Unwelcome Milestone in Collecting?

Yes.  I have not made any progress on the permanent layout in over a year.  But I keep buying stuff and the unopened boxes are piling up.  Some of it is New In Box(Aerotrain with PS3!!!), some of it new to me, but most of it still resting peacefully in the box farm in my basement. 

The best part is when you open up a box and realize that what you are opening is a duplicate of something else you already have!!!  Doh!!

Michael,

I'm not a collector, but if I got upset when my closet had unopened items in it, I'd be in big trouble!

Closet items are good deals, items for future plans, "had to have its", etc.

Lots of track pieces for layout ideas yet to be built. (I like to put together new small layouts - one for Halloween, my pizza layout, small kids layout for our club, etc.)

If MTH made all roadnames all the time, I would just get 'em when I needed them, but lots of items only come around every 10 years (or less) so I get while they are available.

My suggestion: relax - and get a bigger closet!

Ed

Do you guys think there is something wrong with being a collector?

I'd guess that a lot of collectors started out as operators (or armchair operators), and slowly transitioned into collecting by purchasing more product than they could use.

There are plenty of people who both collect and operate.

Also being an operator, I'm reaching the same realization, Michael. Over the years locomotives, rolling stock, and buildings have built up in numbers. Seems buildings were always too many in number, and sitting in the attic. This year, I looked around and saw so many locomotives that haven't hit the rails in the last year. Tough decision to come to, but half a dozen have been boxed, and will go to York with me to new homes.

As I write this, I realize that I have become a collector, and not a current runner. ALL MY STUFF is closeted.  As the time approaches to start my train room, I realize, like many other folks, that I have indeed, OVERBOUGHT.  I will ultimately run between 8 and 10 trains, on the layout, still roaming around in my head.  I know for sure that I have 14 trains to fulfill my needs, hence my OVERBOUGHT statement.  Track, transformers, trains all surpass my needs.  Buildings are another story.

I had plans for a town, but my ideas have changed.  I have many buildings, and building kits, little people, accessories, lights, trees and bunches of stuff that will never be used by me.  Soon, I hope to offer it all on the forum.  Hopefully, someone will want or need the stuff that I will not use.  Oh, yeah lots and lots of 1/43 cars and pick-ups that are duplicates, or will not be used.  I had anticipated a couple of used car lots, but, that, too changed when I did away with the town idea.  

So, you are not alone in becoming a "collector".  I think everyone does, sooner or later.

Not a collector in the sense that Ed Boyle seems to be a collector.  I run everything.  But I have a NIB, made in USA LIONEL news stand that I did buy from the estate of a collector.  I've had it for over a year and love the animation.  I am looking for just the right spot on the layout for it cuz the figures and news stand itself dwarfs all other buildings!  Is it OK to say dwarfs?

"Do you guys think there is something wrong with being a collector?"

C.W.,

With the huge number of offerings out there, I think I'd have a hard time being a collector.  There's nothing wrong with it, but it seems to me it would be very expensive very quickly!

My father was a stamp collector - but even the first day covers he collected were a bit more affordable.  I consider myself a "Mickey Mouse Sorcerer's Apprentice" collector.  I can afford the items that I come across and enjoy looking for new items.  I guess I am part train collector.  As soon as I discovered that Lionel had made a Fantasia car in 1978 (with a Sorcerer Mickey on it), I bought one!

Enjoy whatever you do with trains, that's the whole idea - lots of room for all interests.

Ed

Twelve locomotives  

My "test track" has been full of Auto-Train till I get a chance to run it for the camera and put the result on YouTube.

Actually getting this 22-car monster to move required installing LED lighting in the Superliners so I have the amperage to run it. (This has been accomplished).

Part of getting this train to move also requires I install a power kit in a WBB Genesis dummy so I'll have four motors to pull it. 

Operating it for the camera requires moving all the autorack boxes out of the room so it looks only modestly cluttered and not a "Hoarders" candidate (from disuse)

Moving the autorack boxes out of the room requires moving the boxed freight autoracks out of the dining room where they've been stacked up since the last time I ran them.

But since I'm in the process of putting my collection in a computerized database, I want to unbox and  photograph them before I put them back in the basement.

--which will allow me to move the Auto-train autorack boxes into the dining room...

--which will allow me to make the living room somewhat presentable...

--which will inspire me to install that power kit in the Genesis dummy...

--which will allow me to finally operate my Auto-Train and video it (it will be the only model AT on YouTube when I finally accomplish it)

--which will allow me to finally box up its components, and put them into the basement.

--which will allow me to start track-testing the other twelve (or thirteen if you count my 3rd Rail Greenliner interurban which has been sitting in the yard since it was delivered) locomotives I've taken delivery of since starting the Auto-Train project.

--We'll not talk about the layout I was supposed to build in the basement...before it got so crowded with other people's clutter that there's no longer any room for anything beyond a two-track shelf

---PCJ (Oh, and this is just 2012-2013 acquisitions)

While everything I buy will be run, right now operating is limited to the 2-3 trains I run at Christmas. My closet is full, and some stuff is in the room. Just a quick question, when you listed your purchases, did you mean the windmill?

No offense to anyone, but just like me, a whole lot of people say "I am not a collector" - but then they have a really big "collection" of stuff. 

 a closet....... a closet ???  !!!

Hmmm, I could close the door a hide new stuff in there and pretend it came along time ago! Ohh Scott!!

I must be overlooking something. This sounds too easy......

I am running out of room down cellar packing under the train table....

Genius!! Sheer brilliance I tell you!

Hi everyone. My name is Mark and I'm a collector (for now)!! Plans have been drawn and submitted to the city and approved. My lovely wife gets her work out room and a new garage (with work shop for me) and I get a second floor train room roughly 20ft by 60ft. For now, my closet consists of 1 (10ft by 20ft) and 2 (10ft by 10ft) storage units. I have over bought for sure ("gotta have it" and "wow that's cool" mind set) so I've been selling off items here and there that do not fit into my final plan which is basically anything PRR. My goal is an around the room two level layout with a 4 track main line on the upper level (081 minimum curves) and on the lower level yards for freight and passenger car storage with a functioning round house on a center peninsula to display my locos. Just some rough pencil drawn track plans for now, still in the planning stages. Hopefully next year at this time construction will start. Thanks for listening.

Mark

Heh, This makes my day.

I had to box it ALL to move at the end of last month.

It took all the time I had off work for 2 weeks to box it all !!!

Ye gads, I didn't realize how much I've accumulated until then.

However, nothing in the house has not seen the rails for at least a season.

I am making a list of things I will Sell / Trade for different items as I unpack.

I have some conventional engines to swap, Some traditional cars to swap, and am debating upgrades for my 2 PS1 Galloping Geese VS replaceing w PS3 units (1st one is shipping soon).

Still in the process of loading and hauling to the new location (we have all month).

And still in negotiation for space there. But I have a backup plan.

The new location has a BARN. Bottom floot was converted to a workshop and garage. Upper area is completely virgin territory, tho air travels thru the walls pretty easily in spots. It will need patching and insulation, tho I don't plan to heat it.

>>a whole lot of people say "I am not a collector" - but then they have a really big "collection" of stuff. <<

Your's could be the most accurate statement ever made on this topic.

I think some folks on OGR go out of their way to claim themselves a operator thinking they'll be branded a loser or worse if they confess to being a collector. 

I'm a collector/operator that runs everything and have enjoyed every minute of it.

Joe

I did not read all of that, but I can say if there was a pill I could take to cure myself of all things train related I would take it.

Suppose it's a matter of intent.  Nothing wrong if one intended to be a collector, but if one intended to build a layout and never followed through?  Well, we all know fellows that are dreamers instead of doers, and they are okay as long as we didn't elect, hire, work with, count on, live next door to, or father them.




What, me worry?

Michael:

If I remember correctly, you are in the process of moving (if you sell your home). So there is absolutely nothing wrong with stocking up for the new layout. That's what closets are for.

Good luck with the sale of your home!

The unwelcome milestone is now knowing that I can't fully realize what I had desired to accomplish, have life-events rearrange my priorities and knowing that time, distance and finances necessitate an end of my hobby involvement to the degree that I've enjoyed up until recently.

I have come to the realization that I am not really an operator nor an astute collector.  I am a toy train hoarder.  And I've got friends with even more stuff.

POTRZBE,

Yes, I am a collector, but I am in the process of redoing my basement so I can finally have the layout I want. Turns out this is not going to be cheap, but I figure it is now or never.  For years I have been helping other folks build their layouts and now it is my turn. Enough with all the "temporary " layouts I have had. That just doesn't do it any more.

Of course I have way more stuff than I will ever need. After all, I am a genuine 3-rail train guy.  Wouldn't do it any other way!

Ed Boyle

I'll never forget this train show... when I walked in and saw this sign I did not realize trains can get very expensive.... I always asked myself is it worth the "Pain" if I buy one more train. Needless to say I seem to bring home a LARGE box of trains every time I go to a train show

 Besides you never know what your going to need!

Well, this is an interesting (and perhaps difficult) topic.

I try, try mind you, to have a plan for the layout.  The plan includes:

• type and number of locomotives
• trains that will be pulled, including types and numbers of cars
• destinations / origins of these trains
• industries, towns, structures, scenic features

After planning the work, I try to work the plan.  I try not to acquire items I don't need or won't fit with the layout.  Most of the time I am successful.  Sometimes, I'm not.

And periodically, something better comes along to replace an item I bought years ago.  Or I see something that changes the plan.  So I get rid of something or buy something else.

Regardless, I still have plastic bins of train cars (for the planned trains), structure kits, and automobiles sitting around.  I also have project bins holding started but uncompleted projects.  

However, I am NOT a collector.  And I'm trying to stay off those hoarding shows...

George

Do you guys think there is something wrong with being a collector?

C.W.,

IMO Personally, I think it's a compliment to those that collect trains.

Larry

Michael,

I had so much new stuff in closets and under the layout, Santa was sending me mail.

"Scrappy, do you have a . . . . . . "

I have been selling more than buying.

Sigh . . .

Scrapiron Scher

There's nothing wrong with being a collector or an operator or a collector/operator (which I think covers most of us) the problem is those of us who amass a huge pile of stuff that doesn't get run and isn't displayed. I'm not talking about I have X number of display or layout area but 3X number of stuff I want to display or run so not everything gets put out for but the guys who just stash it away with no real thought about what they are ever going to do with it, that's not a collector that's a hoarder!. Some of us make plans for a layout or a display but as Steve pointed out sometimes life has a way of changing our plans with out our OK on it. It happens, no need to feel bad about what might have been but to just accumulate trains for no real reason other than to have them all and leave them packed away in closets, attics and garages isn't going to benefit anyone until we pass on and those left behind will reap a pretty penny on it by never having to had invested the time and money on accumulating it and then selling it off for pennies on the dollar. Last Christmas I gave a ton of stuff to a fellow forum member who was building a layout for a kid he knew and I'll never miss it and I probably would have never used it even when I start my new layout since what I want to do changes every so often and won't be needed.

Jerry

Time for a funny for us older guys reference all our train stuff. I hope I don't get smacked to bad for this.

No, not anymore. I pulled the last of it out, my PW gantry and rocket launcher, for use just last week. I have every piece out of the box, new or old, and in use at least occasionally.

But the previous term in storage for most of my stuff was many years. 

Irrespective of collectors and runners, we're all humans and...

oooh, hey that's SHINY! *grabs*

um... sorry about that. I'm an eccentric collector. I don't collect valuable things (sometimes) and I've run everything I've bought / fixed at least once in a while, train, fan and R/C car related (although not so much on the latter recently). It's nice to find things that you like, purchase or trade for the item and be pretty happy with what you've got.  My fan "collection" includes 3 that I've restored, a few refurbished and one that doesn't work but looks awesome. Shelf space is limited and I knew that if I kept along in that realm of antiques, I'd be buried in fans. I like them but they're too big.

At least you can stack model train boxes to make a nice neat little (GIANT!) pile.

quote:

There's nothing wrong with being a collector or an operator or a collector/operator (which I think covers most of us) the problem is those of us who amass a huge pile of stuff that doesn't get run and isn't displayed.

 While some collectors may have everything out on display, other collectors many only have a few select pieces out.

I guess you haven't read "The Toy Collector" by Louis Hertz. It's been a while since I read it, as I recall he wrote that when setting up a display, sometimes less is more.

I agree with the sentiment.

I like to think of a collector as someone who does more than just keep his or her trains in boxes or on shelves.

Collecting very often involves acquiring pieces according to a plan or a pattern. Sometimes it will be to find all the items in a series such as the famous 6464 boxcars or more recently the 9700 series, for example.

The thrill of the hunt for a particularly elusive item in a series is what it's all about for many collectors. Finding that one item after a decade or two of searching can be very satisfying.

Another by-product of collecting is the increase in knowledge of toy train history. The sometimes extremely well-researched articles in the TCA Quarterly rival those to be found in the scholarly publications of historians, archeologists, etc.

To some it may seem silly to bother with variations in freight car truck sideframes over the years, but others enjoy such research.

Everyone has their own approach, but to characterize all collectors as mere accumulators of never-run trains is nowhere near accurate.

Besides, many who indulge in the more esoteric side of collecting also enjoy seeing some of their more common locos and rolling stock stretch their legs on their layouts.

Jim 

I remember when I used to play trains. Wanted one steam and one diesel - one freight and one passenger train. The fun of railroading was mostly in my head. Then the busy years came and all I could do was buy and store. Got a few chances to build a layout and they didn't work out. Divorce, moving, new baby, etc. More buying and storing was all I could do.

Now I have a layout and the joy is out of it. More fun to buy and keep it in the box out only for an ocassional inspection. Too long buying and no playing has made me a dull boy.

I now have a rule. If I can't display my trains to see or have them on my layout I won't purchase anymore. I am at that point now. So if I want to purchase something new I have to sell an equivalent amount of space

Absolutely not!

But the Mrs. does!

I still have a Mel's Diner in the box I am trying to fit on the layout.... right now... No Go...

I'm a collector, but I insist on running everything. Keeps me from jumping into the real expensive stuff that so catches my eye. And I get to play with trains!

Tim

I stopped "collecting" years ago, and switched to "building a model railroad". I buy what I see on the rails locally. This allows me to have multiples and not worry about it. They may need some renumbering, but that's easy enough. I have at least 250 cars that aren't on the layout yet, but that's just because I don't have all the track down, and there isn't room for them.

I'm hoping to get all the track done by the end of next year. When that happens, it's going to be like one monster Christmas.

I've not been at this long, but I think I'll always be an operator.

I'm drawn to collecting mainly because I really like vintage items, but I prefer items that can still be put to use (e.g. I wear my Gruen wind up watch regularly).

I've tried collecting different things, but always seem to get bored with static displays.  That's probably why my rudimentary layout will be filled with lots of operating items.

I don't think there is anything wrong with collecting...I just think I like operating more.

My desire to 'operate' can best be summed up like this (warning: sorry for the one expletive in this scene)..."c'mon live a little"

At 15 seconds in the video was that a Predator "voice"? 

Jerry

 ....actually sounded a bit like Isaac Hayes to me

Wiki says it's by a Swiss band Yello, and has come to represent, "the mouthwatering must-haveness"...so I guess it can work for operators & collectors alike

I agree with you Jerry on the third classification..."hoarders".  I don't suspect people intend to end up there, but can see how it happens.  I've likely already acquired too many engines and too much rolling stock for my modest 4x8 two loop layout.

Robert