Thank you Earl Symonds for your contributions over the years to our hobby of Model railroading.
May you have a successful closing of your life long Railroad as you did in closing stations for the CNR.
Best wishes in the future.
Johnboy out.............................................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Soo Line fan A good lesson is to buy only what you can use. Having boxes and boxes of locomotives which never or rarely turn a wheel is crazy. Some day you may need that money and getting some of it back will be difficult if not impossible.
A good lesson is to buy only what you can use. Having boxes and boxes of locomotives which never or rarely turn a wheel is crazy. Some day you may need that money and getting some of it back will be difficult if not impossible.
Like many, I have way more trains than I can use, and it's mainly been in storage having been through a chapter of my life. But I've also been trying to rationalize my roster and selling off items that don't fit my goals. Lately I've been trying to be pragmatic and brutal and everytime I go through my boxes I find items I can sell, and am listing them partly to get rid of items that are of the wrong time frame, but also to help me pay for newer items or items I couldn't afford when they came out, that fit my era. I've got a couple boxes of stuff next to my desk that are all slated to be sold. Most of my stuff is NIB or only run a little, so I'm selling it now before it becomes difficult or impossible.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Maybe his wife is bugging him to get rid of his trains, so he advertised it at an inflated price so it will never sell.
And if it does happen to sell, well, $$$$
I saw a lot of Athearn blue box and other vintage cars and engines . No good quality engiens shown and NO brass engines. Since he is asking $90,000.00 for it, I wnder what he has been smoking? Is he is Colorado????
Michael
Never attempt anything you don't want to explain to the EMT
About 10 years ago, my wife was looking at my layout. She began counting engines and then went to the over flow case. She got up to 30 and this was not including the 6 duplicate NIB Katos, Atlas and Stewarts that I had squired away "just in case".
She did it out of curiosity and was not implying I needed to stop. While I did not stop, I did slow to a crawl.
Jim
This reminds me of a guy in Florida years ago who had a separate building for his O gauge trains. He was trying to sell the house, train building, and trains at a price to recoup his "investment". Sadly no one wanted it and his ads tooks on a bitter tone.
Salvage value for models is low except for geniune collectibiles - none of which I see in the pictures. Layouts/track are worse - his appears to be mostly track laid on plywood or OSB, little scenery, ballasting. The layout itself appears to have too much track laid haphazardly and not worth keeping intact. Frankly, I think he would do well to get a tenth of his price.
Piecing it out might get more depending on what he actually has. Given the quantity and his age, a company that does eBay for you might be his best/easiest bet. Although the remoteness works against it.
A reminder to us all that model railoading is a recreational hobby not an investment. Also a reminder to put together an inventory of what we have, so when it does come time for us or our heirs to sell it there is a list of what there is. Hopefully, with realistic resell values.
I wish the seller good luck and hope the experience doesn't leave him bitter.
Paul
mobilman44The items "new in box" will sell, but unless the layout items have original boxes, etc., they will be a bear to sell.
One thing about it you would have enough stock to do several train shows-of course that's not saying you would get a return on your investment.
So,no Dave Hester's YUUUUUUUP! from me.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Whew, whoever gets that has a lot of work ahead of them! Assuming one would buy and "cherry pick" and sell the rest on Ebay or the like, I can't see it worth over 5 digits. The items "new in box" will sell, but unless the layout items have original boxes, etc., they will be a bear to sell.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Yes,never judge a book by its cover- judge it by the author..
Judge models on e-Bay by studying the photos and a photo can speak volumes.
Sir MadogDon7 - applause for your comment! Just slip into this elderly´gentleman´s mocassins for a moment. He is forced to sell off what made his life a pleasant one - for reasons of age. I have been through that for other reasons, and, believe me, it filled my eyes with tears.
I believe, You both need to be applauded. What's that old saying, ''never judge a book, by looking at the cover'' Seem's that it apply's, in this case. The only thing I can do, is wish him Godspeed.
Frank
don7 It is amazing how quickly the tone of the responses changed once the man's history became known. It is quite sad to think that the man's layout which has taken so many years to develop is now to come to an end. True the ad is lacking in detail but know that we have an idea of what it represents there is now some noticable respect for the layout. True the value is most likely over stated and that in all likelyhood a few dozen items, probably brass, as mentioned the engines are based on CN prototypes, will be the main items of value and the rest mainly considered to be minor items of little value in today's marketplace. At least 50 years of collecting now comes to an end.
It is amazing how quickly the tone of the responses changed once the man's history became known.
It is quite sad to think that the man's layout which has taken so many years to develop is now to come to an end. True the ad is lacking in detail but know that we have an idea of what it represents there is now some noticable respect for the layout.
True the value is most likely over stated and that in all likelyhood a few dozen items, probably brass, as mentioned the engines are based on CN prototypes, will be the main items of value and the rest mainly considered to be minor items of little value in today's marketplace.
At least 50 years of collecting now comes to an end.
Don7 - applause for your comment!
Just slip into this elderly´gentleman´s moccassins for a moment. He is forced to sell off what made his life a pleasant one - for reasons of age. I have been through that for other reasons, and, believe me, it filled my eyes with tears. I had to part from my prized posessions to pay for food, knowing that I´ll never be able to get one of them back in my life.
Instead of making fun of him asking may be too much, shouldn´t we assist him to make the most out of selling his collection? Isn´t there anybody around in his area who could help him in appraising what he has and sell it, piece by piece? We all know, that complete layouts are hard to sell, if ever, and that only rare locos and rolling stock will have a certain value.
When that day comes, I hope I have someone around to help me!
This is one of those unfortunate cases. The gentleman probably has everything he ever acquired, and no other assets. Now he needs funds. Reading just a little into his ad, this is probably like cutting off his arm, or trying to sell the pound of flesh closest to his heart.
If I had to replace my present roster from Japanese sources at today's MSRP, I couldn't do it for $90,000 US. OTOH, if I tried to sell as a dump unload, I might make the equivalent of one month of my wife's Social Security income. That's why I don't even count my railroad as part of my estate. The kids/grandkids/great-grandkids can divide it up among themselves, either to use or to see what they can get when they try to sell it. Once I leave the building, I won't care.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
John:
I apologise for my snarky post. Obviously the layout owner wishes to extract as much value as possible from his collection, which is only reasonable. I have dealt with my own parents' frailties and unreasonable expectations over the past few years and it is a hard process. I guess the best route is to let Mr. Symonds list his layout as he sees fit. Its too bad that he will be disappointed with the results.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I feel for the owner, Earl Symonds. He has operated his layout as an informal attraction in rural Manitoba for many years. (He also built a travelling layout that he toured around the country in 1967.) His layout is well known in the area, as is he.
Earl, who worked his entire career for CN, has run into the problem that most of us will eventually run into when we want to sell our layouts. In his case, it is exacerbated by how much he owns, how old much of it is, how far he is from any major centres (he can't take it to a local train show) and the lack of any buyers located near him. So now, as an elderly gentleman who likely needs to move from his home for age-related reasons, he's in a bind.
If you want to know more about Earl, read this article from the Winnipeg Free Press: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sandy-lake-man-a-model-citizen-he-keeps-the-trains-a-rollin-116145684.html Or this one from the Manitoba Cooperator: http://www.manitobacooperator.ca/2010/07/15/bringing-model-trains-to-life
John Longhurst, Winnipeg
Jim!
I don't recall seeing this layout in the MR database!
Talk about fowling the main!! Actually I haven't clue whether or not the layout is workable but apparently neither does the person who did the listing.
Good thing there isn't much scenery or the price would be double!
Thanks for the laugh!
I'd better quit.
EDIT: Please see my post below. I had imagined this was some nasty nephew trying to cash in on the layout. Apparently not so. My bad!
What a mess! They'll end up paying somebody to take it in the long run. They will probably sell off the few good items, and the rest, most of the layout will be trashed. Some of you might remember me talking about dismantling the layout of Mr. Tom Busack, a long time Model Railroader contributor. His layout wasn't nearly this complicated, and it took me a year to get it out of their house. It was supposed to go to our rail museum, but much of it ended up at the dump. This looks to be the case as well.
-Stan
I think the funnier part of this is tha part that says ...."People who have looked at this item also like".......and a pic shows up for some old Tyco crap.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
Insured for $150,000, it might be more profitable to burn the house down !
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
My Paypal balance won't cover it. Oh well.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
My favorite part was that it was appraised at $150,000 for insurance purposes. I would like to meet that adjuster.
Will
Extremely poor ad for that kind of sale. From what I see in those poor pictures, I wouldn't even make a trip across town to look at what's there. Once you start asking big bucks for ANYthing, you need really good large format pictures, and a LOT of them. A COMPLETE list would also be very helpful.
The ad and the pictures are so vague, about the only interest it will generate will be some postings on random model railroad forums ....
REALLY!
Over the past 35 years I have yet to resell any decent quality HO scale for anything close to what I paid for it. Less then 2 months ago, my LHS, who closed, had sold off his inventory (a volume of items at least, if not more) than what is on the Ebay auction...for $18,000. Some of his inventory was consignment.
I would say this is a great oppotunity for someone with money to burn and not knowing any better.
I love my hobby...but if I had $90,000 readily available to me, I would get myself a decent car and make a serious dent in my mortgage.
Now if there were, maybe, enough brass to fill the bed of a pick up as part of the auction...that might be another story. It appears to be all plastic.
I guess it all comes down to the bidder/buyer and what it is worth to them. Personally, if I had the money...$10,000 probably, $15,000 maybe, grudgingly.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
I believe he said there's brass in that collection. Probably rail.
Imagine the owner standing watch as you dissasembled it!
Kelly
www,finescale360.com
I'm thinking of making an offer, but I'm not going one penny over $85,000.
Rich
Alton Junction
He would have to pay me to take it.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
At least the tapes aren't Beta.
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0