The Lash Collection...

"Did he ever run DCS?" Yes indeed he did.

PCJ,

Is it just locomotives/rolling stock?

Dave

A little of both.

https://cabinfeverauctions.bid...m/ui/auctions/119702

I guess Tony isn’t going to build another layout. I met him one time at York years ago. Really nice guy.

Corrected link: https://cabinfeverauctions.bid...m/ui/auctions/119524

Tony's pieces start around lot number 370 (as per the slider on the bottom of the screen--or the last three digits of the lot number) and stretch to the end of the auction.

Looks like a 'thinning the herd' operation, unless more in the wings for future auctions.

---PCJ

You can also use the search term 'Lash' which will have the side effect of popping up an auction for flash cubes.

Anyone actually know how he is doing these days? It's been 10+ years since I last talked to him, right before he was selling the business.

@RailRide posted:

1. Did he ever run DCS?

He was an early backer of MTH and DCS. Many speculated that he was financially backing them at one point. At the same time the Lionel/MTH lawsuit was going on, and Tony was right there in the trenches. Let's just say thing were heated 😤 🔥 🔥  then.

When DCS finally hit the market. There was a picture posted of him with the first set released in the US.

I met Tony at York, and though I was known for lobbing a few bombs in the brand wars, Tony and I quickly got on friendly terms. A great guy actually

@poconotrain posted:

I guess Tony isn’t going to build another layout. I met him one time at York years ago. Really nice guy.

@cbojanower posted:

Anyone actually know how he is doing these days? It's been 10+ years since I last talked to him, right before he was selling the business.

Sometime post-covid, I saw some of his younger family members (grandchildren?) at York so I assume he was there, but did not see him.  He is no longer listed in the TCA directory.

@cbojanower posted:

He was an early backer of MTH and DCS. Most speculated that he was financially backing it at one point. At the same time the Lionel/MTH lawsuit was going on, and Tony was right there in the trenches. Let's just say thing we're heated 😤 🔥 🔥  then.

When DCS finally hit the market. There was a picture posted of him with the first set released in the US.

I met Tony at York, and though I was known for lobbing a few bombs in the brand wars, Tony and I quickly got on friendly terms. A great guy actually

After re-examining the locomotives in the auction, I saw no shortage of PS2 and PS3 units (you had to look for the absence of the QSI logo on the box ends). I was under the assumption that this was a "herd reduction" operation and it would make sense that the Proto-1 locos would be the first to be subject to that. I had not heard that Tony's no longer listed as a TCA member.

---PCJ

@RailRide posted:

I had not heard that Tony's no longer listed as a TCA member.

I thought I saw on the TCA's member web site that you can opt out of being listed in the member directory.  I tried logging in to confirm or disprove this, but am unable to log in right now because the Captcha verification isn't working right now.

Andy

I was fortunate to run into Tony at my first York meet in October 2008. He did say he was planning on building a new layout after the one at Consolidated Waste was taken down, and he was planning on using both DCS and (then new) LEGACY, but that was all I heard about him directly since.

I don't have an interest in the auction, though the mention of Tony Lash and his layout brings back a good memory. It was many years ago ~ circa 2002 or so, a group of Pennsylvania Trainaholics made the trip to MD to see Tony's magnificent layout, which had been pre-arranged by Bill Morlitz, who has since passed away. In appreciation of Tony's time, we gave him a new MTH Premier boxcar, PRR livery if I recall, and inside the car was a picture of our little group, scaled down to approximate 1:48 scale, to appear as hobos riding the high iron. I suppose somewhere that boxcar with its merry little band of Pennsylvania train nuts hitching a ride still exists. BTW: we also brought Hoagies for lunch Now I am hungry for a Hoagie, extra oil and hot peppers, with extra sharp provolone.

A bunch of the old AOLers group went to Tony’s place on a Sunday morning to see the layout in operation. He then gave us the grand tour of the basement where he stored his collection in various rooms. I will say that he had a LOT of trains!

Regardless, Tony was and is a true gentleman in this hobby.  

I won a bid for a pair of boxcars from the collection. I grossly overpaid when you add up my bid, the auctioneer fee, and the shipping. I read on the forum multiple references to "reasonable" shipping from Cabin Fever now that they handled it inhouse. Raise your hand if you think $41 is reasonable for 2 boxcars shipped from PA to CT. I'm looking at PirateShip.com and having a hard time getting above $12.

I have only myself to blame for winning. I miscalculated the all-in cost, and I also screwed up by making my high bid the bid instead of a max bid against any competitor. I noticed with each day added to retirement, I am getting closer to qualifying as a moron. Pulled out of the gas station last month with the hose still in the gas tank.

Still, happy to have a small piece of Tony Lash's collection in the house. He left them in the box. We intend to run them and throw the box away. The value has dropped already. I told you I'm a moron.

That’s an issue with Auction Houses, high fees and shipping. Iv had it happen before. If you are lucky enough to live close enough you are better to pick it up.

@Mooner posted:

I won a bid for a pair of boxcars from the collection. I grossly overpaid when you add up my bid, the auctioneer fee, and the shipping. I read on the forum multiple references to "reasonable" shipping from Cabin Fever now that they handled it inhouse. Raise your hand if you think $41 is reasonable for 2 boxcars shipped from PA to CT. I'm looking at PirateShip.com and having a hard time getting above $12.

My 'win' was a pair of unopened four-bay coal hoppers that should be about the same size/weight as a pair of boxcars. I saw the hi-cube boxcars escalate to silly amounts, but that always happens with those particular boxcars, regardless of the source. My bid reached $95, premium was $15 and change. USPS shipping was $18.24 to NYC, plus packing materials (i.e. the box and any bubble-wrap, both likely by Uline) was 5.45. A bit spicy in total as you say, but to have a small part of his collection meant something. I'm keeping my boxes though. Boxes stack better than freight cars

Most of the stuff I'm looking at in the upcoming MTH warehouse auction will probably not bid up anywhere near that high, but being unboxed, those items will incur more fees for packing materials.

---PCJ

@RailRide posted:

Most of the stuff I'm looking at in the upcoming MTH warehouse auction will probably not bid up anywhere near that high, but being unboxed, those items will incur more fees for packing materials.

---PCJ

Didn't that happen already?

@cbojanower posted:

Didn't that happen already?

There is one currently running --> Cabin Fever

Never met him personally but about 12 years ago, he sent me a HUGE box Filled with Lionel O Gauge Tubular Track and  3 Pairs of Lionel 072 Switches, all in near perfect condition from his Temporary Layout he was taking down and offering the track to anyone who wanted it.  .

@cbojanower posted:

Didn't that happen already?

I thought by now they had gone through everything, but as mentioned, there is another one posted with a whopping 718 lots, closing May 8th.

Boy, they had a lot squirreled away in that warehouse

(Also, stuff that got zero bids will reappear in subsequent auctions, like those Samhongsa anniversary coffee mugs)

---PCJ

@RailRide posted:

My 'win' was a pair of unopened four-bay coal hoppers that should be about the same size/weight as a pair of boxcars. I saw the hi-cube boxcars escalate to silly amounts, but that always happens with those particular boxcars, regardless of the source. My bid reached $95, premium was $15 and change. USPS shipping was $18.24 to NYC, plus packing materials (i.e. the box and any bubble-wrap, both likely by Uline) was 5.45. A bit spicy in total as you say, but to have a small part of his collection meant something. I'm keeping my boxes though. Boxes stack better than freight cars

Most of the stuff I'm looking at in the upcoming MTH warehouse auction will probably not bid up anywhere near that high, but being unboxed, those items will incur more fees for packing materials.

---PCJ

@Mooner posted:

I won a bid for a pair of boxcars from the collection. I grossly overpaid when you add up my bid, the auctioneer fee, and the shipping. I read on the forum multiple references to "reasonable" shipping from Cabin Fever now that they handled it inhouse. Raise your hand if you think $41 is reasonable for 2 boxcars shipped from PA to CT. I'm looking at PirateShip.com and having a hard time getting above $12.

I have only myself to blame for winning. I miscalculated the all-in cost, and I also screwed up by making my high bid the bid instead of a max bid against any competitor. I noticed with each day added to retirement, I am getting closer to qualifying as a moron. Pulled out of the gas station last month with the hose still in the gas tank.

Still, happy to have a small piece of Tony Lash's collection in the house. He left them in the box. We intend to run them and throw the box away. The value has dropped already. I told you I'm a moron.

Generally, it's hard to guestimate shipping costs because UPS/FedEx shipping is often more dependent on dimensions than weight. A solid-brass diesel locomotive in that perfect rectangular box is WAY cheaper than a five-car MTH set in that picture frame-shaped box.

I order from Cabin Fever a lot (ship to NYC). I think their shipping rates are reasonable when you get more things. It seems like they use the same boxes no matter what you buy. If you only buy one boxcar, you get a big box full of packing peanuts. I've never paid less than $30 on shipping. One time I won 1 lot and it was $40-ish. The next week, I won 7 lots and it was $50.  Anything that's in a purple or orange box will ship easily. If it's in a shipper or no box at all, expect the worst. I figure it costs about $80 to drive there and back, so I use that to judge my options. I drove out there once.

My new rule is, outside of Cabin Fever and Stout, I only bid at places I can get away with driving to while at work. Much to my chagrin, I have made purchases at other auction houses and had to have a local UPS store box and ship my items which usually costs more than the items themselves!

If the auction houses use a UPS Store to do the shipping, I know for a fact that in my area (Cincinnati), the UPS Store charges about double vs. the actual UPS drop-off location.  This is for an item that is already boxed, ready to ship.  If the UPS Store needs to use its own box, peanuts, etc. then the price can really escalate.

@Bob posted:

If the auction houses use a UPS Store to do the shipping, I know for a fact that in my area (Cincinnati), the UPS Store charges about double vs. the actual UPS drop-off location.  This is for an item that is already boxed, ready to ship.  If the UPS Store needs to use its own box, peanuts, etc. then the price can really escalate.

Agreed! Total nightmare every time. Most of them are franchises and can charge whatever they want. They usually want to see the invoice too, which I'm sure guides their made-up prices.

Occasionally I do find a sale that makes it worth it. I bought my Acela at auction for a little over $700.  It was still in the original shipping box. I paid a ridiculous $180 in shipping via a UPS store local to the auction house, but even after the auction house premium, I paid less than $1K. That unicorn circumstance is the only way I'll use the UPS Store.

I've 'won' a few lots at both Cabin Fever and Stout, but that's few and far between.  With the buyer's premium, shipping, handling(!), packaging costs and tax, I'm surprised at how high the lots generally sell for.

@poconotrain posted:

I guess Tony isn’t going to build another layout. I met him one time at York years ago. Really nice guy.

I met him once many years ago during an OGR tour to see his layout. Super nice guy. I was just looking on CFA and there are a lot of his items for auction going off on 12/02. I guess he had so many items he had more to sell. Does anyone know why he is selling so much of his collection?

https://cabinfeverauctions.bid...m/ui/auctions/131398

Curious to see that things of his are still being sold, given that he dismantled his layout, retired and moved to Florida 8-9 years ago, as I understood it.

I remember visiting his layout multiple times back in the day when OGR sponsored trips on Wednesday the day before York started.  Great guy and gracious host.  I hope he's doing well.

-Greg

In my personal opinion his interest in trains ended when his investment in MTH ended and he retired.

I agree with Greg. He was a really gracious host during those OGR Tours which I did attend one of them. I hope he didn't get caught up in that mentality that model trains were an investment.

I would be surprised to hear he totally lost his interest in trains because on one of the videos he tells the story of how his grandfather took him for a cab ride in a steam engine. I would think those memories are dear to his heart but on the other hand I guess he is older now and maybe he realizes that no one in his family desires such a large collection? Or the up keep of the collection was too much for him? Just speculating but whatever his situation is I wish him all the best. Health and Happiness in retirement Tony.

The infamous Tony Lash, owner of a large waste control company, had a huge train layout, in a room outside of his office, where he could go into, shut the door, and forget his problems running long beautiful trains. He had over a mile of track, nicely laid, with super long runs, passenger and freight consist. His turntable was made by AAA, super expensive, 36 inch bridge, almost entirely MTH, actually, he could have been considered a subsidiary of MTH he had so much. He ran trains convectional as most of his trains were Proto 1. Just prior to DCS. OGR did a beautiful video of his layout, (as they did of Marty Fitzhenry), and TM may have done a video to, not sure. Either way, his layout was professionally built, well landscaped, and very desirable. I think Mike Wolfe and Tony were great friends. Thanks for bringing this topic for our review.

Larry, I believe Tony's turntable was from Vernon Peachey (Model Railroad Custom Benchwork) in Virginia, not from AAA Precision Turntables in Connecticut.  Either one is way out of my price range! 

@Bob Bartezek, Bob thanks for chiming in, I’m sure Vernon Peacheys company built the layout, however I may be mistaken about the turntable, but it was a heck of a layout. I’ll plead the 5th on the turntable, but I will re-watch the video. Happy Railroading Everyone

@leapinlarry posted:

but it was a heck of a layout.  Happy Railroading Everyone

I agree. I remember reading in CTT that he paid $60,000 for the parts and labor to install all the trees on the layout!!

This was an awesome day. MTH Tour & Tony’s layout. One of my favorite York trips. Miss those days.

From my perspective, his structures were museum quality and built by some of the best modelers, e.g., Howard Zane, Vernon Peachy, among others. That'd be awesome if Tony is using them in a new layout.

To my recollection, Tony Lash's former layout was filmed by OGR, TM, and Tracks Ahead, all DVDs which I still have.

I never met the man but I recently won a DMIR gp38-2 at the last auction. Drove over and picked it up yesterday and put in on the track. Put her on the track …. Entered it into the DCS off and running. Checked the Info …. no miles , no hours. Thanks Tony

The OGR tours to Tony's were wonderful.  He was very gracious in his welcoming all the bus loads.  My understanding was that he was an MTH DCS beta tester as well as the lead individual of a group that purchased MTH products in bulk for a discounted price (not verified). Tony Lash's Ogage Layout - ClarityPhotos is a link to my website with photos of his layout.

@Captain John posted:

This was an awesome day. MTH Tour & Tony’s layout. One of my favorite York trips. Miss those days.

I sure do miss them, as well! Truly great and very memorable times, plus a whole lot of fun.