Anyone buy just to collect?

I collect them to run.

Stupid Q

I'm sorry you feel that way about Q gauge but to each his own. 

I couldn't do it.  I have to run my trains.  There is too much freight to move on my rr to have engines in the box or on a shelf!  I am even opposed to shelves.  I store all of the engines I own on the layout.  The same with rolling stock.  If there is no room for it, I need to add on to the layout, which I do quite often!  

Everything I have gets run. Have a few that haven't made it to the layout yet, but only due to lack of space. They will make is eventually. I have a brother-in-law that has been buying HO for probably 50 years or more. He does not run anything, has no layout. A while back I told him he should build a layout so he would have a place to run them. I got the old "are you crazy" look, he told me they were for display only. To each his own, but at least he likes trains. He also knows a LOT more about them than I do, real and otherwise.

As Colorado and C.W. said (and Eddie sort of implied ), many of us do both.

 

There's always lots of action on the layout, but my small postwar collection of a few nice sets looks good on display and wouldn't run as well as my Legacy engines anyway. So they can enjoy a life of leisure in retirement while still being appreciated for all the memories they hold.

 

I find myself also fascinated by simple peripheral items when found in like-new, original packaging, for example, unopened bottles of smoke pellets, bags of original coal and grass, a nice boxed set of signs or figures, or milk cans still in the little orange and blue box that was inside the milk car set. 

 

All of these are examples of things with little intrinsic value, but which somehow have beaten the odds over the last 70 or so years and remain intact. I like to do my part in prolonging their existence for at least a few more years before being passed on to someone else with similar interests in preservation.

 

Jim

 

Since my small layout has been dismantled for a year or so, I would say that I an just a collector (G,O,HO and N).  I do hope that changes over the next month or so.

 

I think that anyone who has been in this hobby for many years is also a collector because there are only so many cars that can be run on a given linear distance of track.  So what do you do with the extras and the engines that you've purchased?  Yes, you store them on shelves for awhile.  Anyone simply get rid of their original first train or some of their favorite post-war stuff?  Probably not.  You might have retired them for an occasional run with the rest of the time they might be proudly displayed instead.  I do both--having some interesting box cars that are displayed simply because the logos and/or lettering have special significance that would be lost if the box car was running.  I get some wooden bases from the craft store, stain and varnish them, put a small section of track on the base and mount the car.  I do have HO stuff that has not been run because I physically do not have the space for an expansion of my layout.  I use the small football trophy cases purchased from Ollies and display the engine, tender, and a car.  I keep some above the fireplace on the mantle.  It makes for a nice conversation piece and also is a nice segue for friends to ask to see my layout without my making the suggestion.  Ordinarily, I do not "just" collect, but if something comes along that attracts me that I may not run, I get it anyway.  I'll try to post some pics of my display cases.  I also house many of my cars and old accessories in an old store glass case that I procured from a place that was going out of business.  Keeps the dust off and they are still accessible in addition to being a good way to display them when not in use.

Here are a few of my "display only" items.  The HO's are actually in a baseball case.  The Civil War figures (something else that I like to display) are in a football case.

I have been biting my tongue  for a long time about this topic.  Some of us like older trains with no electronics some prefer the most modern up to date trains.  We all share the love of these trains regardless how they operate and in some cases the fact they don't operate.  Why do some have to only like the most modern trains,because they enjoy them.  The same can be said about a shelf of trains that do not run.  Can we just respect each others decision!! I love post war trains and operate all of them even box cars that I have paid thousands of dollars for.  I love MPC trains with very simple electronics.  I love the pre command trains and every increase in technology that have made them what they are today.  The fact that one may have the most up to date electronics and others a very simple version or none at all.  I love all of them  I own trains from all eras.  Not only the newest but also the most simple.  Why do I have to feel guilty for this?  After reading many of the posts on this topic I am made to feel that why.  Can't we all just respect ALL TRAINS?

 

Paul Edgar

To Paul Edgar:

Never feel guilty.  In fact, some the posters on here are not really casting aspersions on those who collect.  It's just that they might not do so, preferring to run them instead based on their own predilections.  Anyone who has gone to the TCA Museum in Strasburg realizes that the museum has "runners" going around on operating layouts as well as "display only" models which are nice to see.  Sometimes in order to preserve the older trains, one might not even want to run them, preferring simply to display them.  Other people have no real emotional attachment and only see trains as toys to be run.  Hey, it's no different than my brother-in-law who restores 50's and 60's cars.  He doesn't run them all around town, but takes them to shows only.  Of course, they are worth more than my trains in terms of money; but the old Lionels that my Dad purchased for me when I was 2 are worth just as much to ME as his cars.  Although I do run them, I confess I really don't do so as much as the others.  When I look at them, I think back to my childhood....and that is worth a lot to me.  So look and appreciate if that's what you want to do!

I have rule with everything I own or am associated with.  If I don't use it within six months to a year, I get rid of it.  I either sell it or give it away.  I don't collect anything.  I do still have some replicas of elephants that I have acquired over the years that I don't actually use, but they are nice to look at once in awhile.  So, that must be an exception to the rule, but they are not animated objects.  The rule does not also apply to human friends, as I cherish them when not seen, and even after death.  I'm not sure it applies to spouses.  As for animated "things" the rule applies.

I started as a collector in 1979 but my frantic buying spree has passed. I now try to run everything. The PW stuff doesn't seem to run all that well so I run mostly MPC, Kuhn Era Lionel and Williams trains. When I look at the huge pile of stuff that has been accumulated over 30 years; I recognize that my obsession must have been a sickness. Now that the impulse buying bug has left, I buy only selectively and deliberately. On my layout I can run 4 trains and have two more sitting  in the passing sidings. What am I doing with 30 engines remains an unanswered question.

I have been an operator and collector for most of my life.  My father and I were collector/operators of postwar Lionel in the 60's, 70's and 80's, then I got into MTH in the 90's up through today, however the past 5 years I've been more into collecting and displaying my trains.  I've come to enjoy the museum approach of trains on walls best.  I've given up on my 16 x 36 layout and will be continuing to tear it down, and I've begun to sell off most of my collection, but I have interest and fondness for the early Geeps and F-units, so they'll stay, along with a general consist of freight cars.

 

Going forward, I'll enjoy piecing together a quick loop of track, especially at the holiday time, and just get back to a simple train, running in a loop, and laying on the floor with my grandson, as the train comes past.

Buy it, Open it, run it

on both the home and club layouts

 

 Sure seems like that's all I've been the last few years

 

 I got a 9x8 so-called temporay layout that's been in my basement about 20 years now with little run time.

 But I keep buying trains.

 So ...well it's a glass half empty situation I guess for me

 

Those Lionel Civil War sets IMHO was Lionel's smartest release.

SO AWESOME!

I drool over the ads for them and one of these days...

 

Do you have the Union and Confederate sets too?

Were more than 3 different sets built?

 

Can you imagine having a fully painted minatures battlefield with troops disembarking from those trains?

 

Here is some inspiration from my collection, Napoleonic...but still you get the idea:

 

 

 

Very cool Napoleonic troops, Chipset! During the Civil War Centennial 50 years ago, when we were all playing with Marx 35mm Civil War figures, one of my best friends was into the Napoleonic wars,  used to have Napoleonic toy soldiers, and would recreate the Battle of Waterloo, etc. He also designed board war games based on the Napoleonic War, while the rest of us were playing the board games designed by Avalon Hill, such as "Gettysburg" and "Chancellorsville". He was 12 or 13 at the time, and we thought he was rather "out there" (in a good way). He went on to a long career with the US Marines, wrote books on military history, strategy and tactics, and taught at various war colleges. 

 

By the way, I'd use them with the Civil War trains, despite the "time warp" aspect. 

Not a collector but an operator, my buying of cars and engines is over, the time and effort in building a large prototypical layout, from framework construction to wiring, is rationalized by running cars and engines that I own.

I think my weakness was wanting to run a variety of equipment, whether it was tinplate or otherwise and as this variety grew in number and I exceeded storage space, I kept the pedal to the metal and in this compulsive fog, I ended up with a collection. That being said, I do like this collection. I enjoy simply absorbing the view of it and gives me a sense of having done that, been there. But, it has fulfilled it's original purpose in the sense that once I collect a piece, or the collection now as a whole, seems like a hangover and I am thinking about selling most of it..as collecting was a purpose in of itself, now done with that phase I don't need to cling to it. 

Now my thoughts turn to narrowing all this variety down to one category...in something new...which is an interesting set of choices. I think anything gets old after a while..or stale, collecting dust. So I look at this collection I think to myself after ridding myself of most of it..where to next? S gauge? On3? Traction?...and so I am in the daydreaming phase again. While I really enjoy O gauge..it isnt the be all and end all of the hobby and mainline running to my mind is " a dime a dozen" for me..been there, done that.

Maybe a short line..Holding onto this stuff versus the excitement and challenge of a new direction is appealing these days. I think who am I kidding? What am I saving this stuff for? A certain restlessness has set in..doing the same thing over and over again is less appealing.

Question from Chipset above -

 

"Those Lionel Civil War sets IMHO was Lionel's smartest release.

SO AWESOME!

I drool over the ads for them and one of these days...

 

Do you have the Union and Confederate sets too?

Were more than 3 different sets built?"

 

 

I am not aware of the other two sets you mention Chip....

 

That's an AMAZING collection of soldiers you have there! 

I got into the hobby accidentally.  I went into the store to buy a slot car set, and walked out with a railking starter set instead! 

 

I went thru a rough patch about 8 years ago.  Within a short span of time I lost several family members (including my dad), one of my dogs, and got divorced.  To help me thru this I started buying wayy too many times.

 

I ended up with over 50 engines and over 250 pieces of rolling stock.  Thru ebay and forum sales I was able to whittle that down to 3 engines and around 30 pieces of rolling stock.  Not the greatest savings plan , but I'm glad I disposed of most of it.  Most of what I sold was BNIB.

 

I was not a collector as I just bought what I liked and figured it would bring me happiness (temporary of course), and  I only operated a few of the items.  I would now  consider myself as a 'gatherer' or 'hoarder' of trains.  I always had plans to operate everything but never had the chance to do it.  When people saw the amount of trains I had they would laugh.

 

My advice to everyone is to limit your buying to only what you plan to run.

 

Here's a pic I took several years ago of my hoard:

 

I dont run my Post War Trains,but run all of the TMCC,Legacy and DCS Trains,if I bought it, it runs.

Mikey

I've more than enough trains to run.  What I buy now adds to my collection of PRR by Lionel.  

 

All engines do get test run and checked out.

I can't fault anyone for the way that he (she) enjoys this hobby or some part of it.  I had a friend back in Milwaukee that had what had to be the largest collection of trains that I had ever heard of.  It occupied several buildings and included some very rare pieces.  But he never ran any of them!  His enjoyment was the collecting, hunting, bargaining, acquiring and building this huge, almost obscene collection of toy trains of all makes, sizes, countries of origin, etc. 

 

Not really my cup of tea, I once collected a whole bunch of stuff but tended to loose interest in growing my collection when I realized that I could never have even a fraction of what my buddy had.  So I traded off most of my collectibles, gathered as much money as I could and started building a high rail, semi-scale layout designed for operating.  Been working on this same layout, now, for over 15 years and it ain't done yet.  But, I can operate on it, can entertain friends with it and I found that this is how I really enjoy my trains.  Still collect just a few things, mainly those trains that I had or my friends had when we were kids.  But these trains get displayed on only one small wall of the basement.  The layout continues to rule!

 

Paul Fischer

My Dad was a collector, 60's-80's, I started buying late 80's and early 90's, thought it was a decent investment. Maybe 8 passenger trains and a bunch of cars I liked, ~150 or so Lionel boxes..... Everything followed me around the country in boxes, never ran or opened. Fast forward to today, I have a 5 year old Son and a 1 year old Daughter. My Son loves trains - started with Thomas and then the two year ago Christmas loop. So I looked at the values of all of that stuff I bought -- as I came to find out, very little was actually collectable, it was cheaper for me to break out that 80's NYC Mohawk than it would be to purchase a new one.

 

I run everything now, and I continue to buy new versions of things we like.....MTH Blue Comet, Lionel Tuscan. We run all the old UP sets, Lackawanna, and Southern Pacific sets along with a modern Polar Express. I have given up on many of the Lionel accessories like the rotating beacon (90's version and a brand new 2013 version)and horse corral.....really hard to find that magic voltage, wire, tilt of the Earth or whatever it takes to get them to work for more than a minute or two. Also became relatively fluent in Lionel smoke units, and the Lionel service department.

 

So I run them all --everything is out of the box and is a fun toy for me and the kid's!

quote:

I started buying late 80's and early 90's, thought it was a decent investment.

 

Collecting isn't about making money.

As Paul Fischer wrote:

quote:

His enjoyment was the collecting, hunting, bargaining, acquiring and building this huge, almost obscene collection of toy trains of all makes, sizes, countries of origin, etc. 

And I'll add: learning / researching about the items you are interested in collecting, and sharing information with friends.

 

For some it is.  Otherwise they wouldn't get upset with the notion of Lionel's postwar reproductions harming the collectibility (hence, resale value) of originals that they may own.

I experience both sides of the hobby:

 

A.  Collect now because there is no time for a layout. 

 

B.  Operation-when I retire! 

 

Until that time, I'll continue collecting items for my new train room/layout.  Let's just say I have plenty of time to plan !

I buy to run, but I've always tended to buy more trains than I really can run at one time. Been a locoholic for a long time, even before I was into O-gauge. So I cycle them on and off the layout so everything gets run some each year. Somethings, like my dad's 1946 Lionel 2020 don't get run too often, because of the sentimental value I guess as I have several Marx locos of the same vintage that get the most run time of any of my stuff.

I've been without a layout for the past 6 or 7 years, so I suppose any purchases since then have been for collecting.  I promise, I have intent to operate!

quote:

For some it is.  Otherwise they wouldn't get upset with the notion of Lionel's postwar reproductions harming the collectibility (hence, resale value) of originals that they may own.

 

Not necessarily. The reproductions (and repaints / fakes) can lessen the impact of having a genuine original.
One can spend years looking for an odd ball item, only to have "Lionel" decide to reproduce it, so anyone can have one by merely opening their wallet.

 

To some people, everything is about money.

My layouts are gone now (doctor's orders). All I have left are empty shelves in my trainroom, it's a long story.

 

I do have a few pieces, I did not run by choice. These are my 1906-1907 Lionel Std Gauge which are on shelves behind UV Glass. Most of my remaining pieces date 1910-1934. I'm trying to complete my collection of prewar Lionel boxed sets.

 

God Bless,

"Pappy"

 

I suspect you are downplaying the resale impact concerns in the collector community.

 

Thank goodness for the free market, and the O gauge companies reproducing items if consumers demand it.   An original is an original, a reproduction is a reproduction.  Maybe those collectors you refer to need to remember that when Lionel does a remake of a previously hard-to-find or unique original.

 

I have a number of original postwar near-pristine condition items, some are hard to find and while not near as expensive as, say, a red variation of the 6828 flatcar or similar, are nonetheless still very collectible and sell in the hundreds of dollars in the condition they're in.  Having said that, I had and still have no qualms whenever Lionel re-releases those same items starting with the PWC series, and could care less if it impacts the resale or whatever perceived notations of uniqueness that my original versions carry.

Not my style.  Everything gets run.  Use it or lose it.

 

Pete

quote:

I suspect you are downplaying the resale impact concerns in the collector community.

 

And I suspect you are over emphasizing it.

 

You won't change my opinion, and I won't change yours.

 

 

 I can show you many items in collecting where an originals value, was enhanced by a re-release due to renewed social hype. Comics, vehicles, toys, art. Making sure there are little ways to tell them apart is important of course, but I think that's been addressed by the Mfg.s nicely with "official" train re-pops so far. Re-pop parts in slightly different modern colors, or appearance are like automatic TCA repair records for the masses. I like it.

quote:

 I can show you many items in collecting where an originals value, was enhanced by a re-release due to renewed social hype.

 

I have to ask: please name a few.

I don't think you're going to get a statistically valid answer to your question. People who participate in on-line forums do not represent the majority of any hobby or sport. I think there are great numbers of collectors in the hobby that collect trains and do not operate them.