About four years ago I made a phone call regarding a Craigslist ad about old trains for sale. A woman told me that her daughter had placed the ad to help her clear things out. She said the old trains were still in boxes somewhere in a cluttered shed, and she would call me back in a day or two after they got them out.
When she called back she said she had decided not to sell the old trains, for sentimental reasons. They had belonged to her now-deceased son.
Eight months later, this woman called me again to say she was ready to sell the old trains. I had forgotten all about it and was surprised that she still had my number. She was unable to give me a good description of the trains but I got a few car and loco numbers for reference. I was curious enough to want to take a look, although I suspected they were ordinary items in mostly poor condition. I arranged to visit with my elderly train friend Ed who knows old trains better than I.
When we met the lady she explained that she had inoperable cancer, admitted she was a lifelong hoarder, and said she had finally decided it was time to start clearing things out so that her husband wouldn't be overloaded with it all. She appeared to be in her 60's. My friend Ed said he was currently undergoing cancer treatment. I said my brother had died of cancer at age 25. So we could all relate in terms of personal and family misfortune.
She also told us how auctioneers would take a very large cut plus leftovers to do an estate sale, so she was getting ready to do her own sale. Ed and I related how we had had to do similar tasks for aging parents, and what a huge job it is, but also a great relief to sell things off to other folks who can use them. So we could all relate to that.
Then we looked at the trains, about four boxes worth laid out in the kitchen area. Most of it was pretty rough, well used, rusty and long neglected. Ed and I looked them over because we are always interested to figure out the heritage of old trains. The locos were Lionel 1061 and 1120 and a Marx 333 and E7. The track was all Marx, there were several prewar switches in poor condition, four old transformers, the cars were mostly Marx, and various miscellaneous items mostly in poor condition.
The main items of interest to me were five 3/16 scale Marx metal cars, rather scratched and dirty but not seriously beat-up. However, I realized that she needed to sell it all off as a complete lot, and I did not want to pester her with pick-and-choose offers on individual items. The boxes were heaped with stuff and we didn't drag it all out because the whole house was cluttered with stuff, and we didn't suspect anything particularly valuable in there.
I tactfully and plainly told the lady that the items were all pretty rough and not especially valuable. I explained that Ed and I already had stuff like this and that these items needed considerable work to attempt restoration, which Ed was capable of, but these weren't items that we particularly wanted. I suggested that she could ask $75 as a fair price for the whole lot for the next potential buyer who came along, and Ed agreed with my figure. It was maybe a bit high but I didn't want to sound too cheap. If she had offered them to us at half that price, I would have politely declined.
Then she surprised me by promptly offering it all for $30, saying resignedly, "I need it gone." It was taking up space in her kitchen and the whole house was overflowing with stuff, ditto the garage and shed and back yard. I decided we would be helping her to pack it off, and $30 wasn't going to hurt me, and I could find some items of interest in there.
She also gave me some very large tomatoes from her garden; she had an overabundance of them on the kitchen counter. More surplus that she wanted to move out. They proved to be the best tomatoes I had eaten all year.
Ed good-naturedly razzed me about all the broken-down old stuff that I had unexpectly acquired: "It's all yours!"
After I got the stuff home and sorted through it some more, I discovered I had the components of an uncataloged Firestone set #19338 from 1964. That is a low-end set with a cheap 1061 Scout engine, but the interesting feature is that the olive drab caboose and gondola are somewhat rare. There were also five moderately good Marx 3/16" scale cars. A Marx 333 loco was in rough shape, missing all the drive rods. A Lionel 1120 loco looked pretty sad. One box was filled with rusty Marx track with O27 and O34 curves. There were enough items of interest to make me happy.
I suspect the woman was more interested in having the items go to people who showed enough interest to give the old trains a home. Maybe it's not always about getting top dollar.
It took me a couple years to work though that stuff and find certain replacement parts. The Lionel 1061, Lionel 1120, and Marx 333 are all repaired now and run great. The Marx E7 had a badly busted shell but I used it for a kitbashing project. The Marx 3/16 cars needed rusty wheels cleaned and now run regularly. I salvaged some of the rusty track and switches.
My train buddy Ed died of bone cancer three years ago. He was in the Navy and witnessed atmospheric H-bomb tests at Enewetak in 1958 (Operation Hardtack). These trains remind me of some of the laughs we had together. And I think about the family who originally had these trains so many years ago.
Some of the items, as received.
Marx 333 with die-cast tender needed a lot of work but now runs well.
Battered Lionel 1120 loco needed a good cleaning. It's a die-cast body with Lionel's replacement metal motor and 3-position E-unit. I made the front coupler for double-heading.
Lionel 1061 Scout is repaired and running. The pilot was busted so I improvised a replacement. I converted it from an 0-4-0 into a 2-4-2, also added drive rod with crosshead and guides.
Marx E7 was a wreck with a busted shell, but I kitbashed it with a Lionel switcher chassis.
One of the mystery items, a home-made switch !
