You can't take 'em with you...

I've told my kids they are their problem.  Some of what I have (original 700E, postwar F3s, my Dad's pre-war wind up Marx set) they will likely want to keep but the rest they will sell, I'm sure.  I've included an inventory of my stuff is and indication of where I keep what few boxes I have kept, etc..  I've also written down where to find current names of places that buy entire estate collections, as I think that will be easiest for them. 

Interesting question. I have thought about it a lot, but just decided to let the son's do what ever they want. It's my hobby and neither of them have a real interest currently. I don't have that much but if they gave it a way for 40 of 50 percent of it's value they could still have 20 or so K+ to play with. Best I can do is just try and keep a decent inventory and forget about it and have fun with them.  IMO.

Larry

I recently lost my Grandma Dixie, and it impacted me greatly regarding "things." The woman gave all that she had in the way of love to my sister and I. When she died, even her sons had a difficult time deciding what to keep, sell, etc. Anyway, what I've come to learn is that it's not as important as you might think...where your collection ends up, who keeps what, who sells what... When she died, I remembered the love she gave; when I die, my son and wife will remember all the happy times associated with trains...not the trains themselves.

Really don't think about or care what happens after I go.  Somebody else will decide

Cartoon.

 

My sentiments exactly!

 

Don

"Donate to a museum"?

 

How many museums out there have the space or interest in the average train collector's stuff?   Maybe if it was really rare items worth 5 or 6 figures...

I guess my attitude will be WAY in the minority.

 

When I completed a will 2 years ago it got me to giving serious thought about making things as easy on my children as possible when the day comes.  They have absolutely no interest in my trains, most of which are Pittsburgh related.  They didn't grow up in the PGH area so they have no ties to any of the scenes and such shown on the cars.  Or the brand names, such as Westinghouse, etc.

 

So I decided that I will enjoy them myself one more year, this year, and then sell everything in 2014.  I will replace the 90 some pieces with 2 small tin-plate trains and won't then concern myself with what happens to them "afterwards".

 

Like I said, "minority".

 

- walt

Thought about this too. Do you guys label your trains in any way to help out your survivors? I was thinking of purchasing a label maker so I could put a sticky label on the bottom of items and their corresponding boxes. Obviously it would just have to be a number. No one else in my family has any interest in trains, and they wouldn't know the difference between them to find the right box.

I've considered doing the same as Walt Rapp, but haven't quite firmed it up yet.  Maybe I'll chicken out.

My father passed away last August and left behind many thousands of Golf photos from his years of covering the PGA tour. What we quickly found out was that museums are full of just about everything they can handle and do not have the space, time or resources to add all but the rarest of rare to their collections. Too many people have used them as dumping grounds for their "old stuff" and they just can't do it handle it anymore.

 

And while some of you say  "I don't care what happens to it after I am done" well think of your heirs. We spent many days gathering he phots up, trying to organize it and donate or sale it with no real results. Also infuriating were those who said "What a great collection" or "You can't just give that away" or "You have to save that" but were never there to offer suggestions of what to do with it or wanting to buy it.

In the end we just had to find a big dumpster and with much anguish load it up with my father's lifetime of work. It would have been better had he narrowed to a few great examples of his work and made arrangements with the PGA for a limited collection of his photos to be preserved.

 

While it may be a sign of not wanting to face our own mortality by selling the collection as we age, I think Walt has the best idea.

quote:

Thought about this too. Do you guys label your trains in any way to help out your survivors? I was thinking of purchasing a label maker so I could put a sticky label on the bottom of items and their corresponding boxes.

 

I think you are on the right track.

All of my trains are assigned an inventory number, and recorded in a book and database.

Each item gets either a string tag or sticky label.

At a minimum, this keeps steam engines and tenders together.

 

I would suggest against putting stickers on boxes. Folks that care about boxes are not going to want stickers, writing, or anything else on them. Put an index card inside the box. Sometimes I use string tags, with the tag inside the box, caught under a flap, and the string sticking out.

 

I also suggest using small plain white sticky labels with hand written numbers. Any label maker that I have seen makes labels that are just too large.

I like to put the labels on the underside of my items, either on the frame, or on a truck bolster.

I don't see how this issue is any different than other things you accumulate in your life.  You can't take any of it with you so the question becomes, like the question of wills generally, are you arranging your affairs to lessen the burden on your family when you are no longer around?  If you have so many trains, golf photos, record albums, cars, or anything else that it will be a burden on your family, I have two thoughts:  (1) perhaps you should think about thinning that collection sooner rather than later to alleviate the burden; and (2) perhaps think about balancing your priorities and interests in this life so your legacy is not dominated by, in this case, an over-abundance of electric trains. 

Hi Folks,

 

I have dealt with several large estates.  Most family members just want the trains converted to cash or get a tax deduction by donating the train to a charity.  Even Richard Kughn auctioned off most of his collection.  

 

I think that most train collections will be recycled at train shows, auctions or on eBay.

 

Joe

 

 

 

I myself have chosen not to die; it's too expensive.

River City 3 Railers. My Codicil defines who gets what, by roadname. One member in particular will make out like a bandit. If I kick off today, another member will receive one whole car.

 

Gilly

Actually, I think that my trains, firearms, shop tools, tractors and other equipment should not be too much of a problem to sort out and allocate in groups-of-items and not as individual items.

 

What I don’t have a clue is what to do or what will happen with the layout itself! And I am not going to worry about it! . . .

 

Alex

Goes to the kids. My son is a "train person" and I know their where abouts through the 21st Century.

C W Burfle is right.....I visited the Indianapolis Chidren's Museum twice...the first time

there was a large train and toy collection on an upper floor.....the second time some

years later, there was a small collection in the basement......curators had decided trains were no longer of prime interest to visitors?....TCA museum displays are full...probably personal bias due to interest but I always thought that should be a larger facility...so I don't see museums (at least any I am familiar with) as being

a recipient.  I plan to line an abandoned mine shaft with concrete, hermetically seal

it, bury the entrance surrounded with radiation signs and preserve them like Pompeii... 

well Im taking one with me the rest the wife and daughter can do what they want with the rest..

I suggest letting somethings go to family early.  It may be that your kids have no interest in trains but they still might have some attachment to a certain item for some sentimental reason.  It helps to unload those items before you are gone (you might think what is the difference if they get it while I'm here or gone, but there is a difference).   Also, not to early, run the wheels off first if you can

quote:

TCA museum displays are full

 

The TCA museum has a couple of deaccession auctions scheduled scheduled for May 22nd and June 5th.
The auctions are open to the public.

Claughton1345:

 

To my knowledge very few US clubs have this sevice if any.  Generally it has been my experience that LHS's advise heirs to use train shows or contact clubs for individual assistance.

 

On a side note, seeing that you are a member of the Gauge 0 Guild, a shop I worked for in the past had a fellow Guild Member as a customer.  Would like to know if you know of his whereabouts, could you please contact me by email.  TKY

 

To be honest, I don't care what happens to them, sell them, give them away or trash them. My brother will be the only one to get them when I pass and whatever he does is ok with me. The rest of the family gets nothing.

Does the other place let you bring them in?

 

Since you can't take them with you , I'm not going.

 

Jerry

Charly

 

I have no idea how to send you an email - and I am not, presently, a member of the G0G.  But, most of my railway friends are, so I can enquire easily for you.   BUT, the G0G no longer publish a member's list since it was felt, in the wrong hands, to be useful to burglers - and there is the question of individual privacy these days too.

 

I didn't word the last line well - what I should have said was do any Societies in the US (TCS, TCCA &c.) offer a formalised process.   The point is, indeed, especially, even if the family don't understand trains, they certainly understand money and the G0G method maximises the cash.  What's not to like?

What I have done with a lot of collectable stuff is to video each item, telling what it is and a modest selling price.  That way your kids or wife don't end up selling everything to the first antique dealer that comes along and offers $200 or so.  Heirs will at least have an idea of the value of  some of our oddball stuff.  Than it is up to them to split it, sell it, Ebay, whatever, but at least they have some knowledge.   If you have a friend/family member interested, that should surely be in your will or in a listing of property bequests in a notarized list attached to your will.

I AM NOT GOING!!

 

...keep the rails polished...

I made my wife memorize a popular train auction house and give a small cash donation to the train club. My son can have whatever.

While I was attempting to be facetious above, I have been involved in a couple of very

unfunny estate settlesments in which codicils weren't signed, lawsuits arose, and

distributions were not made as the deceased had verbally requested.  I strongly suggest

that wills be very specific, for spouse may be outlived and property may not transmit

as expected.

My sentiments also. When I'm gone, I won't have a way of knowing what happened to them, so why should I care?

I've arranged with a good friend 20 or so years younger than myself to purchase a portion of my collection and work with my children to dispose of the rest.  The items that the children don't want will go to auction.

I plan on making a list (one of these days) of everything I have and what I paid for it, just in case of the day that I am no longer here my family will have a bit of a guide. They can decide to keep it or sell it or whatever they see fit. I might guess the nicer locomotives may at least find their way onto a shelve in one of my childrens homes, but if not thats o.k.

 

It seems far to much thought goes into what things are, were worth or will not be worth in the future and who will get our trains.

 

IMO more time should be spent enjoying these items TODAY, in the manner they were designed for.

I told them to put everything in a big basket and leave it on John Devlin's doorstep in the middle of the night.

I am banking that by the time I go in about 40 years (my mom lived to 90), there will be replacement parts for all of us, i.e. Cybergenetic Implants.

You know...bad heart? Ah replace it with a Binford 9000 model! bad liver...binford 4000!

I even told my wife when she asked me what my plans were....I told her that Cybergenetic should be available, so turn me into a cyborg.

In all seriousness, I predicted when I was a teenager that at some point all elderly people will become cyborgs due to artificial organ replacement etc.

Far fetched? Not really..they are already doing it with dogs and cats.

Thus, I keep my trains!

Maybe it's only realistic to say, "I don't care; I won't be around to see what becomes of them."

 

But doesn't saying "I don't care" amount to also saying "I don't care that my family will be saddled with a giant boondoggle?" Don't family members who have lovingly supported/tolerated the hobby deserve better thanks than that?

 

I have not thought much about it myself, but the more I read, the more I am thinking that having specific directives is the least we can do for those who care about us.

I will be retiring in 11 months.  My eldest daughter hinted "how much fun" I will have selling my stuff on ebay, or how that process can be a hobby in itself!  It probably won't be fun, but between the forum Buy/Sell board and ebay, that is exactly what I intend to do.  Apparently one of the biggest thrills for me in this hobby was the aquisitions, and since I quit buying online or frequenting the LHS's, I don't have the same passion for my trains.  I can be quite content on keeping a smaller "cream of the crop" collection.  Absolutely no one in my family likes trains, so selling them off is the logical thing to do.

 

Stack

For those of you who don't care about what happens with your stuff let me say this:

You guys are being  just a little callous IMHO!

 

Maybe your family is not that close with you anymore but leaving no specific instructions about something you care so much about is like giving the finger to someone you love- what will be done with it?

 

Let me tell you, I have seen families never speak to each other over greater things!

Is this how you want to be remembered?

 

Don't be petty! Let your family members know just how you feel about them don't make your death more of a nightmare than it has to be.

 

Nickaix the previous poster has a valid point there. Don't do that to people who care about us! It's not right!

 

Plan and be very specific about where your train collection goes, it's the only right thing to do.

 

Fellas, I know that you love your collections! If you love your family even half as much then do the right thing by them.

 

By way of example, let me describe something for you to ponder. A while ago about 3 years now my best friends mother died horribly in a house fire. The eldest sister came by and ripped stuff off and then the middle sister came by and being in shock from the fire went into the house and took what she could.....My best friend was in attendance with each entrance into the house and did some heavy work inside the house before they demolished it. On the day my best friends mother died it was a sad day for all of us! Can you imagine the callousness of the eldest daughter in coming round to the house to empty it of its valuables before they could be properly accounted for?

 

To this day, even after the Will was read she will not own up to what she did with those things she took before the Will was read!

 

My best friend and his middle sister remain amazed by the eldest sisters behavior. This is what occurs when there is bad blood among family members they remain enemies for generations. We are not even talking about electric trains here!

 

There is a thing about passing on if you die with a will your property passes on to those who you have given it to----Testate. Government can't touch it.

 

If you die without a will you die- in testate- government comes in freezes assets for months and takes half! 

 

Now that being said, I think the government has already taken too much, I pay my fare share in taxes.

 

 

Each of us, should die in the comfort of our own homes with our loved ones to mourn our passing with wills stating where everything is to go. To die without a care in the world is to die irresponsibly.

My late father left me- his only son- all of his trains- Standard, O and Marklin HO- since I was a "train guy". Even though I appreciated the gift, it was still an incredible amount of time and effort to pack, move, store and now sort through all of it. My own two sons have no interest in the trains so I do not wish to saddle them or my wife with the burden of having to deal with them when I am gone.

 

My goal is to sell what I either have little to no intererst in over the next few years and put the funds into the boys' college tuitions. I will keep my first Lionel set and some recent tinplate and some of my father's Standard gauge but the rest of the stuff will go. It is more than I will ever be able to unbox and operate myself so might as well unload it while I can. 

 

Everyone's circumstance is unique; I just know that my family would rather not have to deal with it.