No, it's not mine. If it was, the trains wouldn't be for sale.
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Nice story and from the article, it looks like the sellers will be neighbors (so to speak).
I have never understood people who do this.
Any real hobbyist is going to look at that and think, “That’s not exactly what I would do,” even if it was the scale-gauge they wanted. Sure, there are some layouts I’d love to buy the house and change next to nothing, but I could count those on my hands and have fingers left over. For example: http://laughingsquid.com/railw...s-own-mini-railroad/ But even here, though I love the G scale layout and probably wouldn’t change anything (except maybe rebuild an area into a representation of Chama), the live steam size stuff is really smaller than I’d like. If I went to all that trouble, I’d have to have something I could ride in, not on.
That's my point. Though I never liked building a layout all that much, it's a necessary evil because when you're done, you're not making do with someone else's concept.
The article said $180k. You can have the collection now for $140k
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lifeti...;hash=item43deb9f78b
The fees, the fees, OMG the fees on $140k to ebay!
well, all I have to do now is hit the lottery and I'm good to go.....
Looking beyond, which I could not, the security problem possible by blowing this out
to the world, everybody's taste in about anything, is rarely cloned by someone else.
(the reason I have only occasionally bought even a car out of recent catalogs) So
people are going to look at it and think, "I have to pay that much more and then
clean out this room?", or, "Gee, look at all of the (fill the square with roadname) stuff
I have to pay for, and then sell off". And then I have no clue how many other three
railers could and would move to or around Delmar. If his daughter typed a list, I
hope she, probably is, is computer literate and can shanghai helpers to load all of it
into internet auctions. With the collection offered separately, only a large dealer/auction house is going to want all of it.....and probably well below the $140K.
All I see is a lot of dusting of old trains. Maybe 30 years ago be could move them but today I'm not sure how many real train collectors are left.
I wonder if he has all the boxes?
quote:I'm not sure how many real train collectors are left.
Based on what I see on EBay, there are still people who are willing to pay significant sums for the right item.
Wow! What a collection! The price is now 110k. After 40 years of collecting, I can only imagine how hard it would be to give up his collection. Below is video of his train room.
Not sure if/how the collection will sell, but I'd give him 6 months in his new place before he starts a new layout.
BURFLE, it's right in your neighborhood. You have the money, buy it.
Nice collection and layout. Must be difficult to part with all this after spending 40 years to accumulate it. Surely it would make someone happy?
As for investment, I would never consider trains as an investment. Collection or for enjoyment yes, investment no.
As for investment, I would never consider trains as an investment. Collection or for enjoyment yes, investment no.
Good point. We live in a "American pickers" culture now where people think that everything they have is priceless. And when they try to sell it, most of the time they get the cold reality hitting them like a hammer, finding out the stuff rarely is even worth as much to others as it is to you, and hardly ever more than its worth to you.
Houses appreciate in value, train collections do not.
That train collection is guaranteed to ensure a lower selling price for the owner than if he cleaned out the collection first.
As for investment, I would never consider trains as an investment. Collection or for enjoyment yes, investment no.
Good point. We live in a "American pickers" culture now where people think that everything they have is priceless. And when they try to sell it, most of the time they get the cold reality hitting them like a hammer, finding out the stuff rarely is even worth as much to others as it is to you, and hardly ever more than its worth to you.
I see this happen pretty regularly. I visit my LHS every week. They also sell old trains, both pre and post war, in addition to new trains. About every other visit or so someone comes in with a box of old trains thinking they are going to make a killing. LHS owner seldom even makes an offer, tells them they might be good for parts or they could try selling on ebay, but he has no interest in them. He says the market for them around here has just about vanished and they sell very few old items now.
quote:That train collection is guaranteed to ensure a lower selling price for the owner than if he cleaned out the collection first.
Yes, I think he will have to pack up the trains and dismantle the layout in order to sell the house.
Yep.
Try going to a comic book store and selling you old comics. Nobody is buying anymore.
I'm now convinced that when it comes to pretty much any hobbies, it's all a first-owner hobby market. There's simply no secondary market to speak of, not in a way that'll make you money, anyway...
Beautiful Story... Beautiful house, beautiful trains and a beautiful guy.
Very interesting story, hope it works.
Gary • Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway
Click on Photo to enlarge.......
There is always a market for old trains. Sellers will just have to accept much less than they paid for the item unless it is very unusual. K-Line aluminum passenger cars seem to be an example of train cars that have gone up in value. Most items are dropping in value.
NH Joe
I know numerous people that would buy just the trains. (Not including me)
I know numerous people that would buy just the trains. (Not including me)
Yeah, if the price were lower. Nobody is going to drop that kind of dime and end up with a bunch of duplicates or triples, stuff they don't want, etc.
That's the problem with trying to sell a collection in bulk all at once: your vision for your collection is far from someone else's.
Accumulating a 1000 car collection would make the gentleman twice as crazy as I. Asking $180,000 $140,000 $110,000 makes him at least ten times more ambitious than I.
What, me worry?
Some folks are marveling at the size of his collection.
According to the article, Dr. Winn has been collecting trains since the age of 7.
I believe he is now around 80.
That's 73 years.
let's discount his years in college, dental school, and starting his practice, and say he's been actively collecting for 50-55 years.
His EBay listing puts the value at "over $200,000".
That averages out to about $4,000 per year.
He has around 1,000 pieces, that's only 20 pieces per year.
He has a nice house, in a very nice town, and I am certain he has a lot of other nice things. So I expect he was able to afford them.
Does not seem excessive to me.
From his listing:
"All have been carefully catalogued on 48 pages and valued through the Greenberg standard. It's estimated value is over $200,000.00."
Does anyone care what is listed in the Greenberg?
I bet he never sells it and his heirs dump the collection for $10k to a service like Trainz.
Yep.
Try going to a comic book store and selling you old comics. Nobody is buying anymore.
I'm now convinced that when it comes to pretty much any hobbies, it's all a first-owner hobby market. There's simply no secondary market to speak of, not in a way that'll make you money, anyway...
Yep.
Try going to a comic book store and selling you old comics. Nobody is buying anymore.
I'm now convinced that when it comes to pretty much any hobbies, it's all a first-owner hobby market. There's simply no secondary market to speak of, not in a way that'll make you money, anyway...
I got the idea from talking to the owner of my LHS every week for the last four years or so. He buys and sells used trains, I do not. This is strictly a hobby for me. I have had much better luck purchasing new so that is what most of mine are or were when purchased anyway. It is all just for fun here, I am not expecting to make anything in the way of profit off of any of it.
To Adman
• Suggestion - Hi Alan, you should give his realtor a call and see if he /she would want to put an add in OGR Forum Magazine or Forum. I do recall this working with a realtor that sold a house in Colorado, with a live steam layout in the backyard. This was in Live Steam & Outdoor Railroading Magazine. C.R.S.
Gary
Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway
The Turtle Line
Gentlemen,
If the house and trains were in Potter County, instead of NY I could see purchasing it.
PCRR/Dave
They're trying to give away a 25x25 Lionel layout and trains out here in Los Angeles with free relocation of the layout (Los Angeles area). The catch is it has to be set up where children can enjoy it -- i.e., some public display.
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