Self Realization about the Hobby, Michael's tread hit me.

Don,

Are you sure they had trains when you were young.  Did they have electricity?

Matt

Wind up. Smart a..

Love you guys. Don

Besides running LGB in the yard, a carpet O gauge layout in an entire bedroom, I have a lot of American Flyer 1948 to 1952 era. I never run it, but can't quite sell it. When I look at it does bring back good memories of building layouts as a kid. Of course, I have all the Flyer stuff I had as a kid, but also all the stuff I wished could of had.

Its a real eye opener when you think about it. This stuff will be around in great shape long after we have been around. I have some prewar American flyer that is in better shape than me!

Hey scale rail, your follow up makes me feel like a cyber-grand dad. When I look at post war stuff I try to find cars that I can verify were made in my birth year, 1949.

I only have a couple so far.

Another symptom of my malaise (switching trains of thought here) is the prominent and too obvious layer of dust that covers some of my static rolling stock.

GenY and GenX is not going to be interested in this stuff when their Grandparents and parents pass on.  Each time a check what's on Craigslist I have to laugh when I see a pile of rusty old lionel trains and tracks at $2500.00  Those who care think they have a gold mine and those that dont will see no value in keeping this stuff.  There is one exception to this in that I have met a few who have a set handed down that they want to get running.  It is all very common stuff.  I tell them fix it up, run it and keep it for you cause it was something from your parents or grandparents, but dont plan of making much off it - as each year passes the value goes down.  Enjoy the memories.

For years I heard "you are one of the youngest people at the show or in the hobby." I remember hearing it at 21, then 31, then 41 and now even at close to 51." Now I am grey haired and do not have a lot of it. This is an aging hobby but let's hope we age well and age with good health.

all the best,

Miketg

I am 71, on dialysis (going on NINE years), have two heart stents in the LAD artery (widowmaker), and am still going strong! 

Been in all gauges (started with Flyer S) over many decades and am still not bored! 

As they say Don,time allways flys when your having fun.

HAY DON!  What was Jesus really like? 

Pete

What becomes unmanageable in my case goes into a box and then the boxes accumulated to themselves becoming unmanagable as dead storage, then it was time to think about what can be displayed versus what is hidden without a purpose. Then I thought, it was the act of acquisition itself, ownership by possession that was the ""high" and afterword, what I acquired many of which just became "things" without a purpose. Then I thought, who is going to clean this stuff up when I am dead? I have diabetes, had a heart attack, blah, blah, blah..My wife told me she has no idea of what anything is worth. That's when I woke up from the wanting everything without anything specific in mind. I remembered the old bromide...all things in moderation. I think I fit somewhere between a hoarder, a collector and simply trying to compensate and substitute a sort of lost opportunity of youth.I can still enjoy the hobby, which I do but no more collecting without a focus and most importantly some form of organizing this stuff. It just got ridiculous. 

Looking at your flat car Don reminded me of what really nice pieces these old trains really are. I had Flyer as a boy (will be 70 next summer) and see now that the Lionel trains were far better detailed than the Gilbert items, nice as they were too. I didn't realize until I got back into trains in 1889 that S was significantly smaller than O gauge either. It took both hands to carry my PRR K5 - I can only imagine what a Lionel F3 felt like to lift and move around when you were 6 or 7 years old!

Also interesting is that the flat car 2411 shown by Don was done by Lionel to commemorate a pipeline used to ship oil during the war (that would be World war II).  Nazi subs were taking out oil tankers in the Atlantic and this pipeline sent the oil overland.  The pipeline was called the big inch and this was the nickname that Lionel gave the flat car.

I'm (70) and have flash-backs to the Civil War! I started out with American Flyer and really enjoyed the size vs. Lionel. But, I now can appreciate what my Lionel friends were always chiding me about (detail). A lot of the 40's and 50's Lionel looks pretty good today. Anyone up for a big helping of "bakelite" Madison cars?

Woe is me I never got to run my ancient Southern Freight, Lionel Service Station Special.

But I know of a very young fella that can make up for my neglect.

where are you selling?

Another perspective: America is a young nation. To us Americans, sixty years seems like a long-time. But in other places, the early modern era may be 1500. Some civilizations go back thousands of years. Seen in this context, sixty years is the blink of an eye. Further, geologic time is even longer, compared to human recorded history, measured in hundreds of millions and billions of years. So, we have our place in  the scope of things, we enjoy it and we pass the torch to the next generation. Therefore, run your trains. No need to think.