That a good topic. I have a relatively small collection that I may have put 50-60,000.00 into. Even if my heirs could get say 10,000.00 out of it, its is still a good chunk of change. The problem is they know nothing about trains except they are fun to watch and run. So I have given them a list of a couple places that will come give them at least a decent amount and handle the trains for them rather then guessing at what to do and getting nothing for them.
That's all you need to do is give them some choices to contact and explain that those places have to make money too and only will give them a third or so of what they are worth.
I once saw a neighbor's wife who had all these Century Club II sets, mint unopened, just throw them in the garbage because he had no idea they were anything but toys and did not know where to take them , so I gave her one of the hobby shop names to take them to and she got some nice change for them (she gave me a set of my choice for helping her which was nice)
Luckily I have 2 hobby shops that buy trains in my area of the country. But give them a list in order of who they should contact in case some places are no longer around when you move on from this world.
