Are You A Collector?

When people question the amount of money you spend on trains simply smile and say the boat people spend much more.

I agree with those who try to focus on categories.  I got out of Lionel back in the early 1980s and began collecting British Hornby.  Then I moved on to  Bing and to a lesser degree Bassett Lowke.Next came K Line 15 inch aluminum streamliners pulled by MTH and Williams F-3s. When the prices of Right of Way brass plummeted in the early 2000s I couldn't resist.  Now I'm having fun collecting prewar Kibri tinplate stations.  Yes, space is a bit of a problem, but along the way I  bit the bullet and sold a significant quantity of trains that just didn't have the same fascination they once did.  If I hadn't done this, I would really have had a major space problem.

All of my trains are on display either in cabinets, on shelves,  or on my layout's sidings.  I  can't understand why many collectors  keep their trains in sealed or almost sealed boxes.  In my opinion toy trains are meant to definitely be seen and if at all possible---operated.

Lewrail

rex desilets posted:

Yes.

Didn't start off that way. Lack of self-control....

How dare you! That was to be my excuse! 

lewrail posted: 

All of my trains are on display either in cabinets, on shelves,  or on my layout's sidings. 

Is that the distinction between collectors and hoarders? I was one or the other but now just enable others like a drug dealer. Psst ... wanna buy some trains?

What, me worry?

Just keep telling yourself...… "it's only a hobby... it's only a hobby....."

I still have everything my father and I ran when I was kid, young man, etc...… say... 55-60 years ago.   And, everything we purchased in the '70s for the layout in his 2 car garage, before he passed in1978.  My two sons, and daughter, enjoyed the trains as they grew up.  Now, I have it all.. and still adding more for the past 40 plus years, including today.  So, for me, and others, it is also a connection to our past and those we still love so much.   Yes, I have shelves full, boxes and totes full, layout getting bigger to hold more.....  And funds acquired with operating the OKC streetcars has given me additional "mad money" for going to train shows and local train stores.  It is not hoarding... it is holding onto memories and making new ones while enjoying what we all enjoy, together.

Jesse    TCA

Jesse, thanks for your memories.  Hoard those all you want, no will ever blame you for that.

"When people question the amount of money you spend on trains simply smile and say the boat people spend much more."

Except we purchased our boat in 1981 for $9,500 complete.  I could sell it today for $30,000.  Pretty sure my trains have close to zero ROI.  IF  I wanted to sell either!

Jon

I like the term, "organized hoarder". Miketg

I am whatever I want to be. Sort of a collector runner but try not to hoard. Way too much good things out there to be too narrowly focused.

Collector of anything cool looking, really. Spent basically every penny on trains, and then some. Gotten to the point where I've resorted to making trains out of junk to run on my layouts.

Course it isn't finished...
But it will be, very soon

Methinks, too much time on your hands.   

KOOLjock1 posted:

"When people question the amount of money you spend on trains simply smile and say the boat people spend much more."

Except we purchased our boat in 1981 for $9,500 complete.  I could sell it today for $30,000.  Pretty sure my trains have close to zero ROI.  IF  I wanted to sell either!

Jon

Yeah, but, Jon, how much did you spend on the boat over those years?

I know a number of boat owners, and their motto is "A boat is a hole in the water into which the owner pours money."

It all started for me in 1976 when I married my first wife (RIP) and moved to NJ. Shortly thereafter I was speaking with a friend and we touched on the subject of Lionel trains. He told me of a resurgence of the hobby, that Lionel changed hands, was still in business and that trains shows were happening in NJ. He took me to a train show in Wayne NJ and that was the start of it.  We would go to trains shows and spend thousands over the years. Then when we built our house, there was a large basement and the layout bug hit about 16 years ago. It was then that I realized that there were far too many trains to run and I only needed six or seven sets. I am now officially an operator but to this day still 100% conventional.