11-18-2010, 11:40 PM
All good and interesting points. A little morbid but realistic!
When my Dad became severely ill (parallysed) from a stroke in Dec. 1994, I had to take control of his estate. I was only 35 at the time and had not been "re-bitten" by the train bug yet! I also was not married at the time and just living in a basement apartment in Toronto -- his house was a 2.5-hour drive away in southwestern Ontario so I had to commute there on weekends to sort and clean out his house. I had limited resources, time and space.
My Dad was a huge collector, basically a hoarder (as you see on TV, but not as extreme!). He had books, magazines, newspapers, and (in the garage) motorcycles, car parts, motorcycle parts, loads of "junk," you name it.
Well, he had had his layouts set up in his basement and I had to make quick decisions regarding all of his possessions. Some I sold and others I kept. I did the same with his model railway stuff. I dismantled and sold his layouts and also sold a LOT of his MRR stuff. I vaguely remember selling most of his buildings, a lot of his rolling stock but generally keeping his locos. I "shudder" now because I almost certainly got rid of many things I would loved to have kept now!
Long story short, I put what I kept of my Dad's MRR stuff into storage in 1996. Sadly, he died in 1999. My wife & I married in 1997 and in 2000 and 2003 our sons were born. I started to get interested in trains again around 2002 because of our boys, and started to set up my Dad's trains in 2004. Now, I'm really bitten by the bug and am totally into MRR & railways-- too bad my timing was off as I wish I could have shared this interest as an adult with my Dad (although my Dad & I did enjoy trains together when I was a boy).
Now, I not only appreciate model railways and real-life, full-scale trains, I am also fascinated with the vintage model trains that I my Dad was also into -- trains from the 1960s & '70s. My favourite loco is a Hornby Dublo 2-6-4 tank engine that I fondly remember my Dad & I running together when I was a boy in the mid-1960s (really dating myself here!).
To answer your question, David, I hope that my youngest son will continue with his train interest into adulthood and I hope he will happily inherit and use my trains!
Frankly, as much as I really like the trains, they are really just things, and there are ultimately more important things to think about. But it is a good idea to have a plan re what to do with your MRR stuff.
Rob
When my Dad became severely ill (parallysed) from a stroke in Dec. 1994, I had to take control of his estate. I was only 35 at the time and had not been "re-bitten" by the train bug yet! I also was not married at the time and just living in a basement apartment in Toronto -- his house was a 2.5-hour drive away in southwestern Ontario so I had to commute there on weekends to sort and clean out his house. I had limited resources, time and space.
My Dad was a huge collector, basically a hoarder (as you see on TV, but not as extreme!). He had books, magazines, newspapers, and (in the garage) motorcycles, car parts, motorcycle parts, loads of "junk," you name it.
Well, he had had his layouts set up in his basement and I had to make quick decisions regarding all of his possessions. Some I sold and others I kept. I did the same with his model railway stuff. I dismantled and sold his layouts and also sold a LOT of his MRR stuff. I vaguely remember selling most of his buildings, a lot of his rolling stock but generally keeping his locos. I "shudder" now because I almost certainly got rid of many things I would loved to have kept now!
Long story short, I put what I kept of my Dad's MRR stuff into storage in 1996. Sadly, he died in 1999. My wife & I married in 1997 and in 2000 and 2003 our sons were born. I started to get interested in trains again around 2002 because of our boys, and started to set up my Dad's trains in 2004. Now, I'm really bitten by the bug and am totally into MRR & railways-- too bad my timing was off as I wish I could have shared this interest as an adult with my Dad (although my Dad & I did enjoy trains together when I was a boy).
Now, I not only appreciate model railways and real-life, full-scale trains, I am also fascinated with the vintage model trains that I my Dad was also into -- trains from the 1960s & '70s. My favourite loco is a Hornby Dublo 2-6-4 tank engine that I fondly remember my Dad & I running together when I was a boy in the mid-1960s (really dating myself here!).
To answer your question, David, I hope that my youngest son will continue with his train interest into adulthood and I hope he will happily inherit and use my trains!
Frankly, as much as I really like the trains, they are really just things, and there are ultimately more important things to think about. But it is a good idea to have a plan re what to do with your MRR stuff.
Rob
Rob
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