, etc. from these removals.

For three days work from two guys, it worked out pretty reasonable. I have no idea what a contractor would charge to remove a layout, but it might be steep.

Again, NO CHERRY-PICKING! We are only getting paid what we can salvage for our own collections, so if the widow gives away the good stuff to friends, we cannot do it. Our time has value.

If you can find a couple of people in your area that do this, let your family know, and then you do not need an exit strategy.

-Kevin

10

My suggestion is to do some shopping around for dealers that handle model railroad estate sales. Pick one that’s likely to stay in business for a few years, and leave instructions/suggestions as an attachment to your will to suggest your heirs use that dealer.

If anyone in the family tree wants anything, they can put dibs on it now and you write that into the instructions. I know some people who are very good with structures find out that their heirs are happy to have a mantle piece remembering their craftsmanship, but when it comes to rolling stock most likely no one wants anything and you’ve set up an easy way for them to deal with it all in a batch.

This method doesn’t get top dollar, but it doesn’t require you to go through the mental anguish of selling your stuff off, and it doesn’t require a lot of time to try to put accurate values on everything and ebay stuff off one piece at a time (that’s what they dealer is getting paid to do for you, he realizes the benefit of that time investment).

And you can choose the dealer using some measure of judgement, unlike if you just left the problem to heirs and they had to pick one essentially at random.

11

Second Post: My situation…

For the first fifteen years I lived in my house, this was a desireable area to live in, and my house was in the right spot. The new houses they were building around here were 2-1/2 times the size of my house with swimming pools and three car garages.

My exit plan was to just tell the girls to bulldoze the house, layout and all, and sell the land for property value. For many years, the house actually diminished the value of the property.

It is not that way now. Land here is still less than half what it was before the recession, and housing construction has skyrocketed. New houses in this neighborhood are typical 1,400 sf 3/2 plans.

Now my house makes up 80% of the total value. No plan for the bulldozer solution in this situation.

I have remodeled this house into MY dream house. I have probably destroyed its resale value, and very few buyers would be interested parties.

The layout will diminish the value more.

I think I will need an exit strategy.

-Kevin

12

After watching our parents age, and mine pass away, I want to move into a Ranch house that also happens to have outside sliding door access to the basement so that when I am old if steps are an issue I can walk outside around the house to get to the basement.

With a son having 3 years of high school left, I’m ready to move now if/when the right house presents itself, but we can move anywhere we want in the greater Harrisburg, PA area in 3 years.

I have offered to tear down my along the wall shelf layout in the basement to facilitate moving when the time comes but my wife (who doesn’t like trains or rather would be happy if I didn’t horsetrade them but would simply keep what I have) has said why? Just keep using it and enjoying it.

I don’t want to be a burden to her after I’m gone. However, we have a contractor for a neighbor who could easily dismantle said layout if/when the time comes.

My exit strategy is to build a 5 x 9 or 6 x 10 layout for the next house, not attached to any walls, that can be more easily moved.

I have one son who says he still likes trains but rarely uses the ones he has. When I’m dead and gone, he can certainly keep whatever he wants to keep. I’ve tried to show him how to carefully place them back in the factory clamshell packaging. He knows what they all cost at least generally speaking. He has an Athearn Genesis 2.0 DDA40X and an MTH 2-8-8-4 among his locos, so the trains he has to keep for himself are way cool trains.

We also have a family friend who owns a train store, so he would buy or sell anything my son won’t want to keep.

Despite all that, and because I have college expenses, music lesson and baseball lesson expenses for the boys, I believe in keeping a rather small roster. Between the two of us, my son and I have about 75 freight cars and 15 locos. I don’t really need a lot more of anything. If it was something I really wanted, I pre

13

I don’t know if there’s an exit plan for anything existing

Said this before, but the hobby is challenged by this tendency of permanence. People build these extravagant layouts that are impossible to dismantle and salvage.

I tell anyone starting out with the intent to build a large layout to avoid permanent monuments. That is massive built-in benchwork with scenery or track that’s continuous and permanently glued. If people need to move or put stuff in storage temporarily, anything that is permanent will likely end up demolished and discarded. I’m building my layout with bolted down panels with Pin or magnetic electrical connections. Each module skid can fit in 3 different crate sizes on a 6’ long shelf if it ever needs to be in a storage unit.

If I ever need to sell it, someone can easily pick up the modules and connect them back together in their own home.

The problem is modular layouts with removable components that appear permanent with minimal joints requires some ingenuity and expense. It requires intensive fabrication and precision and higher durability materials.

14

I’m 67 and have both an exit strategy as well as the will.

My nephew will inherit all of my trains, and according to my sister-in-law, I’ve corrupted the kid since he was 6. Now he’s 21 and still into both model trains as well as the real ones.

Hopefully others here have at least the will in place. Even if you’re in your 30’s, you should have one and update it regularly.

And now, I’m going to my train room to relieve the stress reading this thread…

Neal

15

Completely agree with above post.

My relatively modest layout has an 81’ long mainline, single track, folded dogbone, and two sidings because I prefer to just railfan my own trains. Even then I think it sometimes is a bit much (cats have been hard on scenery details and trees). So being a minimalist layout, it doesn’t take up much of the basement, and is easy to operate.

I don’t believe in monumental layouts. As a model train sales person in the past, I’ve seen big layouts that were too big for the owner to ever get finished before he died. Too many accumulate but never finish their layouts…not even getting anywhere close to finishing.

I ask why? Just build something one can operate and enjoy without perhaps needing a small army to operate and maintain. But that’s me–and I mean no disrespect to those whose fine 3000 sf layouts I have recently visited like Keystone Farms and Howard Zane, to name 2. Their layouts are outstanding beyond words.

Just that unfortunately some of us will never get there or couldn’t handle perhaps all that would be required to own and maintain.

John

16

I had actually thought about starting a thread on that topic relating to private collections of historical railroad documents [as opposed to model railroad stuff] and planning for passing those on to future generations. Many times heirs won’t understand the historical value of items and may end up sending to the landfill. I see that some railroad historians have donated their photo archives to historical societies and libraries which is wonderful.

17

I have no exit strategy. That’s for the executor of my estate to worry about. The rolling stock, electronics, and some of the structures can be resold for whatever they will bring but the rest of the layout is doomed to end up in the dumpster. I’m not the least bit concerned about that.

18

I’m all about whatever is easiest for my children and/or wife. With only 3 brass locos (and 2 of them were low end), and a bunch of unbuilt kits (locos, cars, structures), it’s not like they would be throwing away a fortune hauling it to the dumpster. Hauling the books will actually be more work because of the weight.

They all saw how much work I did selling my dad’s HO train collection on ebay, which netted my dad a little over $1200 ten years ago. That was after the local club cherry-picked in return for hauling his layout out of the basement. If any of them wants to do the same, they are entitled to whatever money they can make (probably in the same ballpark).

We have already moved into the last home we will own/maintain. I will never build a large built-in layout. At best, there will be modules, shelves, and maybe a 4x6 or 4x8. So again, keeping, selling, giving, or dumpster is entirely practical - and their choice.

Fred W

…modeling foggy coastal Oregon in HO and HOn3, where it’s always 1900…

19

I have a fairly large layout in my basement. It is a flat surface, 1/2 inch plywood on 2x4 framing which is held together with drywall screws.

Once cleared of track, structures (not glued down), locomotives and rolling stock, it could be dismantled in less than a day.

So, my only concern is the locos and rolling stock which I have been gradually selling off on eBay. I have all of the original boxes which helps a lot. The structures and track can be tossed, and the turnouts can be sold.

My parents died within six months of each other, leaving a house and furniture, an empty basement and six boxes of stuff in the crawl space plus a few file cabinets of paperwork. They made it easy on us to hold an estate sale, then sell the house.

My brother-in-law, an avid HO scale modeler with a large mountainous layout filled with trains and rolling stock, had no exit strategy despite the fact that he had a terminal illness. Fifteen years later, it still sits undisturbed in his basement.

Rich

20

Ok. Ill bite. Im 54, a heart transplant recipient and getting better everyday. With that being said, I have no exit strategy either. In fact, Im in the process of removing my current 16x24 layout in order to start another one in its place. Ive always liked the Nutmeg Line plan so Im gonna give it a shot and build an updated version of it.

I have a 5 year old grandson and 3 year old granddaughter who love Gramps’ trains so I suppose they will get it all when my exit comes from this life. If you have a family that has been along for the ride while you have enjoyed this hobby, Im of the belief that they would be willing to donate, sell or possibly even keep your collection in the event of your demise.

When the shock of the loss is gone, your family just might take a deep breath and keep on with the railroad. Make your wishes known in plain english so they dont have to guess or assume. Arrange a living will if you have a considerable size family.

One thing to consider, there are societies, historical and hobby based, they can help. Remember that you were a kid once and there arent very many childrens hospitals in this country that dont have a train layout around somewhere. Donate it to them. Theyll know how to keep your memory alive.