Any good charities a guy could donate a truck full of Lionel to? Ive got a Chevy Suburban load of Lionel from the late 80's early 90's that im getting rid of. Basically its the old collection, its in my way and i dont want to deal with selling it unless somebody wants to buy the whole load
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Ive never heard of them, are they associated with the Madoff Foundation?
At least here in Akron, we have the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, all of their events like day out with Thomas they have a big layout set up for everyone. If you have a scenic or historical society near you, they might take it. I imagine local Goodwill would take it as well and give you the tax write off for all of it.
Another thing to consider is it might be a nice donation to someone just starting out in trains that doesn't have much going on. Like you said, bulk discount or "put it to good use"
If you weren't so far, I'd offer to take it off your hands. 
You could maybe donate it to a local train show and they could raffle it off to a lucky kid? There are endless possibilities to use this to promote the hobby! Donate to a local children's hospital? Toys for tots and similar organizations will start collecting soon if they haven't already. Perfect timing with the holidays just around the corner! Just a few ideas to get you started
Cheers from the Frozen North!
Zach
A train club near you, like the NJHRs for example, may be able to help? (I didn't look for your location). They could connect with the people and help with distributing of the pieces?
A lot of these clubs provide a great resource for the hobby to grow and tying that with giving away stuff would be spectacular! I believe a lot of these clubs don't get much outside help. Running their trains for hours and hours, wearing out their stuff, providing a lot of labor, etc.
My train club has bigger fish to fry right now with losing their home for 30 years and having to move. I may hit em up
I know you don't want to deal with selling it, but it may be worth posting on the For Sale forum as a lot. There is a lot of folks out there (like me) with small budgets that may really benefit from a bunch of cheap Lionel stuff. But then charity is always good too! Either way, good luck to you and your club!
Nick
I might just do that, I've got an email to the TCMRRM to see if they want it to raise some money.
We take donations to run at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) here in Aurora, CO.
The RMH is a charity and not only would kids enjoy the trains you could take a tax deduction.
In the next year we are hoping to organize train set give-aways for kids who could use a lift. It would include Track, Transformer and Trains as well as small board to mount everything on.
I sent you an email
A children's hospital, get some of your friends together & build a bullet proof layout. same for a children's museum
gptom, that seems like the exact opposite of "dont want to deal with it"
How about Good Will? They'll give you a tax receipt and sell the stuff in their stores.
Matt,
Depends how you want to "donate" them. Are you looking for a home or a tax write off?
When did I say anything about tax write off. I thought my initial post was pretty straight forward. Ive already got a few likely candidates.
Your original post talks about making a donation to a charity. Whatever nobility might also be involved, typically when one thinks charitable donation they also think tax deduction. The 2 just go hand in hand. Whether one actually takes the deduction is totally up to them.
You've asked for suggestions and received several responses. Please don't complain about those responses when people are trying to help you. It's just not good form.
Best of luck to you in finding a charity to donate your trains
When did I say anything about tax write off. I thought my initial post was pretty straight forward. Ive already got a few likely candidates.
Matt, my apologies if the message came across incorrectly. It was not intended to offend.
Why not consign it to a e-bay seller and sell. Then take your end of the proceeds and donate it a charity of your choice.
Not a big deal, Im just looking for some ideas on what to do with all this stuff. Some little kid could take over his house with Lionel tubular track and run a bunch of trains with this stuff. Its so much stuff i dont want to spend too much time dealing with it. I dont care if it goes to charity for free or to somebody who wants it all for paltry sum. I just need to get rid of it
Matt, ScrapIron was talking about donations for trains for kids this Christmas season, might want to see if he'll take it off your hands.
Here's a link to the forum post.
Jerry
Matt,
There is a guy here in OKC who has a charity with the goal of bringing free train sets and boxes of toys to families in need during the holidays.Takes any scale, any condition (and repairs them if needed). Realize it's a long way down I-35 from you but maybe something could be figured out...
http://operationchristmastrainset.org
redrockbill
redrockbill
Thanks guys, you've all given me some great ideas. Now I just have to pick one
xferyard posted:We take donations to run at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) here in Aurora, CO.
The RMH is a charity and not only would kids enjoy the trains you could take a tax deduction.
In the next year we are hoping to organize train set give-aways for kids who could use a lift. It would include Track, Transformer and Trains as well as small board to mount everything on.
John,
Would the "wall wart" transformers from sets such as the Lionel Ready To Run Sets be of value to the RMH for making up the train sets?
A children's hospital, get some of your friends together & build a bullet proof layout. same for a children's museum
Great idea, but check with your local hospital(s) first. They may not be able to accept such a gift, due to space or not wanting an electrically operated item.
This was a ways back, but when my club wanted to donate electric trains, our local children's hospital could not accept them. We donated a large Brio set in its place.
Dennis GS-4 N & W No. 611 posted:xferyard posted:We take donations to run at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) here in Aurora, CO.
The RMH is a charity and not only would kids enjoy the trains you could take a tax deduction.
In the next year we are hoping to organize train set give-aways for kids who could use a lift. It would include Track, Transformer and Trains as well as small board to mount everything on.John,
Would the "wall wart" transformers from sets such as the Lionel Ready To Run Sets be of value to the RMH for making up the train sets?
Yes, Absolutely!
Finding a home for unwanted trains has been an ongoing problem for many it seems.
Our club takes donated track, transformers and 027 trains and builds layouts for the local foster kids society. We buy an unfinished hollow 36 inch door, lay a oval with siding, then populate the layout with whatever building, accessories or things we have. So far this year we have built 7 of these, and hope to build many more in the years to come.
Ron_S posted:Finding a home for unwanted trains has been an ongoing problem for many it seems.
Our club takes donated track, transformers and 027 trains and builds layouts for the local foster kids society. We buy an unfinished hollow 36 inch door, lay a oval with siding, then populate the layout with whatever building, accessories or things we have. So far this year we have built 7 of these, rand hope to build many more in the years to come.
Ron, give me a call at 609-289-9245 so I can donate my trains. Dave P.
<salute!> nicely done
Matt,
Have you considered the Children's Museum in Indianapolis? They have a large collection and display of model trains. I spoke with them at one point about donating some of my stuff for the exact same reasons you mentioned and they were good to work with.
https://www.childrensmuseum.org/
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