Complete collection-Trains Magazine

[Anonymous]

My wonderful father-in-law was a train fanatic. Sadly, he recently passed and left what he once proudly told me was a complete collection of Trains Magazine starting with the premier issue. I can't really say for sure if this is true but there are a mess of them packed away! He was sick for the past two years so I'll bet '03 and '04's issues are missing even though his subscription keeps on arriving..

The point of this post is what shall we do with them? (My mother-in-law doesn't want them and neither do any of the kids.[:(] ) Donate to a rail museum? Sell them? If we did sell them I haven't a clue of what to charge. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Wow, nobody wants them?

Donating them is always a nice thing to do, you can call around and see if anyone is interested, they may even give you a tax receipt.

As far as value, I'm not sure, there are lots of variables depending on the issue and it's condition.

[Modelcar]

....If you have help maybe you could go through them and establish what you really do have and general condition and then decide how to sell....If it was me and after establishing you really do have a complete set from number one and so on, I'd try to sell as a group. That is, since no one in your family, etc....has any interest in having them or even messing with them. If you have the set then I'd take in consideration of prices Mark mentioned and see if you could sell and yes maybe on eBay. I hate to even think about this subject as I have boxes of them too....Not back to the beginning but some back into the 40's or 50's. I do have some Railroad Magazine's back in the 40's.
Good luck in effort to sell.

[gabe]

I have two words for you: E bay.

Good luck and sorry to hear about your father-in-law's passing.

Gabe

[Big_Boy_4005]

Ebay is an interesting option, but the reality is that the shipping could be a killer if you sell them in bulk. Perhaps a better option, is to keep them together and find a local buyer. You may not get as much money for them, but they will go to someone who will use them.

If the money is not important, look for a local train club, and donate them. Libraries usually aren't interested in such material.

[Wdlgln005]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I'm thinking that your local library may be the best place to evaluate what to do with them. some libraries take donations & clearly know how to store them & make them available for people to read them.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for all your replies and condolences.

I think after the first of the year when everything settles down that my MIL and I will go through all the bins and try to sort by year. That way we will know exactly what we have. I checked over at ebay and they do have some Trains Magazines listed although it appears that there aren't too many bids on them. I'm curious...are there certain issues that are more desirable than others? I know he has two copies of the 50th anniversary magazine.

Personally, I like the idea of donating them to a train club. Will have to see if there is one in the Detroit area where we are at. I know that there is a museum in the old Mt. Clemens depot that is nearby. Haven't been in there to see what is displayed so I'm not sure if magazines are something they'd like.

Once again for all the help. All of you are very kind. [:)]

[JoeKoh]

Motherbear
sorry to hear about your loss. An art teacher brought his trains magazines to the school and let the library have them. part of the reson for my subscription today. i'm sure you'll find a club real quick. check the index on the website for historical socieities in michigan indiana and ohio. alot of them would like that collection.
stay safe
Joe

[conrailman]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I would taken all them Magazine to your Local Recycling Center to get Recycling.

[MP57313]

I routinely donate magazines to the local library. They provide a blank "receipt" and I fill in the info, including an 'estimate' of their value.

For such a large collection, as others have mentioned above a local train museum or railroad club might be interested.

Keep in mind, if you do elect to donate the magazines, in most cases when they're gone they're GONE. You have given up the right to have any say in what happens to them. The recipient may elect to keep them, sell them, or donate them to somewone else with no further obligation to you.

I used to volunteer on a museum board. Some potential donors were put off when they found out we were not required to retain each and every donation "forever". Museums do not have unlimited storage space, and the board may sell donated items from time to time at its discretion. [Loaned items could not be sold, but in most cases magazines were not accepted as a loan.]

[conrailman]

Sale any Yet?[?]