# My Dad Praised this Site



## audi84son (Dec 17, 2010)

Hello , Let me introduce myself. My Name is Kevin, I am Audi84's son. Some of you knew him, and some did not. Over the years my Dad spoke highly of the knowledge and assistance of most of the folks on this site. Recently, sadly, my Father passed away, He is MISSED! My fathers last wish to me was to try to find homes for his VAST collection of trains, railroadiana, and parts and accessories. Now , his collection is very extensive, but I know little to NOTHING about trains. There are 50-60 G scale locomotive sfrom LGB, USA, Aristo etc. In addition I now have track, bridges, switches , round house, and so much more. I do not intend to get rich from Dad's collection, but I will not give it away either. Any and all assistance in indenentifying and pricing this stuff would be greatly appreciated. Also in Dad's collection are 50 -70 lanterns , lamps, signs, a full sized real switch and the list goes on. I promised Dad thes things would go to people that would love, and appreciate them as He did. I a m reaching out, but fear being taken advantage of. I wish to honor my Fathers moemory, and would hope that his friends from My Large Scale would offer some assistance. Thank You!


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi 

Sorry to hear of your fathers passing. 

As far as help in determining the value of what you have, go to Ebay and do a search for each piece. Then click on the completed link on the left column to see what they actually sell for.


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

My sincere condolences to you and your family.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Sorry to hear of your fathers passing. My condolence to you and the family. You might try contacting TrainZ as they buy sell all kinds of G-Scale trains. You can go to there web site and view used prices there. WWW.trainz.com/gr Later RJD


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Very sorry to hear this. 
I am greatful that you posted this because many times we wonder where our members go. 
Maybe an opption is to find a deal who will help you sale the trains on consignment. Takes the pressure off of you and you get a reasonable price for the and a good home.


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## NW Jim (Jan 2, 2008)

So, sorry for the loss of your dad. If you don't need the money immediately, perhaps you might want to pick out a few pieces that you knew were his favorite, and save them back for family members. I'm sure they would have fond memories of good times with your dad as they watch the trains go round and round. I lost my dad in 1985 and there are a few treasures I got from him that really have no value on the open market, but are priceless to me. Again, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family as you go through this holiday season with heavy hearts. Blessings on [email protected] url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/CEHtmlEditorProvider/Load.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin, 

Let me add my condolences, and also second Jim's suggestion that you pick out one or two pieces to keep. My neighbor asked me to help dispose of her father's extensive Lionel collection and she kept the crane car - said it was just the sort of thing he played with. (I got the strreamlined 616 Zephyr for my efforts, which still sits on the shelf over my desk.) 

I appreciate you not wanting to be taken advantage of, but you'll have to find someone you can trust to help, or you'll end up doing everything yourself - and you'll know a lot about trains when you are done! 
There may be a local garden railway club that can help. One way to deal with the trust issue is to ask for help but stipulate they can't buy anything of your Dad's collection 

There is another source we've found for valuations. Maurer Auctions in PA specialise in estate sales (they can auction your collection if you want,) and their website has a page of *"Prices Realized" Page (link) *which you can search for specific items.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I too am sorry to hear of your dads passing 
I think you should try and find a local club also 
They will be most helpfull in determining price.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I knew him a bit and exchanged several emails over the years, his is missed and was always pleasant to "talk" to. 

My condolences. 

Greg


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry to hear of your loss, and your dad's passing! I would use Trainworld pricing as a guide, look at others too, you never know what you will find there are several good retailers out there if the items are new and unused go with their price! (I find them to be the least usually of all the retailers) Then if an item is used go 1/2 of the new price, and then according to the condition if it is like new but used then go up from there accordingly. Below is Trainworld link, and a good auction site I look at also for fair pricing. Then you can always use the "Evil Bay" as others have said, but I can tell you its a good place to buy once in awhile, but over the past 6yrs. I've found NOT such a good place to sell. Just remember that once it's sold, they will between "Evil Bay" and "PreyPal" they will asses another 12% against your final selling fee. 9% Freebay and 3% on PreyPal!! Make sure you kinda figure in that and accurate shipping too! Any assistance I can give you let me know!! Regal 

http://www.trainworldonline.com/ 

http://www.maurerail.com/ 

http://www.maurerail.com/asp/prices.asp


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## tommyheadleycox (Oct 15, 2010)

Dear Kevin,

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. I know you must be missing your Dad very much. It's wonderful that you put his mind at ease about finding a home for his trains. You will hear quite a few opinions on how to go about this. Here is mine. It is what I would do. I would without question go the way of a consignment third party. In a way, you are too close emotionally to each piece of your Dad's collection to sell each one without worrying if you're doing the right thing. It's just my opinion, but I'll bet your Dad wouldn't want you to worry too much about each piece's final selling price, just do the best that you could. A reputable consignment dealer will listen to your wishes, then tell you honestly what is the best way to proceed. Then, that individual worry about each piece will be gone.

A dealer that I trust in matters like this is Watts Train Shop. I believe them to be honest, fair, and best of all, good listeners to clients like you. I have seen estate pages from them before. This is just my opinion. Other folks will have other opinions. Calling around or emailing some of these dealers will tell you which one would be a good fit for you.

With best regards,
Tom


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## armorsmith (Jun 1, 2008)

Kevin, 

Condolences to you and your family. 

You might also try talking to Caboose Hobbies, as they also deal in used collections. I am not sure if they do consignment, but it will be worth investigating. 

Bob C.


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## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

Once you find a place and get the things listed, come back in here and give us a link to it!


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By armorsmith on 17 Dec 2010 02:34 PM 
Kevin, 

Condolences to you and your family. 

You might also try talking to Caboose Hobbies, as they also deal in used collections. I am not sure if they do consignment, but it will be worth investigating. 

Bob C. 

Yes Caboose Hobbies do consignment, here is a link to them for contact!!


Caboose Hobbies Inc, Model trains, Model Railroaders, Toy Trains, Model Railroading, Garden Railways, Lionel, Bachmann, Modeling Supplies


Caboose Hobbies Inc Contact Information


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin..... So sorry to hear of your dad's passing. As Marty shared, thanks for letting us know even though it's a hard thing to do.

A couple of thoughts that might help with you dilemma with the train sales. You could become a First Class member here for $24.00 and then list the items in the Classifieds. That is a very comfortable place to list the items. I've bought and sold many items in the MLS classifieds and every transaction has been a good one. 

What part of the country are you in????? There may be an MLS member close by who could give some assistance in pricing. Or after you become a First Class member, you could list the items in the "LOTS" section and offer them to the highest bidder.

Unlike Ebay, there are no listing costs or sales commissions when you use the MLS classified's.

I'd be happy to help with pricing if you'd like to email me [email protected]


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## audi84son (Dec 17, 2010)

I want to take a minute to thank all of you for your kind words and helpfull advise in this most sad time. It is greatly appreciated. Also I wish to say I have already chosen several of my Fathers favorite pieces to keep and treasure, in fact my wife and I have decided to convert one of our spare bedrooms into the "DAD" Railroad/railrodiana room. As soon as I can sort some of this stuff out I will provide lists of what I have. I will start here with some G scale, there is just SO much! One of his pride and joys he called his Train Barn, it is in fact a custom made round house, with several tracks in and out, beautiful piece! I know I have here two Amtrak LGB locomotives, several SP black widow a/b both LGB and USA and on and on. Once I sort it all out I will make Lists. I will also take some photos of some of the things I have NO clue as to what they are. Someone asked where in the country I am located , I live , as did Dad, in South Eastern Arkansas. Again thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, prayers and advise! Kevin


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

I have sent you a private message. Dennis


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## audi84son (Dec 17, 2010)

I am still getting a lot of responses to my original post, again thank you for your thoughts and words of condolence on my Fathers passing. One thing I need to cclarify before I begin sorting ot my fathers collection. 99% if not 100% of his G scale Locomotives are not used they are brand new in the boxes. Dad Collected , not ran, he had dreams of one day building a Garden Railroad, but his health never allowed that to happen. he just continued buying more and more in hopes that one day his dream of a Railroad would materialize, unfortunatly , it never did. Again Thank you all. Kevin


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## Ltotis (Jan 3, 2008)

Kevin, Sorry to hear of your father's loss. 
I know a lot of people have been steering you to dealers. If you sell to a dealer wou will get 33 to 50% of the value of the items, sometimes less. You can put them on consignment through a dealer and they will take a percentage of the sale which you willl have to work out with the individual dealer. Ebay CAN be a guide but that has it's limits as well. Sell as much as you can yourself and what's left over sell to a daler. Posting on MLS as a 1st class member is a good start. Also if you get rrequests for the list to be emaiiled to people definitely do it as those of us in clubs will forward to members who do not belong to this site. 
Be advised that when it comes to older LGB especailly items no longer being made by Marklin (They own the LGB product line now.) can ary widely. The prices on F7 and Genesis diesels , Amfleet cars, smoothside passenger cars and Mikado steamers can vary widely With the F7's and Smoothside passenger cars prices they sell at can vary by roadname.
LAO


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Larry's right. You'll get more for them if you sell them yourself, but that might take more time and effort that you're interested in investing. You'll want to find out what each piece is and advertise it. Ebay might be a good reference. Perhaps one of your dad's train friends can help you? A dealer makes his living selling trains, so he'll need to make a profit.


Unfortunately, there isn't much of a collector's market for G gauge trains. 


Sorry to hear of your dad's passing.


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## yutzk (Jan 2, 2008)

First my condolences and I'm sure he was a great man, even though i never had the pleasure of talking with him directly. 

I would say firstly if your looking at selling the collection and dont want to involve an auction house or a dealer, put all the goods in a spreadsheet. If the majority is New and In box than this is probably the best way to first organize it onto a list of sorts and than you could begin to price the stuff out thru various internet searches. I have a form I have setup already for my own G scale stuff to keep track of brand, what it is, custom or not, how much i paid for it, etc etc. If you'd like any assistance feel free to drop me a line....I dont have any problem helping someone new to the hobby out even though im in Eastern PA. I may be able to help on the RR artifacts part as well as I know alot of guys in a few different RR Historical Societies that collect stuff and could possible put a price to things. 

Drop me a line at [email protected] if you want.


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## Allan W. Miller (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin: 

My condolences to you and your family. 

PLEASE take the time to adequately list and research the items in your father's collection before you place them up for sale. That may take some time, but it really is the ONLY way to adequately protect yourself and to preserve the value of the items your father collected. There are many fine people in this hobby, but there also are some who will try to take advantage of someone like you who may not know what he has or what it may truly be worth. My recommendation would be to NOT be too hasty in listing the times until after you have done some research to determine the approximate value. If most of the items are new and unused, you should expect that to bring a premium over items that have been used. Some original LGB items, for example, have significantly increased in value since many of them are no longer being made.


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## ShadsTrains (Dec 27, 2007)

If you decide to post a list for sale here, please contact me and I'll set up up an account to post in the classified section.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Shad,

That would be a very nice thing to do for him.


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## audi84son (Dec 17, 2010)

Thank you Sir! I will prepair a list soon.


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