Mebbee I should apologize, It was a real question but sure has like 10 main aspects of likes or dislikes!!!

A quick thought says 'ah HAH- a true floor layout would solve the problem....

L.

Thanx for all the input....

quote:

Even more suprising is that no one is/was concerned about giving this labor of love
(or addiction...) to any charitable organizations....... but about every 5 years someone on the list comes up with a new idea " the Give a Kid a Train for Christmas".

The reality is that no charitable organization is going to want our labor of love, other than to break them up and sell them.
A layout is only valuable to those that build and use it.
It has very little residual value, other than what can be stripped off and sold. (Other than layouts build by well-known, famous people)
Had you asked what folks planned to do about their trains when they were gone, you would probably get different answers.

What C.W. said....

Plus you will find that even the "famous" layouts of our hobby can seldom be preserved intact despite the wishes and best efforts of friends. Look at what happened to Frank Ellison's Delta Lines and John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern. Only through the efforts and $$$ of a few dedicated individuals was any of these two great layouts saved.

We don't live forever and neither will most of our creations...just a simple fact of life. Enjoy your trains and your layouts. They were never intended to be a legacy nor a life insurance policy for our loved ones.

Jim

quote:

Plus you will find that even the "famous" layouts of our hobby can seldom be preserved intact despite the wishes and best efforts of friends. Look at what happened to Frank Ellison's Delta Lines and John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern. Only through the efforts and $$$ of a few dedicated individuals was any of these two layouts saved.

Don't forget the Gorre and Daphetid.
Here is a link: http://www.gdlines.com/

Yes I awed and oogled at those amazing pieces of work years back.
And do recall later on seeing somewhere that one or the other
was in great risk of being destroyed......
Maybe the 'buildit and enjoyit' guys are right!!??
On the other hand maybe the floor layout folks.....!!!!!!
ah me. is this fun or WHAT?

L

I accept that fact that most (all?) of the great layouts that have been built over the years are not preservable. I've always felt that it was a great loss to the art culture in a way.

Unfortunately these great WORKS OF ART can't be hung on a wall in a gallery. But they really are great works of art in the same vein as paintings. But the space that they take up prevents them from being preserved because of practical matters.

I think of some of the great modelers whose layouts I never tire of viewing. Tell me they aren't GREAT WORKS OF ART! One of the artists that I most enjoy is George Selios and his urban layouts. He readily admits that his layout was built to show off (too egotistical of word though) his structures, not to create a realistically operated layout. To mention just one of MANY.

It's really a shame to see these works of art, whether they are built for individual purposes or not, going by the wayside. If only we could hang them on a wall.

- walt

frankly, when I die my kids can dump my body by the side of the road and shove my trains in a big trash pile- who cares?? I certainly NEVER plan on building something or doing something to benefit my heirs. I spend tons of money/time with my kids, but I'm not living my life to give them a big inheritance.

I haven't been collecting and playing with trains all these years to build up a legacy for my wife and kids either. When I am gone, my family may pick out some stuff to keep. Or not, I don't care.
I do hope they get a fair price for whatever they decide to dispose of. Then they can use that money to purchase what they want, just as I used my discretionary funds to buy the trains in the first place.

The number of viewings and postings to this thread are testimony to its poignancy, felt by many of us, apparently. The viewpoints voiced here have reminded me of all those Egyptian pharaohs who took everything they owned w/ them into the grave - or tried to, at least. Eventually, no matter what their intention, people got their hands on all their stuff, including their bodies, no matter how high and solid the man-made mountains of stone heaped upon them or the deserts of sand moved to hide them. One can only hope they enjoyed their possessions while alive.

The same applies to our trains. I agree w/ the voices on this thread that have kept the message simple and advised enjoyment rather than focusing on trains as "investments," or being unduly concerned about what happens to our layouts and collections when we join the pharaohs.

Fortunately, I am blessed w/ a wife who declined my suggestion that I start selling off some of the trains and buildings and eventually dissolving away the whole layout, at my age of 65, so that she would not be "burdened" by my hobby after I was gone (assuming I went first.)She has stated she would not touch a thing and would want all of the layout intact around her once I was gone.

I must tell you all, however, that if it were she who went first, I would not find myself standing alone in the basement operating a layout which I originally built just for myself. If she were gone, I could not stand there, alone, running trains. I'd feel silly. Emptied. It may be only I who would feel that way, but I share that admission w/ you, hoping to add something of value to this important conversation.
Frank