Brent,
As we are on a lot of subjects, you and I are very much on the same page with all this.
When we sell the big house, which will go on the market in a few months, the proceeds will be all free and clear, largely excempt from taxes under various rules for people down sizing in this country. And there is no debt on that property...or the new to us one we just moved into.
We also have some investment properties which we will gradually start liquidating, to make life simpler........
If we can't live the rest of our lives on what we will have at that point, then shame on us......
The only parent we have left between us in my mother, I doubt I will have to take care of her, she would rather my sister do it if she can't stay in her home. But mom is 1,000 miles from here.......
Our kids are all long grown up and on their own, youngest is now pushing 34.
So I plan to build my new garage, make a few small changes to this house, and fill the basement with the new layout.
It was a long a careful search, but this is the perfect house, on the perfect 2.3 acres to keep people away, with the perfect basement.
My wife's pet of choice is a cat. I like cats, they are very low maintenance, clean box and open the cans. I was not really a kid person, so that makes me not really a dog person......
Anyway, the new property is everything we need and want, nothing we don't need or want, situated in a perfect spot, secluded but close to things we need and like to do.
I am thrilled. No assisted living hotel, or cookie cutter condo old age community for me, thank you. I don't want to walk out my door and feel "obligated" to talk to someone on the sidwalk...or worse in the hallway - we don't have sidewalks out here in the rural country side.......
But if I want to socialize or interact with people, one of the highest rated small towns in America is only 8 minutes away:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havre_de_Grace,_Maryland
Sheldon
We have a 4000 sqft house with a 1200 garage. We will be moving at some point as my Daughter is off to University this fall and could end up in Edinburgh Scotland medical school. With the #1 son in Ottawa, staying where we are will not be a consideration, too many people for our liking.
I started planning my financial life as a teenager. Knew what I would need, to have what I wanted. Nothing extravagant, just a carefree middle-class life. So far so good. My wife wants to show dogs as long as she is on this Earth and I want my hobbies as well. We may downsize a bit but not much, dogs and trains require space. We will be able to hire people to clean the house and ride the John Deere if it comes down to it and my wife would like a coach house for a full time "live in" to care for the dogs when we are away. There are always Vet assistants looking for a nice place to live free in exchange for doing dog care.
I am in the camp of I want to stay in my home as long as I can. The government makes it easy for seniors to stay at home as it is much cheaper than institutionalizing them. We have three seniors in our extended family that still live in their houses and my mother was the same. The medical system provides in-home help to those that need it starting with maybe a couple hours a day right up to full time 24 hours day care as they age and become more incapacitated.
I have observed that people that have hobbies and interest in life get plenty of social interaction through those. So many people that I admired died with their boots on enjoying their passions as close to the end as possible. My Mom died in her eighties and was out, field training dogs up to the last year of her life. Near her end, she came to live with us. We had a nanny for our two kids and the government provided in-home care for my Mom. It was funny watching the Nanny and healthcare workers competing to do the housework.
Before anyone thinks we are zillionaires having a Nanny for the kids, we are not. The government makes it so that once you have more than one kid it is cheaper to have a Nanny than to pay daycare for two or more kids.
I like the solitude of riding the lawn tractor but hate gardening, so a five-acre lot with enough grass to let me roam on a tractor and house big enough to have a layout and space for the dogs would be perfect. And when the drool is running down my chin near the end, I hope the healthcare worker they send to look after me/us likes cleaning track.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
ATLANTIC CENTRALRetirement community? What kind of retirement community? I would rather just steer the truck into a bridge abutment......but that's just me.
.
You must be thinking of The Villages... I would rather end it now than have the possibilty of living there.
Some retirement communities, or even assisted living facilities, are very nice and appealing.
We have quite a selection down here.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
mbinsewi ATLANTIC CENTRAL Retirement community? What kind of retirement community? I would rather just steer the truck into a bridge abutment......but that's just me, I could not live around a bunch of people in one of those places. I'm actually the same way. She (wifey) on the other hand, is trying to get me psyched up for the adventure, but she's a way more of "socialite" than I ever was, or will be. They do have, and are continually building, some "nice" facilities around here. Most of them, your actually not part of a huge cluster, and more to your own. We'll see. My mother and step dad planed nothing. Their attitude was "let the kids deal with it". I WILL NOT be like that. Mike.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Retirement community? What kind of retirement community? I would rather just steer the truck into a bridge abutment......but that's just me, I could not live around a bunch of people in one of those places.
I'm actually the same way. She (wifey) on the other hand, is trying to get me psyched up for the adventure, but she's a way more of "socialite" than I ever was, or will be.
They do have, and are continually building, some "nice" facilities around here. Most of them, your actually not part of a huge cluster, and more to your own.
We'll see.
My mother and step dad planed nothing. Their attitude was "let the kids deal with it". I WILL NOT be like that.
Mike.
We have plan, the will is going to read, "being of sound mind and body we spent it all", so they will have little to fight over. Which ever one of us goes first, will likely get rid of a lot of what we have kept in this recent move. It is a big transition from 4,000 sq ft, pool, large 6 car garage/barn, down to 2,200 sq ft.
A very positive transition I must say. It will give me a lot more time for trains.....
But I will be building a small detached garage for the pickup, tractor and tools that do not fit in the 1-1/2 car garage attached to the new house. That is just for her car......
We actually have more land at the new place, but much simpler landscaping to care for.....
Take care,
ATLANTIC CENTRALRetirement community? What kind of retirement community? I would rather just steer the truck into a bridge abutment......but that's just me, I could not live around a bunch of people in one of those places.
My You Tube
mbinsewi The task and logistics of removing something like this must be monumental. The rolling stock, structures, infastructure such as briges, track, turn outs, wiring, signals, wow, a lot of stuff to deal with. And then there's the removal of the scenery and benchwork, all into dumpsters, and they are located in a down town city location. It's not like you can park a dumpster out the door or a window. What a job. And I think about when we want to move to a retirement community (5, maybe 8 years) to get away from the stairs in our current cape cod, with a full basement, and my current layout is only about 52 sq. ft. ! A piece of cake! Mike.
The task and logistics of removing something like this must be monumental.
The rolling stock, structures, infastructure such as briges, track, turn outs, wiring, signals, wow, a lot of stuff to deal with.
And then there's the removal of the scenery and benchwork, all into dumpsters, and they are located in a down town city location. It's not like you can park a dumpster out the door or a window.
What a job.
And I think about when we want to move to a retirement community (5, maybe 8 years) to get away from the stairs in our current cape cod, with a full basement, and my current layout is only about 52 sq. ft. ! A piece of cake!
Yes, moving or dismantling the BSME will be a job. They have both HO and O scale layouts.
Retirement community? What kind of retirement community? I would rather just steer the truck into a bridge abutment......but that's just me, I could not live around a bunch of people in one of those places.
At 63 and 61, the wife and I just moved from the 2-1/2 story 4,000 sq ft 1901 Queen Anne into a 2200 sq ft brick rancher. My plan is to be carried out.....
The new basement allows me about 1400 sq ft for my next layout, which will fill every possible sq ft.
But, it will be built in such a way that if/when necessary, it can be removed without cutting it up. Just in case I do want to move again, or someone actually wants the layout when I am gone. If I go first, the wife can give it to anyone willing to move it, trains and all.
Yes, clubs should own their buildings.......
mbinsewiAnd I think about when we want to move to a retirement community (5, maybe 8 years) to get away from the stairs in our current cape cod, with a full basement, and my current layout is only about 52 sq. ft. ! A piece of cake!
I already own a single story, no basement, no stair house in what used to be a retirement community, but that is changing. I have owned it since I was 30 years old.
Every time one of the retired neighbors passes on, their house gets occupied by a family in their 20's, times are changing.
Scale Rails of Southwest Florida lost their home, on CSX property, 15 or so years ago. Thanks to several wealthy members, they now own their own building outright. They are now as permanent as a group can be. If you want to retire somewhere with a good railroad community of fellow retirees, Fort Myers, Florida would be a good choice.
There must be wealthy alumni with fond memories of the NEB&W. If this layout is not preverved, it will be due to lack of effort by those inerested in the preservation.
mbinsewiAnd then there's the removal of the scenery and benchwork, all into dumpsters, and they are located in a down town city location. It's not like you can park a dumpster out the door or a window.
I have seen electric chain saws used to cut a club layout into movable pieces that we loaded into members pickup trucks.
A sad job..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
BigDaddy ATLANTIC CENTRAL The Baltimore Society of Model Engineers, one of the oldest clubs in the country, formed in 1932, has also just been told they must move from their long time downtown Baltimore location. In November, someone was shot in a robbery at a bus stop in broad daylight two blocks away. I'm surprised the club is still in that location. They have O and HO scale and their final open house is a week from tomorrow. http://www.modelengineers.com/home.html
ATLANTIC CENTRAL The Baltimore Society of Model Engineers, one of the oldest clubs in the country, formed in 1932, has also just been told they must move from their long time downtown Baltimore location.
In November, someone was shot in a robbery at a bus stop in broad daylight two blocks away. I'm surprised the club is still in that location. They have O and HO scale and their final open house is a week from tomorrow.
http://www.modelengineers.com/home.html
Crime aside, I never understood why anyone would want to deal with downtown logistics for this kind of activity? It kept me from ever desiring to be a member.
ATLANTIC CENTRALThe Baltimore Society of Model Engineers, one of the oldest clubs in the country, formed in 1932, has also just been told they must move from their long time downtown Baltimore location.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I had hoped to see the NEB&W, as I only live 2 hours away and often go through Albany.
Our club, the Adirondack & Lake Champlain, doesn't have to worry about losing our space- our layout is modular!
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
The Baltimore Society of Model Engineers, one of the oldest clubs in the country, formed in 1932, has also just been told they must move from their long time downtown Baltimore location.
Nothing is forever, but owning your land and building, or building your own building on public parkland, like "The Model Railroad Club" in New Jersey, seems the only reasonable secure path.
While I surely appreciate all the great club layouts I have visited, and had the privilage at a young age to be a member at the Severna Park Model Railroad Club, I no longer find the club environment a good place for my modeling.
Best of luck to all these groups.
Clubs loosing their homes is becoming the norm..Ohio's oldest club the Columbus,Ohio Model Railroad Club recently lost their long time home that was located on the second floor of a former office building at Buckeye Steel casting. I wish both clubs good luck in finding a new home.
The Columbus club hits home as I help build that layout after the club was force to move from the basement of the A&P store on the corner of Third and Rich Streets.
It seems to be a trend. The Illini Railroad Club here at the University of Illinois is more than a century old. They lost their layout last year due to a major rebuild of the dorm whose basement their layout was located in. So far, they've been offered no alternate location. The local Mass Transit District has a club and they've generously opened their doors to the IRC for several ops sessions. One hopes at a school with one of the top railroad engineering programs, there might be more attention paid to finding a new location. Good luck to the NEB&W!
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
The NEB&W is truly one of the great pikes of all time and should be preserved as a national work of fine art or better put....a national treasure. I do hope for the best for John and crew. Years back I had the pleasure of visiting, and was deepely impressed.
HZ
I haven't seen anything about this on the forum, but it is being reported on other forums and blogs: The New England, Berkshire & Western is being forced to move. Its future is uncertain. Read more, including a message from the club, on my blog at https://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/2019/01/end-of-line-for-new-england-berkshire.html
John Longhurst, Winnipeg