So,
This past weekend I got a very unexpected surprise from a long time friend and model railroader in CA. My good friend Don sent me a message last week asking if I was still doing Model Railroading and if I was interested in a few locomotives and some rolling stock. it seemed that he was needing to thin out his collection. I told him I was and he said he would send a few over to me here in Phoenix. Well he sent me another message stating that it would cost way too much, so he decided to drive them out and do an actual visit.
Well this Saturday he came on out and before we unloaded his car we caught up and went to lunch, when we got back from lunch, it was time to unload his car. I knew something was up when he asked if I had a hand truck or furniture dolly! Well there must have been at least 6 small boxes and three large boxes. When I grabbed the first box it must have weighed at least 40lbs, Don laughed and said wait until you see whats inside!
Well, I was floored, I started pulling out box after box of brand new, never been out of the box Southern Pacific locomotives! Don had told a little lie, it was more then a few locomotives! Total count was 49 locomotives and just about the same number of rolling stock, mostly all the rolling stock is ready to run, just needs to go onto the tails!
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Locomotives
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More Locomotives!
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Rolling Stock
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So I had to ask my buddy, are you feeling and doing okay? As why would anyone want to get rid of all this stuff, surely you could sell it and make some money back? Don laughed and said yes he was fine, the simple fact was that he had plans to either build a layout or join a club, but just never did. he liked the collecting and after years it was just stuff and he knew he would never get to actually use it. So hence the message and delivery too me! I was totally shocked by this and the sheer amount of stuff, I do have a small switching layout I am working on and I do belong to a modular group so I would be able to use most of the rolling stock. Don's only request was that when our modular group starts doing shows again, he get the chance to come out to operate some of his trains, I told him that was a must for sure!
So what am I going to do with 49 locomotives? I do not know right now, I will be needing to purchase decoaders for them and there are a few that I am super excited about (Tunnel Motors and SD45's!) and I will begin weathering models as I go. I am super thankful for this gift from my friend, still overwhelmed but thankful as its a very generous gift to say the least!
But this got me thinking and I have spoken to a few friends already, at some point I think we all get to this point with the stuff in our lives. We just need to get rid of things that we had many ideas for that just never happened. I sometimes think about doing the same thing with my war gaming stuff, it just gets to be stuff and not important any more.
Well I have to get back to planning now, lots of stuff to work on now.
What amazing generosity! There must be thousands of dollar's worth in that collection. But yes, I agree with you both, there comes a time when we have to acknowledge we'll never get to use some of the stuff we collect. As my wife is fond of saying - 'You don't own stuff - stuff owns you.'
ReplyDeleteAJ so true, I will get some of this stuff into use, wont be a race, but a marathon. The first hurrdle is to find a place for all this stuff! Once I can safely store it, I can then move onto what I want to work on from there.
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