Help, anyone?

[jym1]

Hiya, folks. This post consists of two parts.

(1) A week ago, my younger brother in PA passed away in his sleep with no prior health issues! Our families are still in shock. I haven't talked with my sister-in-law about it, but I realized he left her with a huge problem: what to do with his N-scale LO and trains. Being a lone wolf and not having connections with other train-people, there's no one to advise her. I can't really help her living here in Japan. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

(2) Since I'm going on 78 years of age and don't think I'm immortal, I don't want my wife to have to deal with the same issue as my sister-in-law. And living in Japan just complicates things even more. So, I'm preparing to sell off most of my train-stuff on eBay. I don't expect to make money on the deal; the main object is to get these items to someone who will appreciate them and use them. I don't want to think that they'll all end up in the dumpster which is the only alternative. I'm starting to make up a list of the loco's (steam & diesel), rolling stock (nothing modern), tons of scratch-building materials, shells, motors, chassis, etc. so if anyone is interested, I can send you the list.

Thank you for reading. Respectfully,

Jim Maurer
Tokushima, Japan

[ryan_wilkerson]

Jim,
Sorry to hear about your brother.

Once you have some posts under your belt, there is a forum on this website to facilitate buying/selling/trading:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?board=12.0

There is also Trainboard's Swap Meet forum:
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/forumdisplay.php?306-TrainBoard-Swap-Meet

And another I've used is the N Scale Yard Sale, which is a yahoo group:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NScaleYardSale/conversations/messages

All are based on trust and it would be helpful to have a PayPal account.
I know it's a lot of work but if you make a list and your desired price, you'll get responses. The better the pricing, the faster you'll be able to sell it.

The more work you put into listing individually, the more money you'll get out of it. If you want to let someone else handle all that, you could sell as a lot but at a fraction. A "lot" buyer will typically sell the pieces individually to recoup the investment so it's really up to you if you want to spend the time for the extra money.
I wish you luck.
-Ryan

[Philip H]

Jim,
Also sorry to hear about your brother. I understand the impulse to do something now, but if you are still enjoying your trains, why sell now? What you need are a good inventory - with manufactorers part numbers, descriptions and a photo or two - and a written disposal plan. That plan says sell these on e at at this price, send these to this guy stateside, trash these. If its all digital then the sales are a cut and paste job. My mom - a life long quilter - has done this with her fabric "library" and it just makes sense.

Good luck!

[Doc Frankenfield]

dependant upon where in Pa your sister is located I may be able to help or refer her to someone
 I am in western NJ so eastern PA is reachable for me.

[tom mann]

I would advise her to take some photos of the layout and equipment to gauge worth.  A well done layout and an outstanding collection might be able to sell itself on ebay with "local pickup" only, but older 80s equipment might be worth just sentimental value. 

[JMaurer1]

First get pictures so it can be determined if it has enough value to spend the work necessary to sell it. Old N scale just doesn't have the value of old Lionel. I started modelling N in the '80's and the stuff back then just isn't close to what we have today. Posting the pictures here I'm sure that there would be plenty of people who would be willing to help (myself included). Donation to a railroad museum or train club is always a good idea as well.

Of course you can always pass them on to a long lost relative...(lol, you are the only other Maurer I've run across)

Jeff Maurer
Sacramento Valley NTrak