When I'm gone ...

[jglfan]

To be blunt...if I'm hiding purchases from my beloved, there are other issues in my life that need serious addressing

Well put!

[ngauger]

I have a friend that has a model RR, so If anything happens to either of us, the wives know to contact the other

[Brakie]

My oldest Grandson gets 'em since he's a modeler.

[Selector]

I have three girls whom I imagine would not be interested in any of my train stuff. I have two very young grandsons who might, but to be determined. A now-14-year-old nephew used to enjoy playing with my trains, but not for about three years now.

It would seem to be a shame to just sweep it all into a dumpster, but in the grand schemes of the lives left to deal with the aftermath of my death, it would be small potatoes. If the dumpster it is to be, don't give it a second thought. Treat it like my clothing. If anyone at all expresses an interest, they would be more than welcome. Otherwise, it is just a little more land-fill.

Crandell

[ezdays]

Don't know about you guys, but I was thinking about taking my trains with me. :angel: I'd leave the layout behind, too bulky, but with my luck they'd only have HO track available and I'd have to start all over again in a new scale ...

[ngauger]

....but with my luck they'd only have HO track available and I'd have to start all over again in a new scale ...

If that happened - that would mean you went to "The Other place" :evil: :evil: :evil:

[ezdays]

....but with my luck they'd only have HO track available and I'd have to start all over again in a new scale ...

If that happened - that would mean you went to "The Other place" :evil: :evil: :evil:

No, I think "the other place" only has G...

[ngauger]

ROFL!!!!!

[nkp_174]

At 27, it isn't really a major concern...

My son is nuts about trains...absolutely certifiably nuts...and I'm proud of him!

He'd get the goods, but under the protection of my father and wife. I intend to write up where, when, why, and how I got/built everything. Some have far greater significance...such as the B-man old time stuff I acquired one piece at a time following chemo treatments when I was a 10yr old cancer patient. I've started keeping a lab notebook of my work...helping to keep a record of the various incomplete projects I've started...

Michael

[RobertInOntario]

At 27, it isn't really a major concern...
My son is nuts about trains...absolutely certifiably nuts...and I'm proud of him!
He'd get the goods, but under the protection of my father and wife. I intend to write up where, when, why, and how I got/built everything. Some have far greater significance...such as the B-man old time stuff I acquired one piece at a time following chemo treatments when I was a 10yr old cancer patient. I've started keeping a lab notebook of my work...helping to keep a record of the various incomplete projects I've started...
Michael

I should follow what you're doing here, Michael, as my situation sounds similar. My youngest son (age 7) is crazy about trains and totally enjoys them, but obviously at his level. For example, he often prefers playing with his toy trains instead of running our HO layout. Or, when he does operate our HO layout with me, he wants to put toy animals into the freight cars and on top our the layout's buildings, etc., as if they are trying to attach the trains!

He has an idea of which trains are more special to me, but I'd obviously have to keep reminding him of this over the next few years! So far, he has loved trains ever since he was a toddler (we even had him riding on vintage steam and diesel trains when he was a baby) and hopefully his interest will continue as he grows older.

Rob

[deckroid]

....but with my luck they'd only have HO track available and I'd have to start all over again in a new scale ...

If that happened - that would mean you went to "The Other place" :evil: :evil: :evil:

No, I think "the other place" only has G...

Either that or Z scale.

[P5se Camelback]

When I realized that ones mortality is a reality, I had just moved (again) and in an effort to cut monthly expenses due to the "fixed income" so often referred to when speaking of "senior citizens" (I prefer "Seasoned Citizens") I emptied a storage locker that I had been using and paying around $200/mo for just over twenty years. My new digs has a large "great room" that is easily 60% larger than I need for a living area as I live alone and rarely have a casual visitor and never have "house guests." I turned the "unused living space" into a mini warehouse, filling the area with the contents of the former storage facility. I systematically began going through boxes of belongings, placing books on shelves, clothes in closets … all the usual unpacking routine.

Then came pitching some stuff, putting other things aside for a yard sale in the near future and re-boxing items to be shipped off to family members, etc. Finally I was down to the 57 boxes of model railroad stuff. (Yes, 57 boxes – book boxes. I used to think it was about 25 or so … I was off by double!) All this stuff had been carefully packed in tissue and Styrofoam peanuts back in 1990 when I had to abandon an under-construction 25x40 around-the-walls-with-peninsulas full-basement, lifetime-to-build dream layout. I had been gathering together equipment, materials, tools, etc. towards that goal for over twenty years. And now I am going through all this stuff. (I had once posted a photo of the overflowing temporary workbench in which this unpacking process was visible in the background; I removed the photo almost immediately after an insensitive comment comparing the mayhem of my unpacking/sorting process to some TV show about hoarding.)

The point of all this is to say that I took that opportunity to unpack absolutely everything, organize it all into physical categories, arranging things within the categories and then putting together a comprehensive inventory listing everything, to include all those little packets of detail parts, into one rather lengthy Excel file. (Being my first experience with a spread sheet since being a Lotus 1-2-3 user back in the ‘80’s-‘90’s, I had my daughter help me.) I explained to her what I was doing, why and that this would be both a tool for me to use to help find stuff I need as well as for her to use “when the time came.” Although she accused me of being morbid, I reminded her that both of her grandparents had passed away over the past two years and I had not had this particular conversation with either of them because, at the time, I though it would be a morbid conversation to initiate. She understood.

The inventory is arranged by category, beginning with Motive Power, followed by Vehicle kits, Rolling Stock-Freight, Rolling Stock-Passenger, Structures, etc. The column headings are, Manufacturer, Cat. #, Description, List Price, Purch. Price, Year Purch., Est. 2010 Value, Box #, Value Source. When the process was completed, everything was repacked (establishing the initial numbers in the “Box #” entry in the Excel spreadsheet) and room was regained in which to now begin building my last model railroad layout, much smaller than what was originally planned for my basement in Pennsylvania, but using the same theme on a smaller, more compact, almost “vignette view” of the freelanced prototype railroad that has been a part of my live for so long (33 years,) it feels like it was, at one time, a 1:1 scale railroad line.

Now I just have to remember to maintain "Box #'s" and "Current Values" as I discover the latest market valuations.

Below is a much-reduced example of the top of the first page …



As a result of this lengthy, exhausting, time-consuming exercise, I have a tool that I can now use to locate things (kits, trucks, couplers, detail items, scenery materials, etc.) when I need them as well as a comprehensive listing for my daughter and siblings to use “when the time comes.”

There are already two drawers in a five-drawer file cabinet with file folders of original planning documentation, history of the development of the overall concept, motive power/rolling stock numbering systems, electrical planning and proposed standards, Forms and Publications developed to replicate those of prototypes, etc. I plan on adding a folder detailing the mechanical and electrical build and (inevitable) dismantling of my just-getting-started railroad.

So … these are just a few rambling thoughts on helping whomever your railroad empire is bequethed to, for their use or subsequent disposal.

[MountainMan]

The truly responsible thing to do is to sell it all off when you feel you are nearing the end... You bought it - you built it - you are the expert, and you know that she will be vulnerable. What you need to do is to exericise your responsibility while you are still alive.

[pgandw]

The truly responsible thing to do is to sell it all off when you feel you are nearing the end... You bought it - you built it - you are the expert, and you know that she will be vulnerable. What you need to do is to exericise your responsibility while you are still alive.

Very well said.

Fred W