Have you ever thrown away a train?

[jjbmish]

I still have the first train that I got over 30 years ago. Its an old Tyco "Sante Fe" set. I don't run the engine anymore, and the cars are stored in a box, but there's no way I could throw that out. If it may be needed I keep it. Of course I have finally started to throw out the old horn style couplers. LOL

John

[Anonymous]

I don't even throw away all the horn-hooks and talgos I cut off when I swapped them out with KD's.... And I've got tons of plastic wheelsets that I will never use. Will I ever throw anything out? I doubt it! Even my current layout that is scheduled for demolition will be mostly recycled. (OK, the Atlas track will hit the dumpster! [xx(] That's about all though.)

[vsmith]

Tossed out old broken plastic Marx bottom feeders when i was a kid. Tossed old Tyco POS engine and cars later. Lately I try to recycle everything but I got a bottom of the barrel G scale toy train that a relative gave me as a well meaning gift, salvages some cars but after stripping the engine of parts it got got catapulted into the dumpster!

[underworld]

Hey....before you guys throw anything out.....send me an email. I work part time with a charity group that gets kids involved in hobbies to keep them from getting into trouble.
If you are going to dump it, let me know and if it is something that we can use...we'd be happy to pay the postage.
underworld
[e-mail]
Thanks!

[Jetrock]

Why would people deliberately melt locomotive shells? I mean, I can't see a retailer doing something like that unless there was some specific reason...

[TrainFreak409]

I HAVE NEVER THROWN A TRAIN AWAY. Even as a little kid, I have always be attached to them. I don't think I could bring myself to the terrible action of trashing a train. How could anyone (in their right mind) do that?

Hey, is anybody offended by the vendors at shows that sell melted locomotive shells? I am not talking about accidently melted, there are people that slightly torch a shell, and sell it to other people. Anybody see this as wrong, other than me?

[8]TrainFreak409[8]

[Anonymous]

Yes, two Kato sd40-2 that wouldn't run new out of the box, and a bachmann amtrak passenger set that sounded so loud it was junk! Both hit the basement wall before meeting the trash can. I buy neither bachmann or kato now.

[espeefoamer]

Never threw out a train.Many years ago,i found a Lionel Santa Fe FA stuck nose first in a commode at church.[:0]I took it home and it ran!One time while walking along the tracks ,I found an American Flyer gondola.[:)]

[Jetrock]

Because Goodwill and Salvation Army have no interest in broken and non-functional things. I don't mind donating functional stuff to thrift stores--in fact, after my annual house-clearing yard sale we make a ceremonial trip to Goodwill with the stuff that didn't sell--but we don't bother giving them things that they will obviously toss. I suppose you can fool yourself into thinking that the Goodwill will find a home for that smashed-flat boxcar or that box of several hundred horn-hook couplers, but in truth, they're just going to chuck them out because they can clearly see that the stuff is broken junk. Thrift stores operate like any other store--they want merchandise that will move, and broken junk won't!

As far as giving things away, if I think a model has any salvageable value I DON'T throw it out--but I see little point in keeping things like damaged brass flex track.

As an example: In another thread, I mentioned that I recently purchased sfour large boxes of railroad-related stuff for $50 at a garage sale. Those boxes included some real rarities and treasures (a 1959 Marklin catalog, an Eheim trolley-bus set, a Roundhouse SP 2-8-0 unbuilt kit), some decent stuff (Kibri and Faller structures, built and unbuilt, a couple Roco HO scale American-pattern cars, a Tyco 4-6-2), some toy-train stuff (a bunch of Tyco cars and an engine, with a hatload of old Tyco "toy-train" HO accessories, mostly 60's-70's vintage) and some absolute garbage (badly-bungled and damaged building kits, badly oxidized brass rail, damaged dime-store plastic trees, mangled-beyond-recognition car components.)

Of the above, I'm picking a few of the treasures and the good stuff to keep. The rest will wind up on eBay or I'll get a table at the next train show. The toy-train stuff I'll eBay--whatever doesn't sell will go to my nephew, who has a toy train set and would just love a working Tyco concrete-pipe-loading flatcar set. But the junk is already in the trash can.

[Anonymous]

The one suggestion I have for all of those who have/do throw away trains is why not give it to someone? Sure, Tyco and the like is considered to be cheap usless junk to serious model railroaders, but does that mean it should be sent to the trash? I'm sure some kid out there would probably love to have it. Instead of throwing this stuff away, why not give it to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army or somthing? Or even ask around if any other fellow model railroaders might want it for some project. If you don't want something, someone else probably will.

[Anonymous]

LOL
I have so much junk organized into different boxes...wait...Is it really junk then?

[Anonymous]

There's a story about about a prototype railroad owner who wouldn't throw away anything. Wm. Sykes of the Emporium Forestry Company couldn't part with any old scrap but his sons could. While the old man was away on a business trip, they quickly loaded flat cars full of scrap & sent it off to a junk dealer. The old man spotted it sitting on a NYC siding while on the way home & wired the junk dealer to make an offer for it.

Wayne

[Anonymous]

I have thrown away some train related stuff. When nickel silver track came on the market and I had a little experience using it, all the old Atlas code 100 brass track on fiber ties became an addition to the county landfill, switches and all. If I had it to do over again there would be no change, the brass track would go. Anything else train related stays. The eleventh commandment tells us if we throw away train related items there is no room for us in the great roundhouse in the sky.

Tom

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit

Just had a thought today - it's rare to find/see train stuff thrown out over here, mainly (I suspect) due to the current rash of "Antiques" programs on TV - not sure if you have these in the US, we used to have "Antiques Roadshow", now there's loads of them! Anyway, older equipment by the likes of Hornby and Hornby Dublo is frequently featured, and I suspect as a result most people are aware that the old train set their dad left in the attic is worth something.

Yep, we have Antiques Roadshow on PBS. I have only watched parts of it a couple of times. I'm truly amazed at some things that are valuable. I'm beginning to think that if it doesn't smell, some one will buy it. The antique stores are full of stuff I threw out years ago (not train stuff - I never throw that out).
Enjoy
Paul

[chutton01]

Yes, many times over the years I've throw away models: Locomotives, Rolling Stock, (Brass) Track, Poorly Designed kits (or, alternatively, poorly assembled by the teenage me), Scenic Details.
Generally none of the stuff I threw away was really salvagable (and much was throw away before eBay anyway). Many of the buildings tossed (most acquired second-hand via garage sales and Trainland's discount bins) would be a roll call of standard model buildings from the 1960s/1970s:
Bachmann Gas Station, Cathedral, Cape Code House, School House, Motel, Suburban station (None of these were very relistic looking, but they were real cheap at the time), New Car Showroom (this fell and broke beyond repair - I wanted to convert it to a Rug Showroom, and I think with some paint and weathering it would have looked good)
Lifelike Fire Station, Bank (poorly assembled by me in the 1970s, with glue stains, broken corners, etc.). Belvedere Hotel (this was just a poor kit, and I don't know why I brought it).
Revell Schoolhouse and Passenger Station (see above - I wasn't very skilled in the 1970s).
Oh, and several of the Heljan Tract Houses (which my Bachman and Lifelike People just towered over)
Also over the decades some rather expensive stuff was throw away, mostly because I managed to, well, ruin it (example, a Pirate Model RTS bus model I tried, and failed to, assemble - the fit and finish was horrible, and even after much sanding and filler it looked pitted and crappy, and when I tried to paint it - oh boy).
Most recently I had to toss an Atlas Ford Tauras, because I messed up the paint finish (the windshield and windows DO NOT come out of that thin vinyl body - at least I couldn't do it, before the body started to distort and tear). That was a pricy lesson.
In general, anything that has gone into my trash was garbage (either because I screwed up, or more often because the manufacture did a ****-poor unsavable job). On the way I do salvage any pieces which could be useful, of course.

Oddly enough, I have one of the first freight cars I ever owned, from the early 1970s, a Tyco Western Maryland Pipe Carrier Flat Car (totally unprototypical, with slots for the 'Concrete Pipe' sections). Upgraded (Kadee) Couplers, upgraded trucks, and more realistic vertical brake wheel, so it's not original, but I still like it.

[Anonymous]

I work for a local family owned garbage company & you would not believe how much model railroad stuff that people throw out. My biggest find was an American Flyer set complete with track , transformer, & all of the extras. I've found alot of Lionel sets also & many HO & N sets. I usually trade off what ever I find for stuff that I need or want for my layout. Or if I find something that someone else is looking for & just give it to them. At work we usually stick together & help each other out with finding what we are looking for, One guy wants football cards, another wants remote control cars, another collects playboys , & another wants fishing poles, & I want anything to do with trains & planes. It's kind of like Christmas around here everyday. & that makes our jobs alot more fun. Whoops, & to answer your question, " NEVER "

[Anonymous]

Just had a thought today - it's rare to find/see train stuff thrown out over here, mainly (I suspect) due to the current rash of "Antiques" programs on TV - not sure if you have these in the US, we used to have "Antiques Roadshow", now there's loads of them! Anyway, older equipment by the likes of Hornby and Hornby Dublo is frequently featured, and I suspect as a result most people are aware that the old train set their dad left in the attic is worth something.

[skir4d]

I'll go with Mr Hacksaw and Mrs Soldering. I may not be able to salvage everything, but what I can't is not identifieable.

Jack W

[Anonymous]

NEVER!

"Pity the railfan that would have the nerve to throw away a train. Tyco and Bachmann standard do not count as trains." [:D][(-D]

I do have a Spectrum, Rock Island (that right there means I'll spend a lot of money on it before I'd even think of throwing it away!) Consolidation that has a cracked cab and poor running gear. I'll see if Bowser makes replacement drivers for it, and if NWSL makes replacement motors.

[Anonymous]

Sure have!

About 3.256 seconds after Atlas announced the Nscale C628, a pair of hard to find and even harder to obtain Con-Cor C636s that were scheduled to become a slug hit the trash
at only slightly less than the speed of sound...

[newhavenguy]

I've have thrown away a Tyco. Don't know if that counts as a train though. [;)]

[Anonymous]

I throw away scrap pieces of track that don't look like they can ever be used, but mostly I throw away torn out sections of my pike if it doesn't look like a candidate for recycling. It is amazing the things that can be used again in ways never thought of. I love saving money and making do with what I have on hand...just like the real railroads do. Mostly though I just give things away to my friends if I don't want them and my friends can use them. I guess there is a difference between throwing something in the trash and giving it away to further use by a friend. At least I feel better about it. Odd-d

[Anonymous]

Hi
Hey you yes you soldier take those that threw out trains or train parts put em up against that wall and shoot them!
Never throw anything out check your railway modeling friends may be able to use it
It may save a club members favorite piece of equipment from extinction even sprue has its uses sprue rubble and a load of earth moving machienery get the picture.
[soapbox]
regards John

[Anonymous]

Hi
By the time any of my trains hit the bin there isnt a lot left of it what goes in the bin is totaly beyond any help.
I have a big green box I call the train bin that's where all the dead ones go as they might be able to be used to save another one either mine or some one elses.
Most of mine are geting very long in the tooth now and very dificult to get parts for
so nothing but real junk goes to the tip
regards John

[Anonymous]

Tonight at work I was showing some of my recent pictures of the 3985. One of the guys started talking about his HO railroad stuff. He moved some time back and threw away E V E R Y T H I N G. [:(] [V] [:(!] All he had to do was call me and I would have been happy to take if all off his hands. [:(] [:(!] [V]

[Jetrock]

Things I throw out:

* Horn-hook couplers. Non-Kadee knuckle couplers typically go too (I keep a few around for emergencies) but the horn-hooks don't get a second glance.
* Plastic wheelsets. Okay, I do keep a few around for emergencies but after my Great Wheel Upgrade they just seem redundant.
* Brass track.
* Sprues.
* Plastic sawn-off bits from kits and such undergo a Re-Use Feasibility process. If they fail, they go. So far more stuff gets saved than thrown, but things do get tossed.
* Chucked 1 car: an old coal hopper with a stove-in corner, and an extremely distressed 50' flatcar after I stripped it for usable components.
* Threw out a plastic G-scale trainset (plastic rails and ties, plastic body with a battery-powered non-functional electric motor) I had thrifted after determining it would take more money and time to get it working than to just buy a new trainset for the nephew I got it for in the first place.

I live in a 1-bedroom house and my garage/layout/workshop area is a whopping 140 or so square feet. I have a hard enough time keeping my stuff in order as it is, and throwing out things I really don't need and can easily replace from someone's "$1 an item junk box" at the next train show saves me valuable space.

[BRAKIE]

I threw away a girl friend once because she thought model railroading was childish and any adult that play with toy trains was immature..

[AntonioFP45]

Yep!

Much to my regret I got rid of a lot of Tyco type parts, a freight house, freight cars, etc. It was junk, but would have come in handy for scratch building now!

Live and continue to learn![:P]

[Anonymous]

The only thing I ever threw away was a three stall Heljan roundhouse which I had started in 1985 and never finished. I threw it out in 2002 after carting it around from place to place. I finally realized how much I hated it and figured I would never finish it, so out it went! Somewhat liberating.

[Anonymous]

Only used track,due to a move. It wasn't worth trying to salvage.