Bob - The (garbage) Picker

Geez, that looks terrific. Why would anyone toss it? Good find. I'm sure you'll put to to good use. 

Nice find!  People have NO idea what old things are worth these days.   Especially furniture.  I'm a furniture geek, and the stuff that passes for "good" furniture in stores these days appalls me.  Even the nicer stores...

There was a day when you could go to North Carolina and pick out nice things for a price, but now that is even hard to do.  

Anyway, treat that desk nicely and it will serve you well for many years!

The furniture today comes mostly from China, same as where your trains come from !!

the house where I grew up was next to a cemetery. I used to ride my bike and check out the gravestones, the dayes, see what wars the Vets had been in. One day I noticed a car pulling away from where the old flowers were dumped, so I rode over and took a look. Something told me go go down the hillside and take a look. I found a Rock Island 6464,3656 stock car,6419 Work Caboose (needed some TLC),657 Caboose,2689W tender,and a 2243B unit missing a truck. Except for the 3656 and the B unit, I still have these and run them all.

i'm not afraid to stop and grab something by the curb....got a 70's lionel southern starter set-boxed out of a pile....i was able to sell it for $50 at the local show. nice desk...now do something with the floor.-jim

While I'm not garbage picker, someone stole my maple desk from my front lawn. I put it out to sand it and when I came back with sand paper it was gone. 

what does this have to do with a train forum?

OOOPS!

 Now, before someone get their feathers all in a tither, this desk was picked for my new train room.  So, it is train related.  

The idea behind the floor, was to stand upon it.  Therefore, I do plan to do something with it.   

Years ago when I lived in L.A. My friends and I would drive up to Beverly hills on trash day looking for furniture. You'd be amazed what some rich people are willing to throw out for the trashman to pick up.

Yeah, I'll raise my hand.  A friend did spot a whole layout at the curb in front of a liquor store once.  All he wanted was the Lionel 022 switches on it, so he unscrewed them, and home he went.  Another friend found a perfectly good Lionel 1666 sitting atop a G-can.  He didn't have to fix a thing on it - it ran perfectly.  And my late regular repairman saw a complete boxed Postwar AF set at the curb.  He went up to the house and offered the lady something for it, but she said, "No, just take it.  We don't have any use for it".  I've never been that lucky, though, to find trains.

Bob, I know that you retired earlier this year, but you have a new career if you want it.   Nice find.

  I built my entire layout by dumpster diving at major corporations I worked for over the years.

 I got all my electrical switches and control panels years before I started the layout because I knew I would need it someday.

  I got most of the 2x4's from the packing grates of new machinery being installed at Pepsi Cola.

  I got 10 4'x8' sheets of plywood 3/4 thick that was being throw out at Coors Beer. It was used with a few holes in it but it worked for me.

  I also got spools of wire being throw out at constuction sites.

 All the glass for my display cases was reject glass from Denver International Airport when they built it. It was already tempered so I just built the display cases to match the glass.

   All my ballast came from a friend who worked at a roofing tile company.

  All my friends who helped me dumpster dive are now honored with there very own tombstone in my cemetary.

   This hobby can get expensive!  You can save big if you know where to dumpster dive.

Actually, I think it comes from here now...

Hey Marty:  I just found an appointment slip, in the desk, for a dental visit in Avon Lake, Ohio, dated 2006.  Heck, I thought you were a life-long Pittsburgher.  

Driving the local small town garbage truck has led to numerous finds, mostly electronics, vinyl records, books, tons of old old photographs.  I have several pictures of very small locomotives used to work in the coal mines, WW1 uniforms, records, 8 track tapes too much to list.

Hey Bob if you need some cash for lumber to get you started let me know, your sure you didn't find that desk on some lawn were a family was moving into their first house…...

Bob

Was it for 2:30.

No, but that's when I picked up the desk.  I rang the bell, didn't you hear it?  Good thingI left the chest of drawers, or you would have really been mad.  Anyway, it was too cold to sand stuff outside today.  

I don't believe I've bought one piece of wood for my permanent layout or the Christmas platform.Scraps of plywood and 2x4s from different skids and crates. My Christmas platform is one side of a packing crate. And the shelves I just built in the basement is from coil skids.

Nice!

I found an unopened bottle of Chevus Regal Scotch in a box in a dumpster once.

Gave it to my dad.

Also, I know someone who found a huge wooden steamer trunk from the late 1800's in a dumpster behind a museum.

It contained complete French Army Uniforms, including hats, during the reign of Napoleon III, during the Franco Prussian War of 1870.

There was even one from the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte I; a leather liner from the inside of a Cavalry Jacket, with a stamp of "7th Hussars 1812'.

All of it was mold and water damaged to some degree though, but was awesome regardless!

man you  c r a c k  m e  u p  that's great stuff……  It is going to look great in your new train room….  just make sure you take lot's of pictures to show the forum…….

2:30... See what I did there?  

I've gotten all kinds of things for my train room that way. A bench for my drill press, parts & pieces to build a big paint booth, display shelves for my locos, a modeling desk/workbench/chair, pallets to keep items off the floor, you name it. One problem that's just crept up tho, there's been problems with people "picking" in the area lately (making a mess at the curb while rifling thru the items, not cleaning it up when they're done, & leaving it there basically) so it's gotten a bad wrap in the local news media & since there's already laws on the book against it, people are getting ticketed if they are seen by the cops now because of the negative attention, they're starting to enforce it for real. Because of that, I decided to ask first so when I stopped, approached, & asked a guy if it was ok to take an item, he looked like he was going to take a shot at me until he realized I was being serious but it was awkward & uncomfortable so I really try not to anymore.

  Saw the frito-lays man replacing the display racks at a $ store & throwing them in a dumpster.  I pulled the discarded display racks out of the dumpsters thinking they would make great train storage racks.  They do!

Dave

Back in 1972 I found a old oak ice box waiting for the trash man. We still have it, and I see them priced at around $800.

I keep my eyes open but no great finds yet.  I did get about 30 Model Railroader magazines from the 70s a few years back. My wife was embarrassed I wanted to take them.  

Maple is a great wood, good luck with the new desk

Original reply deleted. Bob's using the LIONEL drawer pull/knobs.

     The machine shop that my dad, brother and I worked at get their steel on 4'x10' and 4'x12' skids. That is where I get all my wood for the woodworking projects I do. I get oak, maple, cherry, poplar, and pine. Choo Choo Kenny

Bob do you see what has happened. All these forum members after having spent all their hard earned money on engines now resort to garbage picking to furnish their train rooms…… LOL.  Another reason why the hobby is in trouble…….

When we lived in So Cal about 1962 my brother and I found some raty Standard Gauge trains. We were not happy that they did not fit on our O-27 track....we had no idea why. I remember we traded them to a neighbor for next to nothing.....always wondered later in life what we had found.

Steve:  It's a way we use to "save the planet" by furtive recycling.  Besides, it's always fun to get something good for free.  I've given away stuff we had at garage sales to folks that I know don't have the means.  

Speaking to some previous points, my wife hates when I do that. She refuses to get out of the vehicle & she's the one who almost got me shot when she told me to ask that guy if I could take that drill press bench from his driveway. 

Secondly, for me, being on a budget & having parents that grew up in the WWII/Depression era, repurposing used items is absolutley a huge part of the reason that I'm able to do hobbies. I have to be creative & work with what's available because I couldn't afford to do this if I had to pay retail prices for all the stuff I've gotten this way, or had given to me. It's just the way of it during times like these. Mom & Dad taught me that just because something is old, it's not necessarily trash. If it's a quality item, why not? I do know some people that look down their noses at used items, they have to have everything new, but they don't have half the cool stuff I have in my basement or my garage!   

Ouch...That is Bob's new floor!

Jeff Davis

I picked this about 18 years ago...I saw it on a curb for heavy pickup.

The problem was I was driving a tandem dump truck and at the time of the sighting I was loaded with 20 tons of asphalt...I had to work quick there was no way it would fit in the cab of the truck and even if the truck was empty I couldn't lift it into the body so I knocked on the homeowners door and asked if I could move it to the alley way between his house and garage until I got done with work....He agreed.

I ran right back after I was done and loaded it on my pickup...I tried to give the guy 20.00 bucks for his kindness but he wouldn't take it. All thirty drawers are full of postwar parts...

You know Bob, if you were really hard core, you could probably get a nice N scale layout in that center drawer.