What a shame....

im really surprised at that. they could have easily auctioned all that stuff for charity.

Here's a link to the article;

That doesnt look like a dumpster.  Someone now has it with minimal restoration.

Yes - that was sad to see.  I like the idea someone posted about an auction to raise money for Vets.  But - I guess to them its just a TV prop.  When I was a kid I loved going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and I loved the large O Scale Santa Fe layout that was designed by Minton Cronkhite.   When I learned that they had replaced the old layout with the new HO layout I was disappointed to learn that the old trains were sold on E-Bay.   I think they should have saved the trains and put them in display cases.  Well - at least they were not put in the dumpster, some one out there has those nice trains in their collection.  Any one reading this have those trains ?

Also - I remember watching Letterman some time ago and as they were going to commercial break the camera zoomed in on one of the bridges on the set and they had a O Scale Steam Locomotive chugging across the bridge.   I only saw this once.  Anyone else remember seeing trains on Dave's Set ?   Was David Letterman a Train Fan ?

Steve

I can't claim to know his level of involvement, but I believe several years ago when Lionel had a storefront in Manhattan during the holidays, Letterman was reported to have been a customer (I don't know/recall if it was on his show or not, but I recall reading about it, most likely here). 

I believe the items he bought were several high end items, so it's not like he just walked in to buy a few starter sets to give to kids.

Perhaps it was Dave's wish to not have stuff from the set end up continuously swapped via auctions for eternity?

-Dave

Was never much of a watcher but I'm sure there is another Seinfeld episode in there some where!

So, big TV network just throws the bridge away? Looks like the one guy is cutting it. To them the props are just junk to be thrown out once they are no longer needed.

Interesting information.

For what it's worth, there are several reasons that sets and props are routinely thrown away.

First, it would take labor and time for someone to set up auctions or arrange fire sales for all of the thousands of props on the thousands of shows that are shut down -- and the money potentially earned on behalf of most productions would be so minuscule in the bigger scheme of things that it is rarely worthwhile.  Plus, production entities don't usually keep someone on staff after a show to do such things.  When a show shuts down... it is down!  Close the doors and turn off the lights.

Second, liability has become a big issue in the production world.  On the extremely slight chance that somebody bought a prop and then got hurt somehow from it, the production entity or television network could have a lawsuit and/or a PR scenario on its hands.  It sounds completely stupid, but it is true.  Certainly a bridge prop is completely innocuous.  But somebody somewhere could potentially claim lead based paint or maybe cut their finger on it and have a tetanus bill... who knows.  Again, it is stupid.  But we have become a litigious society and the television entities are hyper vigilant about such things.  I've had to throw away an incredible amount of amazing and expensive stuff simply for liability reasons (I work in the business).

And lastly, the network doesn't want a very visible and known prop such as this one showing up on some other television show.  Some exec somewhere probably wants it to either be museumed or destroyed.  Unless World Wide Pants decided themselves to auction it off for charity or something very visible where the item would have an implied pedigree, it's unlikely they would just sell it to Joe Forum Member.  Then again, I will bet that a lot of props that were supposed to hit the dumpster somehow magically end up on some Grip or Gaffers' mantlepiece at home.  Kinda like that guy in the photo loading the item into his car.

- timbo

The old equipment from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry had high value originally. They were hand crafted cars, with a construction cost of 3 to 4 THOUSAND dollars each in the 70's.  When Santa Fe was introducing a new car in the real world, on the first day of running, a Q scale version was placed on the layout. This information is from the operators of the museum layout.

Bits and pieces do show up on eBay occasionally.

Talk about WOW effect!  I've always loved that backdrop and would have loved even

a section of it for my train room wall.  Preferably the portion Dave sat in front of.

Alas . . . . . .

     Hoppy

Maybe Letterman wante it for his layout ?  More probable is that they were jerks.