Great Northern railway

GNRW operating session pictures.

Glad I tested the layout before the 'railroaders' arrived.

My previous use of the sawzaw cutting some extended table supports created enough vibration to cause a lot of 'ballast' to fall into the roundhouse pit and onto the 'grooves' where the table's gear mesh creating a lot of gritty sounds.  Shop vac was needed to remedy the situation.

Had to clean all the 'extensions' pieces of rail soldered to accommodate the new Walther's turntable installed a few years ago.

The usual pizza before 'work'.

Paul brought some nice Key PRR steam.

Ben brought some nice Northwestern RS-2 (I think!).

PRR on the 'ready track'.

Bob running a GN R-2 2-8-8-2 freight drag.

Paul's PRR decapod ready to make up a train.

PRR departing Seattle's freight yard.

PRR at Hillyard.

Ben's Northwestern steam at Skykomish.

Dave departing Seattle's freight yard with a N&W A 2-6-6-4.

Mark brought a nice Northwestern train with all flat car loads.

N&W A approaching Wilmar.

A little crowded at Glacier.

Bob's PRR centipedes pulling a passenger train.

Steve readying an NP A-3 4-8-4.

N&W A at Tye.

B&O EM-1 2-8-8-4 passenger train at Wilmar.

Joe dispatching.

John's B&O passenger train at Wilmar.

Busy at the Seattle's freight yard.

Ben's Northwestern steam.

N&W A on incoming track.

John's B&O EM-1 at Waverly.

Mark on the 'outskirts' of St. Paul.

Bob's centipedes at Waverly.

B&O EM-1 bypassing the freight yard on the passenger track.

Passenger yard.

Northwestern at Wilmar.

NP A-3 west of Wilmar.

Final closing with orange 'creme cicles' and post 'discussion's covering various subjects.

WM (C&O) H-6 2-6-6-2 videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNqlfYnuU6k&t=3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqKj245db0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiDFOEm622s

Looks like it was another great day at the Great Northern!

Thank you for the links to the videos of the Western Maryland 1309!!  It looks great!

One living room laying removed.

At 75 I'm just concentrating on my HO layout and selling off all the 3-rail except that which I had as a child.

Removed all 3 rail track, trains and accessories.

BEFORE:

right wall.

back wall

AFTER:

Only thing left are my airplane trophies.

and 2 man lumber saw and antlers.

Now I have to clean, test and box all that crap, I mean stuff!

Put a lot of stuff on sale on OGR's web site.  Has worked well as 15 grand has been sold but I still have 'tons' more to sell!

Nice video about CP mountain district:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAntb_luSpk

Making a Lionel layout for the grandkids.

The grandkids always like running my 3-rail layout in the living room, which they were enjoying during Thanksgiving.

Asked my son if it would be OK to make them a layout, sometime, and I got the OK which will go in the basement.

Initially, I was figuring next summer but I got the 'bug' to do it for this Christmas.

At 7 AM this morning I went to Home Depot and got some 1/2" X4'X8' plywood, 4 12'X 1"X4"  planks and some green carpeting, of course!

Had to heat up the detached shop to a respectable 65 degrees.

Had to put 3 of my airplanes in the trailer to make room to 'build'.  I was going to get some homosote to deaden the sound but 1) that adds more weight to transporting it and 2) the green carpet should work well as in insulator.

Framing wood.

Framing will be 16" OC with end frames 3.5" 'in' so 2 people can, easily, lift it.

'Long' framing was 8' long.  The 'cross' framing 46.5" long.  Miter made 'quick work' of the 7 needed.

Never assume factory cut wood is perpendicular but, in this case, it was!

Used a 'stop' to get all 7 'cross' pieces exactly the same.  Always check for any dust or frayed ends at the 'stop'.

1" forstner bit used to drill holes in the 'cross' framing to route wires.

Clamped 2 together so save time on drilling.

Always put the 'crown' of the board 'up' since, like us, they can sag over time!

Put a couple holes in the 'side' framing in case I want to route wires from the transformer at those locations.

Framing screwed together.  I used to glue/screw everything but I eliminated the glue as this should be plenty sturdy.  Plus any future dismantling will be easier.

Needed a clamp to straighten one warped end while drilling the screws.

Ply all screwed to the framing.

The 'end finger lifts'.

Gotta' have green carpet!  The carpet is very 'cost effective' but holds short 1" screws very well.

I've got 12 boxes of Lionel track: should be enough!

Plus plenty of turnouts ( switches).

I had illusions of grandeur!   No way on a 4X8!

Needed the band saw to cut about 3 short pieces for the final design.

TaDa!   I wanted to make room for the transformer and control buttons so one corner is angled.  It took awhile to, finally, get a track plan where 2 trains can run at once without interfering with each other plus I wanted a figure 8.  This should have lots of 'play value'.   I set some uncoupling tracks in areas before I forgot about installing them.  Nothing is screwed down, yet.  Will test an engine to insure all is 'good'.  Put insulating pins between the outside and inside loops of track so 2 trains can run on different throttles.

3 short pieces of track were needed at this end of the layout.

Just got the idea of adding 2 switches for adding accessories.

No legs will be added to the layout.  It will just sit on the floor; figure it's easier to access since the youngest is 3, not counting the baby.  I'll have to get some additional carpeting for around the perimeter as, I'm sure an engine or two, will 'fly off the corners'!

Counting 'running' to HD, got a lot done in 7 hours.

Any suggestions are always welcomed before I screw down all the track.

@samparfitt posted:

No legs will be added to the layout.  It will just sit on the floor; figure it's easier to access since the youngest is 3, not counting the baby.  I'll have to get some additional carpeting for around the perimeter as, I'm sure an engine or two, will 'fly off the corners'!

Counting 'running' to HD, got a lot done in 7 hours.

Any suggestions are always welcomed before I screw down all the track.

A wee bit of future-proofing, if you will. I realize the reason why this will be a floor-level platform (hence quoting that part), but just in case this layout stands the test of time, I'd add some provisions for plugging in some legs just in case one day in the future there is cause for elevating the layout by whatever amount. A little bit of handiwork under there now might save having to turn the whole thing on its side after the topside is full of scenery/accessories.

---PCJ

_{(edited to remove excess whitespace in quote)}

Thanks PCJ for the suggestion.

I would, probably, just buy some saw horses and rest the layout on them.

Actually, I wish I had some as it would make it easier to route wires to 'where they need to be'!

During transport, I'm only have the track on the board to prevent damage going to the basement.

Sam, that is looking great! It's nice to get the grandkids involved! I wish I could get mine, but there into iPad! LOL

Thanks Mike,

Ipad; is that the same thing as the minipad!

==================================

Track test.

Ran a Williams engine.

Soldered wire from the outer track to the right throttle and the inner track to the left throttle.

Outer track fine.

Had left throttle off to insure the inner track is isolated from the outer track.  Engine stopped....

and ran once the left throttle was advanced.

The first left switch in the figure 8 kept wanting to stay only on the 'curved' route when the engine approached from the outside loop.  Had to add another rail insulator pin to the center rail.    With the can motor in the engine, the throttle isn't providing a lot of voltage so the automatic switch isn't 'throwing' in time so the engine derails.  Should be good after I route via the power plug with more 'juice'.

@samparfitt 

Plus plenty of turnouts ( switches).

TaDa!   I wanted to make room for the transformer

Just got the idea of adding 2 switches for adding accessories.

Any suggestions are always welcomed before I screw down all the track.

Maybe an extra switch 🤔

Coming down the outer short side of your transformer area rails........going around the lefthand curve .........past the first straight section.........add a lefthand switch and uncoupler track where you have the second straight section.

You can never have too many switches / sidings. 😉

Dallas,

Thanks for the suggestion but a light tower  is 'going there'.

================

Grandkids layout (part 2).

Now the hard part.  Building the table was  easy.  Now everything has to be wired.

Placed all accessories on the layout so I can account for any mods to the track, etc.

Had to buy some sawhorses so I can work on the wiring.  Weird: got a compete wood working shop and been building stuff 'forever' and these are my first sawhorses.

I used my table for building RC airplanes to hold up the other end of the table.

Terminal strips will be used to easily remove all accessories for transport and make connections and future diagnostics easier.  Will need to insulate one 'ground' rail for the gate.   Lamp poles will light constantly.

Uncoupling buttons will be next to the uncoupling track.

Talking station and the radar will get a 'push button' to operate the antenna.

More buttons for water tower and 'flying airplane'.  Route all wires through one long terminal strip.

Control tower with two dudes chasing each other controlled, also, by a button.

More uncoupling tracks for coal, log and barrel unloaders.

News stand with dog at fire hydrant and newsman moving 'around'.  I bridge over the 'grass'!  Flying airplane will have a button.

Light tower will remain on.

One long terminal strip to route all wires to the layout.

Plenty of 'play value' that should keep 'em busy for a long time!

All switches will remain manual though they will 'aline' to the direction the engine approaches opposite the switch points so no derailments. 

I think this is a great little layout. I love the old track and everything.

Thanks Bill. As mentioned previously, I've got 12 boxes of 'old style' track so I might as well use it!

Had trouble finding the 31" stuff as the bulk is either straight or 72".

Grandkids layout (part  3).

This morning I had to mail some 3-rail stuff I sold but several more hours were 'invested' today as it's now 6 PM so about 9 hours to compete what was done, today.

One section of track had the outside rail removed, insulation added between the tie and rail and two insulating pins were  installed to 'trigger' the operating gate when the train passes.  I love 3 rail: so easy to make things function.

Gate tested.

Just using lamp wire.  It's stranded so easy to 'work with'.  The bare wire gets soldered to insure good, long lasting conductivity.  My fifty year old Weller soldering gun works well (versus good) on this stuff.

All wires are labeled at both ends.  RT= right throttle, RCT=right center throttle, you get the 'picture'.

The ground and hot wires are also labeled as they need to be correctly connected.

'Case in point' ; when connecting the power plugs to the switches, the switch light dimmed when the throttle was added but, with the terminal strips, it was easy to reverse the 2 wires.

Each turnout was tested for the 'automatic alignment' when a train approaches against the turnout.

Before

After car enters switch.  Again, I love how 3 rail makes this so easy to set up.

With all track and switches tested, the track was screwed 'down'.

Set up the bumper lights so they are independent of track power.  Some tape to insulate the bumper from the center rail.

Soldered a wire to the normal center contact and 'ran' the wire back to the transformer area.

Not wanting to have to, possibly, rewire all the accessories because they draw too much 'juice' from the transformer that operates the trains, I decided to add another transformer just for accessories.  The two will be completely separate in their duties.

All the red and green lights gives a nice visual effect.  I remember as a kid, it was great to turn off all the lights in the room to get the 'full effect' of the train layout.

Left, long terminal strip used for track power, switch power and bumper power.  The right short terminal strip for accessories.  All wires labeled.

Gettin' there!  Each switch and bumper was labeled, also.

I did manage to connect one accessory: the beacon tower.

Raised layout and the holes made for easy wire installation.

The grandchildren should have a great time with it.

Grandkids train layout for Christmas (part 4)

Finished wiring the accessories today.  Today took 6 hours.

Videos:

Train operation.  Goes on the outer loop and with just turning two switches, can run the bypass and then the inner figure eight.  Kids should enjoy varying the routes that can be taken.

There is a 'bump' at the crossover which has been repaired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUYH6wOlOsQ

Accessories video:

Lots of 'play value' interfacing with all the accessories.

The light beacon takes awhile to 'warm up' and then starts rotating.

I put everything on momentary buttons because, if they were left on constantly, they won't last as long plus the kids have to interface with the accessories which is more fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt9OT0XyVFo

One of the train sets.

Everything is labeled.

Centrally located terminal strips placed at the accessories.

Drilled some holes to route the microphone to the edge of the layout for the dispatchers station.

Next will be to pack up all the accessories, etc. and prep the layout for transportation.

@samparfitt posted:

Grandkids train layout for Christmas (part 4)

Finished wiring the accessories today.  Today took 6 hours.

Videos:

Train operation.  Goes on the outer loop and with just turning two switches, can run the bypass and then the inner figure eight.  Kids should enjoy varying the routes that can be taken.

There is a 'bump' at the crossover which has been repaired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUYH6wOlOsQ

Accessories video:

Lots of 'play value' interfacing with all the accessories.

The light beacon takes awhile to 'warm up' and then starts rotating.

I put everything on momentary buttons because, if they were left on constantly, they won't last as long plus the kids have to interface with the accessories which is more fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt9OT0XyVFo

One of the train sets.

Everything is labeled.

Centrally located terminal strips placed at the accessories.

Drilled some holes to route the microphone to the edge of the layout for the dispatchers station.

Next will be to pack up all the accessories, etc. and prep the layout for transportation.

Look like a fun filled action packed layout that even an adult would enjoy.

Sam, you have been really busy!  The grandchildren will love it!

Very interesting layout design. That's about as much action as you can get on that sized board!

Grandkids Christmas layout project (final prep for transporting 240 miles).

Everything but the track and switches have been removed.

1"X5"X8' pieces of wood was, temporarily, screwed to the sides to protect the track and switches.

The wood will, also, be nice when sliding the layout on its edge when going down the basement steps.

Extra protection with the original foam covers over the switch machine motors.  The 'lanterns' were removed as they would, probably, fall off.

2 trains set and all accessories packed in their original boxes.

Three 6'X8' carpet to lay under the floor layout to protect engines when they fall off the track.  Also, nice padding for the kids as the basement has a concrete floor.   Also rope and straps to transport the layout from my truck to the basement.

50' of rope to restrain the layout when going down the steps as there will only be two of us.  I figure one end of the rope tied at the top railing mounting bracket, wrap the rope around the one end of the layout and the 'top' person releases the rope while at the top of the stairs while the 'bottom' person guides it.

Sam, an excellent plan for transporting the layout!

Thanks, Mark.

You’ve got some very lucky grandkids!!! I hope they get many years of enjoyment from the layout. One suggestion... you said you added the 1 x 5’s for the move. Since the track runs very close to the edge, have you considered leaving them on (maybe a little stain or paint) for derailment protection???

Great job

Paul,

That is a good idea. 

'Wore out all ready' and my 3-rail railroad.

My 75 year Lionel 2035 2-6-4 steam engine's brushes wore out already!

Thanks to Davis on ebay :

https://www.ebay.com/mye/myebay/purchase

he provided me with the needed new brushes and springs.

The 'old' and 'new' brushes.

all better!

Reassembly.

Re-soldered the smoke and light back onto the E-unit.

This screw secures the back of the motor unit to the boiler.

The recessed screw secures the front of the motor unit to the boiler.

Took a few 'tries' to get the correct orientation of the 'bent' rod mechanism that provides the smoke 'chuffing' where the piston rod pushes on the 'bent' rod.

Also, cleaned up the motor contact surfaces.

All 'back' together.

When I was 5 I got this engine...

that came with a metal box, tank...

and a metal caboose along with

this 2026 steam engine and 3 metal cars.  I'm pretty sure they were all used when I got them for Christmas.

Got this Lionel SF set when I was 7.

Best Christmas ever had or will ever have.

I was seven.  Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, we had Higbees, May co and Halley’s down town department stores.  After Thanksgiving, each would have an entire floor full of toys.  Of course the best was the train area where there were Lionel and American Flyer layouts set up.  I’d stay there for hours watching them run and, of course, there were free catalogs.

Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  I pointed to the Lionel SF diesel  A-A and 4 beautiful aluminum passenger cars and said ‘that’.  At 90 bucks, mom said we can’t afford that.  Dad worked at Midland Ross steel and, if he made that in a week, he was lucky!

$90 in 1953 is over $932 in 2021: imagine spending that much on a seven year old, today, for one present!

I remember getting up that Christmas morning and seeing the large rectangular box all wrapped and knew exactly what it was.

As in ‘Christmas story’, that was the best Christmas I ever had, or ever will have.

And it still runs great!

Lionel always made high quality toys.  These trains run like they were made last year!  One can't say that about anything made 70 years ago!

Around 2000, I built this layout and added 'things' that I wanted as a kid.   

This Lionel NYC F-3 set pulling Williams NYC grey aluminum passenger cars is nice.  Lionel should have brought out a set like this.

Most of the items are post war.  A few are contemporary, ie h@ll gate bridge.  (website thinks that word is bad so makes it into Asterisks)

The PRR 6-8-6 671 is a 'back up'.  Surprised it doesn't pull as well as the 2035.

With my HO layout and RC planes in the summer, I'm only keeping what I had as a kid and the rest of the 3-rail items have been listed for sale.  About 17 grand has been sold but I still have quite a bit left for sale as listed below:

You can 'click' on each for lots of pictures and a description.

There's several nice MTH Premier engines and passenger sets available.

No reasonable offer refused!  (see shelve pictures at bottom)

Lionel lighted coaling tower 6-37912

https://ogrforum.com/...oaling-tower-6-37912

3 MTH premier engines: GN R-2 2-8-8-2, GN S-2 4-8-4, SF PA A-B-B-A set.

https://ogrforum.com/...-4-sf-pa-a-b-b-a-set

MTH Z-4000, DCS remote control system, DCS remote controller, TIU, Z-750 with remote controller

https://ogrforum.com/...th-remote-controller

Lionel circus car/corral, horse car/corral, cattle car/corral, barrel loader, barrel loader car, gateman shanty, twin bin coal dump car, crossing gate, merchandise car, crossing gate, crossing flasher, PA diesel, floodlight tower, billboard, bins

https://ogrforum.com/...tower-billboard-bins

Never out of the box stuff: MTH Railcon gon with coils, lionel 497 coaling station, 264 forklift platform, forklift car, 282R triple action magnet crane, 128 newstand, MTH sawmill

https://ogrforum.com/...newstand-mth-sawmill

Lionel culvert loader/unloader/car, starlite diner, Lionel sawmill, radar antenna, Gabe the lamplighter, MTH Gabe, Lionel #38 water tower, MTH log loader, Lionel rotary beacon, coal dump car, gondola's, lighted bumpers, MTH semaphore

https://ogrforum.com/...umpers-mth-semaphore

Lionel generator car, log dump car(2), animated newstand, cop/hobo gondola, control tower, forklift and car, poultry car, coal dump car, dispatching station, trestles, lumber loader, K-lined statue of liberty, MTH street lamps, operating coaling tower.

https://ogrforum.com/...rating-coaling-tower

MTH Railking Burlington Zephyr train, Lionel PRR 6-8-6, Williams 4 car passenger streamliners, Williams F-7's NP A-B-A and Lionels two sets of NP 4 aluminum passenger cars

https://ogrforum.com/...minum-passenger-cars

MTH railking Erie Lackawanna PA A-B-A set plus 6 passenger cars, 4 car set and 2 car set:

https://ogrforum.com/...-set-and-a-2-car-set

MTH railkind UP ABA set plus 9 passenger cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...ts-and-one-1-car-set

Lionel switches:

https://ogrforum.com/...-and-022-31-switches

Lionel transformers, etc.

https://ogrforum.com/...and-tmcc-to-tiu-cord

Freight cars and cabeese:

https://ogrforum.com/...ionel-weaver-16-cars

Williams GG-1's and cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...-set-and-a-2-car-set

MTH GN train set and cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...-dome-passenger-cars

Lionel 8 NP aluminum passenger cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...dome-passengers-cars

MTH 12 ore cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...ine-dmandir-ore-cars

NYC Hudson and 7 passenger cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...-side-passenger-cars

N&W J and 7 passenger cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...eight-passenger-cars

Burlington E-7's and  8 Zephyr passenger cars:

https://ogrforum.com/...ephyr-passenger-cars

MTH Erie E-7's and 8 passenger cars.

https://ogrforum.com/...lus-8-passenger-cars

Williams D&RGW F-3's:

https://ogrforum.com/...-pack-passenger-cars

All but a few items have their original boxes. 

Sam, I would say those brushes did a lot of work over 75 years!  Those are some very nice trains.  My dad told me a train set was too expensive for a Christmas gift and save my money.  I finally bought a Tyco HO set for $20 in 1968.  That was a lot for a 12 year old.

I 'hear you' Mark.

Lionel has always been expensive.  We had to rely on parents or relatives to pay for items.  I had a 'paper route' that helped me buy stuff.   Even today, buying a Lionel or MTH engine is $300-$2,000 and a lot of parents don't want to infest that much $$ if the child will lose interest.  Much easier to buy cheap stuff that gets ignored after a month or two and ends up in the trash or 'toy box'.  Lionel trains have always been something special that is handled with care, respected and past down from one generation to another.  I don't think there is any other toy like it.

Anytime any kids come over, they are always fascinated by it. They've never experience anything like that with all the motion and noise and 'actually' use your hands to 'do things' and there is no 'reset' if a mistake is made.  Plus, it's good that kids learn how to be creative and manipulate things.

Sam, you are right there isn’t another toy like it.

Truck loaded for the trip.

Had to remove one of the 1"X5" boards along one side so the 4'X8' would slide between the wheel wells.

Besides the layout they also get a riding engine and track that I picked up at a train show last Spring.

A full size truck wasn't big enough; had to put one box and the transformers in the passenger area.

They will be glad to see all that setup!!  have a great time!

Multiple 'stuff' done on delivering Grandkids 3-rail layout.  Mostly good with one minor bad.

Visited Greg's 3-rail layout that was North of Detroit:

He's installed two vertical lifts for internal access.

He made all his wall cabinets.

UP Big Boy and an SP AC-12 cab forward.

Lionel's GG-1 with pantograph sparks.

Americana: some nice buildings in Detroit.

Grandkids 3-rail layout plus a riding train from the 70's that I picked up at a train show last Spring.

Steve and I got it down the basement steps with no problems. Layout on the floor with grass carpet as a 'padding'.

There was a one day train show at Lima, Ohio.  It was just a few miles off I-75 on 'my way home' plus I needed gas, and a break so I visited the show.  2 buildings.

Surprised to see any one there that I knew as John from Cincinnati bought about a dozen items.

Jack and spouse was selling.

Dyed saw dust; don't see that very often.

Didn't think I'd find anything to buy BUT I did!  This gentleman has a couple dozen scratch built buildings so I bought 3.

Not sure where I'm going to put them but he did a very nice job on building them so I couldn't 'resist'.

Never insult a seller by asking if he will take less when they are already extremely cheap: 20 bucks each for the first two smaller ones and 30 bucks the the larger one.  Walls are all wood.

front views.

back views.

The one bad thing: There were around '60 mile winds' blowing on the way home on I-75 when my soft truck bed cover  failed at the door end and was flapping all 'over the place'.  Fortunately, I had a utility knife so I could cut the cover off at the front as I was unable to pull it off.  It was 18 years old.  It was a 'white knuckle' drive with wind gusts hitting the side of the vehicle and moving, sometimes, about 6 inches sideways, about every 30 seconds and most sever around 'over passes' and passing semi trucks.  I always drive with 2 hands on the wheel but it really needed 2 hands on the high way as both were needed to correct for the wind 'shears'.

What toothpaste looks like when you have 'small ones'!

Looks like a mostly successful trip. I assume the grand kids loved the layout?

The weather yesterday and today has been wicked. We're expecting t-storms and 40 mph gusts later here on LI. I feel terrible for those hit by the tornadoes last night.

Bob

That certainly was a jam packed train trip, Sam!  Greg’s layout looks great!  I’m glad to see the grandchildren with the trains!

NMRA MCR DIV 7 monthly meeting.

New meeting location.

Meeting and intro to next convention in Indy.

Dennis Malloy's layout.

Jerry Strangarity's layout

Frank brought some vintage old wooden cars to sell and I bought 8 of them.

Very nicely done kits from the 50's.

Very nice layouts!  Thank you for posting!

Nice O gauge 2 rail layout with scratch built prototype buildings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-7d1laEEz4

Excellent video on selling your trains online:

An NMRA video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3kGtilLVo4

At 75, I've accumulated a lot of 'stuff' over the decades: ie, RC planes, old cars, 3-rail trains and HO trains.

Over the last 5 years I've been 'whittling down' my inventory to a 'somewhat' more manageable amount of stuff.

All my old cars are gone, I've sold several of my RC planes that were becoming difficult to lift and most of my 3-rail trains.

I'm keeping those 3-rail that I got as a child but all the contemporary stuff is being sold.

The cars were sold via Hemmings auto with a charge of about 60 bucks for a 6 month listing for the USA.

The RC planes were sold via RCuniverse which has free listings.

The 3-rail has been sold via OGR which is free to list.

Selling via an auction house will, usually, cost you around 25% and a dealer will, usually, give you 25-50 cents on the dollar, or less; depending on whether it's 'good stuff or not'.  I've bought a lot of stuff via Ebay and there is no charge to buy things.  However, the seller has to pay about 12.5% which isn't bad compared to other venues.  It's an excellent selling/buying base, at least in my opinion.

Selling via OGR was very nice.  One can keep only members making offers, it's free to list but only one listing every 24 hours.

There is a lot of work involved selling items yourself.

1) must clean and test items.  I used 409 cleaner, a toothbrush and an air compressor to clean everything.

2)  must take lots of pictures of the item: this includes all flaws.  It's best to be honest and show all flaws as you want a happy buyer plus you want a good reputation.  Character is what you do when no one is looking!

3) All the pictures have to be edited to a reduced size.  I make folders of each item.  Once sold, my inventory list is updated, the folder is marked as 'sold' and the listing has to be updated.

4)  A receipt is made with FROM, TO, Subject and price plus shipping and insurance plus Paypal.  I note that an extra 3% is added if 'FF' is not used on Paypal.  It's a lot of work getting or making boxes for these items, especially when they are large and heavy and expensive.  For the most part, I only ship via UPS because I can get full insurance on the item whereas I don't believe that is true with USPS.   

5) For pricing, I usually go to ebay and list the item and then check the 'sold' listing to find actually selling prices and then I, usually, mark it below that price.  Remember this is a hobby, not an investment.  You've got to enjoy the product so don't expect to make a profit on it!  You, also, have to compare 'apples to apples'; if the items sold are 'like new' or 'mint' and your item is 'beat up', well, you get the picture!  My items sold were, usually, in excellent condition with the original boxes but I had one nice set of diesels but they didn't run so I marked them really low so they would sell.

For me it was worth my time as in the last month I sold around $9,000 ($17,000 in the last year) and an auction house of 25% is $2,250 and EBAY's 12.5% is $1,125.    The $17,000 would have been, respectively, $4,250 and $2,125.

Even if you do sell to an auction house or dealer, you're going to want to clean and test everything and inventory it to get the 'best dollar'.   And I hope you kept all the original boxes!  Besides a better price, it makes it much easier to ship.

Here's a sample of one of my listings:

https://ogrforum.com/...umpers-mth-semaphore

Sam, that is a great list of things to do to sell model trains.  Thank you!

@samparfitt posted:

Excellent video on selling your trains online:

An NMRA video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3kGtilLVo4

At 75, I've accumulated a lot of 'stuff' over the decades: ie, RC planes, old cars, 3-rail trains and HO trains.

Over the last 5 years I've been 'whittling down' my inventory to a 'somewhat' more manageable amount of stuff.

All my old cars are gone, I've sold several of my RC planes that were becoming difficult to lift and most of my 3-rail trains.

I'm keeping those 3-rail that I got as a child but all the contemporary stuff is being sold.

The cars were sold via Hemmings auto with a charge of about 60 bucks for a 6 month listing for the USA.

The RC planes were sold via RCuniverse which has free listings.

The 3-rail has been sold via OGR which is free to list.

Selling via an auction house will, usually, cost you around 25% and a dealer will, usually, give you 25-50 cents on the dollar, or less; depending on whether it's 'good stuff or not'.  I've bought a lot of stuff via Ebay and there is no charge to buy things.  However, the seller has to pay about 12.5% which isn't bad compared to other venues.  It's an excellent selling/buying base, at least in my opinion.

Selling via OGR was very nice.  One can keep only members making offers, it's free to list but only one listing every 24 hours.

There is a lot of work involved selling items yourself.

1) must clean and test items.  I used 409 cleaner, a toothbrush and an air compressor to clean everything.

2)  must take lots of pictures of the item: this includes all flaws.  It's best to be honest and show all flaws as you want a happy buyer plus you want a good reputation.  Character is what you do when no one is looking!

3) All the pictures have to be edited to a reduced size.  I make folders of each item.  Once sold, my inventory list is updated, the folder is marked as 'sold' and the listing has to be updated.

4)  A receipt is made with FROM, TO, Subject and price plus shipping and insurance plus Paypal.  I note that an extra 3% is added if 'FF' is not used on Paypal.  It's a lot of work getting or making boxes for these items, especially when they are large and heavy and expensive.  For the most part, I only ship via UPS because I can get full insurance on the item whereas I don't believe that is true with USPS.   

5) For pricing, I usually go to ebay and list the item and then check the 'sold' listing to find actually selling prices and then I, usually, mark it below that price.  Remember this is a hobby, not an investment.  You've got to enjoy the product so don't expect to make a profit on it!  You, also, have to compare 'apples to apples'; if the items sold are 'like new' or 'mint' and your item is 'beat up', well, you get the picture!  My items sold were, usually, in excellent condition with the original boxes but I had one nice set of diesels but they didn't run so I marked them really low so they would sell.

For me it was worth my time as in the last month I sold around $9,000 ($17,000 in the last year) and an auction house of 25% is $2,250 and EBAY's 12.5% is $1,125.    The $17,000 would have been, respectively, $4,250 and $2,125.

Even if you do sell to an auction house or dealer, you're going to want to clean and test everything and inventory it to get the 'best dollar'.   And I hope you kept all the original boxes!  Besides a better price, it makes it much easier to ship.

Here's a sample of one of my listings:

https://ogrforum.com/...umpers-mth-semaphore

Definitely a great comprehsive listing of info for downsizing inventory.

I look at this and it wears me out just in the reading Sam.     Thanks for taking the time to put this together. 👍