Abandoned toy train layout - Friendly reminder to make sure your estate plan is intact and includes our favorite hobby

Thank you for sharing, Sad.

To the point of the OP's thread title concerning estate planning for what will happen to our layouts when we are gone, especially if the layouts are large and permanent:

When I reached my 60's, I had an attic filled with a permanent N scale layout. I have been active in N scale since the 1960's. With two grown children and a wife, none of whom shared my interest in the hobby, I decided to dismantle and store the layout, and resolved that any future layouts would be portable. In this way, I would not burden my family as much when I passed, by making it easier for them to dispose of my trains. My current O scale subway layout is made up of four easily transported (and saleable) modules.  My N scale layout is stored in labeled boxes. If I ever return to N scale, it will also be in modular, portable layouts.

Sad, somebody ransacked that house and probably took the trains.

Indeed what a sad end to a life of an individual whose home was gutted and left to rot.   

I've seen helix's before but nothing like what is in this video.  I couldn't tell how many different loops there were.  However there were several switches so they may have been connected.   

From the strewn boxes, it seems the old guy had a nice collection at one time made up of at least by Lionel, MTH and Williams trains.

@feet posted:

Sad, somebody ransacked that house and probably took the trains.

My thought exactly: Thieves and low life's have already ravaged the place and took anything of perceived "value" they found.

Andre

A lot of work and time all that roadbed and Gargraves.

Wow! Definitely looks like "interlopers" have been there. Suspect the person lived alone without family nearby.

@WRW posted:

Thank you for sharing, Sad.

@feet posted:

Sad, somebody ransacked that house and probably took the trains.

@laming posted:

My thought exactly: Thieves and low life's have already ravaged the place and took anything of perceived "value" they found.

Andre

Could have even been heirs.

@Allegheny posted:

Indeed what a sad end to a life of an individual whose home was gutted and left to rot.   

I've seen helix's before but nothing like what is in this video.  I couldn't tell how many different loops there were.  However there were several switches so they may have been connected.   

From the strewn boxes, it seems the old guy had a nice collection at one time made up of at least by Lionel, MTH and Williams trains.

The helixes and train storage tracks on the walls must have had some collection at one time.

Hopefully ( and probably ) this person never saw his trains in this shape before leaving.

In a positive vein , this person sure must have loved the hobby. 

I'm not so sure that thieves took the trains. If you notice there is not one train car in the house ,none on the floor,none on the shelves or anywhere, just boxes. No broken or dropped ones either. Surely there would have been at least one car left behind. The only possible two trains that I saw were Williams boxes in the upstairs closet. I think he might have taken all his stuff and left the boxes, or the family did and left the house.  Surely with thieves which were probably druggies, they would have dropped, broken or smashed them just for the heck of it. While we know their value, most people still look at them as toys. There would have been at least one or two cars left on the tracks in the basement. No thief is going to go to to all that work to get every train in the house, especially some druggie or kid. On another note it always amazes me how people like himself explore these houses at night mind you with no backup and they go everywhere in the house. You gotta figure , if you're in the house why would some one else be in there?

Indeed what a sad end to a life of an individual whose home was gutted and left to rot.

I missed the part about an end-of-life story if it was in there.

Wow, how did he build that, it’s all hung from the ceiling.  Hard to assume what happened to his trains.  If they were taken by a train nut, what makes you think he would leave anything behind.  

Really sad to see. The word “defiled” came to my mind as I watched.

This is why I always urge my train acquaintances to set their priorities when building a layout.  To spend so much time and effort in building a layout in a deficient structure while allowing the structure to fall to rack & ruin is not the way to go about it.  Notice the trains are newer than the wall paper or appliances or any maintenance done on the home.

Jon

Based on the overall conditions, I'll speculate that it was an older man who lived alone and didn't have any family nearby to keep an eye on him, or perhaps he rejected their help.  He clearly had a passion for trains at the expense of neglecting the rest of his surroundings.  Unfortunately, as people age they often become distrustful of others and resist assistance - I'm not sure of the best approach for dealing with that. 

My takeaway from this is that we should all do what we can to keep in touch with our older friends and try to be mindful of warning signs regarding their living situation.  Get others involved when necessary.  We can't save everyone from their circumstances, but we should certainly try.

@ConrailFan posted:

I'm not so sure that thieves took the trains. If you notice there is not one train car in the house ,none on the floor,none on the shelves or anywhere, just boxes. No broken or dropped ones either. Surely there would have been at least one car left behind. The only possible two trains that I saw were Williams boxes in the upstairs closet. I think he might have taken all his stuff and left the boxes, or the family did and left the house.  Surely with thieves which were probably druggies, they would have dropped, broken or smashed them just for the heck of it. While we know their value, most people still look at them as toys. There would have been at least one or two cars left on the tracks in the basement. No thief is going to go to to all that work to get every train in the house, especially some druggie or kid. On another note it always amazes me how people like himself explore these houses at night mind you with no backup and they go everywhere in the house. You gotta figure , if you're in the house why would some one else be in there?

I agree - in addition, vandals/druggies would probably have ripped out the track and other metal items to sell as scrap.

I just did a quick search on the magazines that were strewn on the floor where he couldn't see the date at 13:46. No help there, the three that I could see were from Nov 2002, July 1998, and Jan 2005. So no clues there either. But all the boxes strewn around looked pretty new and in good condition. I'll tell you what, they looked in better condition than most of the boxes that come with trains and are described as "Like New" on ebay!  LOL

Sad. No pictures of family. No memorabilia. Just trains.

I often wonder what will happen to my collection of trains when I pass.  I also wonder what will happen to all my CAD models, engineering projects, and code as well.

To any who are interested, it is always a good idea and an investment in the future for you (and your spouse) to make out your "life documents" (Will, Health Care Proxy and Power of Attorney) while you have a chance. I see so many people who procrastinate and their families end up having to deal with matters like these.

In a Will, you can choose who inherits your train collection by making a bequest of specific items to that person or persons. You can also make a charitable donation of these items. Traditionally, it is engines, rolling stock, equipment, figures, cars and trucks, and structures. Unless you have a modular layout or one that can be easily removed or where trackage can be readily picked up, it is generally not worth it to dismantle a layout. If there is nobody who will carry on the hobby after you go, you can also specify that your fiduciary sell the collection and distribute the funds as part of your overall estate.

I've gone to estate sales that looked like that.  Definitely had to shower when I got home!

I find it very odd with the empty train boxes everywhere.  It seems to me that a non-train person took the trains away.

The owner sure must have liked to watch his trains go around and around.  Not exactly my cup of tea.

I like when the guy said that there were a lot of trains.  Better not come to my house!

@Richie C. posted:

To any who are interested...

I'm leaving instructions to contact Cabin Fever Auctions.  They can take care of everything and then send my daughter a check.

Good point about the scrap metal.  People go into new home construction sites around here and tear out all the copper pipes to sell at scrap yards.  How low can you get.  I once had a house that I tore down to build a new construction on the lot.  I had hired a guy as a laborer on my previous house for occasional help who I fired after I figured out he was a crackhead.  Wasn't too happy that the village called me and said someone was ripping the aluminum siding off the garage before I had the demo permit and told me to stop.  Didn't take much thinking to figure out it was him.  Dirtbag.

Bought a house for $330,000 and tore it down to build a house I sold for $862,000.  Sounds crazy, but that was the thing to do back then.  Oh man I miss those days...

@KOOLjock1 posted:

This is why I always urge my train acquaintances to set their priorities when building a layout.  To spend so much time and effort in building a layout in a deficient structure while allowing the structure to fall to rack & ruin is not the way to go about it.  Notice the trains are newer than the wall paper or appliances or any maintenance done on the home.

Jon

Yeah I noticed that as well. New trains, massive deferred maintenance on the rest of the house. That decayed look probably started before the owner passed.

Why are we so certain that it was a sad ending?  I see a lot of work done by someone creating what to him must have been a great way to enjoy his hobby and watch many trains run.  Why must we assume that the house was run down while that person lived there?  Being that the latest dated magazine is from 18 years ago, is it not possible that the house was not run down when he left it?  So, our first impulse is to assume he was an old curmudgeon who did not take care of himself or his dwelling!  What gives us the right to be so judgmental?

Forty years ago when I was a much younger man, my mother in law asked me to clean out the small hobby area where my father in law had enjoyed some woodworking and his Ham radio.  He had a stroke about 6 months earlier and I never understood a word he said after that.  He would go to that area and sit for periods of time and she was concerned that he would hurt himself trying to use some of the equipment.  I honored her wishes and cleaned everything out, packed it into a pickup truck with a small trailer.  As I was getting ready to drive away after saying our goodbyes, he spoke the only intelligible words I ever heard him say after the stroke and his words still haunt me to this day - "there goes a lifetime".  At that moment, I realized that instead of being the good and kind person I thought I was being, I was taking away all those memorible items that obviously gave a failing man some peace.

So, when I look at this video, I see the remains of a layout that brought much joy to its builder right up to the end.

As I see it, a person's hobbies are meant to bring them comfort and relaxation, which is something that is really needed the closer to the end they come.

Personally, I plan to enjoy my layout and the hobbies as long a is feasible.  When my daughter is law suggested that my wife and I should start selling some of our belonging, I responded - "we are planning for living, dying will take care of itself!  And you do not want to deal with what is left behind, there are companies that will come in, pack everything up, take it away, sell it and send you a check.  And if you only get 10 cents on the dollar, by****, that is ten cents you did not have!"

Enjoy your trains!

Don

After seeing what that guy built, I will NEVER say again that I have no more room to expand to.

Up, up and away!

Frank, that is a great idea!! I am going to do the same thing now!

DGJones, my answer to my daughter-in-law would have been, "Thankyou for the suggestion, and just what charity would you like to have the money donated to upon my untimely demise? Because I wouldn't want to burden you with figuring out  what to do with it after I'm gone."

I agree it may not have been a sad ending but in my opinion I think KOOLjock1 is right. The guy never upgraded or fixed up the house in any way. The wallpaper looks like it is at least 70 maybe 80 years old. Same for the furnishings in the kitchen and bedroom except for the refrigerator. But for me the worst thing I see is they guy put an awful lot of work into a horrible horrible track plan. Number one there is no layout lighting that I can see, #2) in case of a derailment you know the trains were going to the floor and #3) because of the insane amount of loops you can’t even see the far side or the center of the layout. There didn’t seem to be any way of walking around the layout. Imagine having to climb under the layout for every derailment? There was no place to sit and watch the trains run. When the guy built the display shelves in the living room he built them right over a mirror. He didn’t even bother to take the mirror down. I would be willing to bet that any trains that came from this layout/ house had various amounts of damage. The guy was obviously the kind of person who did not put any time or effort into taking care of his possessions. Anyone who could afford O Gauge trains can afford to make some upgrades or improvements to their home. I am not knocking the guy. I think he was probably a great guy but he had a problem upstairs which I imagine would be similar to people who horde. It is very sad and I hope the trains brought him some comfort in his elder years.

Looking at this situation, I imagine this person was in physical or mental decline due to the lack of maintenance on the house and the haphazard train 'layout' I've walked into situations like this - similar to 'hoarding' - where the individual has seperated themselves from the reality of the situation.

At my current age I am coming to the realization that I can't take it with me, and why burden my family with more grief after I pass. I've started to pare down what I have. I also have a will and it specifies what my son is to do with my trains and accessories, the same goes for my die-cast fire truck collection - keep, sell or donate to a museum and take the write-off against the estate, and who to go to for help with any of it.

I plan on making my will soon. I also want to make a book with a picture of every locomotive and passenger car I have, the story behind it, what I paid for it and what I think it is worth. I may or may not do freight cars.

Good advice, and an awakening for us all.

I am going to start selling my trains this year at Lone Star High Railers' Train-A-Palooza, to reduce the inventory down to just my very favorites.  I have way too many trains for a 75-year-old.

I did put instructions in my most recent will, for removal and disposal of the layout, which is modular.  It specifies, among other things that the layout is to be removed and disposed of when I die, and not left for my wife to deal with if she survives me.

Sad.   A little more involve than just the trains.  I remember, one the Fort Pitt Highrailer, long time participants, had a house full of trains.  The club spent a couple of days, loading-out, all that was boxed, and stored, to fortunately, a local Pittsburgh, train auction house. Net 10% to 12% of retail value.  I spent additional days, removing, what was left of a layout, from the lower level, of the house, eventually most of the wood/plywood was scrapped/burned.  What haunts me the most, is that his family, wanted nothing to do with the trains.  Sad.  Mike CT. 

I'm with those who are leaning  towards a "train hoarder ".

The sad part is not the loss, but rather the state of mind the homeowner may have been in. IMO, anything can be an addiction.

It appears this persons priority was to collect as many trains as possible on a limited budget, and be able to run as many as possible with that crazy spaghetti layout in the cellar.

Outside of a great way to use up a large volume of track. That has to be the most impractical layout I've ever seen.

This video makes me feel much better about my modest layout and collection.

The empty boxes were probably due to trains being displayed on the shelves we saw in video.

I’m guessing who ever removed the trains didn’t want to go to the trouble to rebox and didn’t understand the increased value (sometimes) of including boxes, not to mention protection for the trains the boxes provided. I hope the trains at least went to family or friends not to looters.

Regarding the layout , Hudson j1e referred to the horrible track plan and a shelf installed over a mirror. I don’t disagree the track plan is awkward to say the least, but well maybe that’s the best the **old guy could do. If it brought him joy constructing it that’s really what matters. There look to be hundreds of hours spent/invested on the layout. I hope he had fun working on it and got to see the helix in action.

The video did prompt me to discuss with my wife how to “close out” my trains,( I can’t use the word dispose).

**Im guessing the builder was elderly and male.

@DGJONES posted:

Why are we so certain that it was a sad ending?  I see a lot of work done by someone creating what to him must have been a great way to enjoy his hobby and watch many trains run.  Why must we assume that the house was run down while that person lived there?  Being that the latest dated magazine is from 18 years ago, is it not possible that the house was not run down when he left it?  So, our first impulse is to assume he was an old curmudgeon who did not take care of himself or his dwelling!  What gives us the right to be so judgmental?

Enjoy your trains!

Don

Don,
Thank you for your post.  I was waiting for the caffeine to kick in this morning as to avert my own mental decline to make a similar statement on my complete disbelief of comments regarding his "crazy" layout.  I so happen to think his layout is a true work of art.  Other model railroaders have no right to judge how someone lives their life if it does not bother or hinder others in their own pursuit of happiness.  Perhaps these folks are disgruntled with their own layouts and lack of train purchasing power?
Anthony

That guy bought a lot of curved track.

.

'Friendly reminder to make sure your estate plan is intact and includes our favorite hobby' - Great Advice!

Let us also remember each of us are navigating this transitory journey the best we can under the circumstances we are in.  Many comments here are about the person's belongings.   Beyond food, clothing and shelter everything I have is a luxury.

Setting my material goods aside, I'd prefer to meet each one of you and invest my time learning about your life being lived and have lived.  Imagine the beautiful being who lived in this home, hearing the individual's life stories and celebrating their 'Investment in Happiness' with them.

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, “How do you do?”
They’re really saying
“I love you”

And I think to myself:
What a wonderful world……

I dunno guys.

The owner of the trains obviously didn't care what would happen to them after he died, so why should we?

You don't need to have a Will for relatives to open an estate once you die, and distribute the assets in accordance with the state rules of intestate succession.  (If you die without a Will, then you have what is called an Intestate Estate.  Your next of kin or next-friend can open an estate in your name, and then an "Administrator" is appointed by the Probate Court, instead of an "Executor", and then the Administrator takes charge of marshalling your assets, paying your debts, and distributing what is left, to the next of kin, in the order set forth in the state law.)  The Administrator gets paid a fee, just like an Executor.

What is very very common, though, when a person dies without a Will, is what we attorneys call "A Redneck Probate."

As soon as the news of the death reaches the relatives, they all come swarming to the house with their pickup trucks, and just start taking everything in sight.  "Momma promised me this when she died."    "Pop told everybody I should get the tools."   "You'ra takin that, so I'mma takin this."  It's basically a big party.

My father was in the Navy when his mother died, and it took him three days to get leave approved and get back to her house.  The house was a shotgun tenement in downtown Richmond, VA.

When he got there, everything was gone.  Not just all of her stuff, but all of his stuff too, including his clothes, his .22 rifle and his college diploma. Not a stick of furniture was left.

All of her brothers and sisters and kissin-cousins had swarmed in from nearby Oilville and Shortpump, Virginia, and cleaned the place out.

He said that as he visited her relatives over the next several years, he would see his mother's couch, chairs and dressers throughout the houses.  Never did find his clothes, rifle or diploma.

It may well be that this is what happened when the owner of that house died.

Mannyrock

a look into a possible future.

that's what I see.

So enjoy them while you remain vertical.

after that, well I don't believe you win anything with having the most.

@Mallard4468 posted:

Based on the overall conditions, I'll speculate that it was an older man who lived alone and didn't have any family nearby to keep an eye on him, or perhaps he rejected their help.  He clearly had a passion for trains at the expense of neglecting the rest of his surroundings.  Unfortunately, as people age they often become distrustful of others and resist assistance - I'm not sure of the best approach for dealing with that

Yes it sure looked like the person had a passion for trains.     It sure looked like the dwelling was not a real highend structure to begin with.     

Could be that the person had severe physical issues that there was little that they could do except enjoy the trains and get to the door for the newest mail order train package.