# N Gauge Model Railway



## Fay (Oct 27, 2018)

I would like to ask for some help please. Due to very personnel reasons I am looking to sell my husbands model railway. It's L shaped 8ft x 8ft is less than 2 years old and was converted to digital last November. There is also numerous rolling stock, engines and scenery. Could someone please adviseon n the best way to do this?


----------



## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

*perhaps there are some receipts?*

Sorry to hear this.
But, you may be able to find some receipts for the things and determine what brand and model some of the things are. Then post pictures and descriptions on e-bay to sell.

Most train layouts are not usually sold in one piece, but you can try.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Used trains and layouts*



Fay said:


> I would like to ask for some help please. Due to very personnel reasons I am looking to sell my husbands model railway. It's L shaped 8ft x 8ft is less than 2 years old and was converted to digital last November. There is also numerous rolling stock, engines and scenery. Could someone please advise on the best way to do this?


Fay;

Unfortunately, used trains don't sell for much. A look at E-bay under "model trains" will show you what things are selling for.
Used, already built, layouts can seldom be sold at all. Nearly everyone wants to build their own model railroad in their own way, rather than buying one someone else has built. 
You do have some options though. As a member of this forum, you may post clear, close-up, photos along with brand and scale and any other information you choose, on the "For sale member-to-member" section of the forum. This is free, but unless someone here wants what you're selling, then your Ad may not get results.

If you just want to get the railroad out of your home, and don't care about payment, you might consider donating it to a children's hospital, boys and girls club, senior center or a boy scout troop. It would also make a fantastic Christmas gift through any local charity that deals with children. One well known one is the "Toys for Tots" program. If you research this organization they may have a local drop off point, often a fire station or a military recruiting office. Toys for Tots normally ask for donations to be new, still wrapped, toys. (some people have tried to dump junk there) However if you talk to them first, and explain what you have, they may accept it. Other charities like The Salvation Army, and Goodwill industries, readily accept donations of used items.

Good luck;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Fay, I'm sorry you have to do this.

There are basically 3 choices: Traction Fan covered the donation option pretty well. This is usually the option that requires the least amount of effort on your part, but of course the best you can hope for in the way of compensation is the satisfaction of having done it and a small tax write off.

You can also contact a consignment dealer or auction house. They will usually not take everything, and you may have to pay for removal, but it will get it out of your house, and you will get paid a fraction of the value.

If you want to optimize the payoff, the only thing to do is to do the legwork to value everything and sell it yourself, a piece at a time. This will probably leave you with the layout structure itself, as well as most of the structures to get rid of, and it will take some time, but it's the only way to get a decent return. Even then, 30 to 50 cents on the dollar is about the best you could hope for.

Good luck!


----------



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Fay

You may want to consider an ad on Craigslist.
Their 'Collectibles' and 'Toys and Games' sections
attract those interested in model trains.

Take several pictures showing the various locos and
cars, close ups of the locos would be desirable.

Be sure to emphasize that the layout is digital and
identify the DCC control system make and that all
locos have DCC decoders.


Put a price tag on it, but say you will consider any
offer. 

If you don't get any callers, look in those two
sections for persons (brokers) who say they will
buy used trains. Unless you want to abide the
tedius task of selling the items individually, you
would be better off taking only a couple hundred
dollars or so from one of them. 

If you are not in a heavily populated area you may
get better results with a Craigslist in the closest
large city.

Don


----------



## rrjim1 (Mar 12, 2015)

Fay, When I first started in N-scale, 1970s I purchased a small layout with lots of locos, rolling stock and supplies. There are always people looking for a deal, you just need to put ads out there and figure a price that someone will be willing to pay.


----------



## TimW (Oct 20, 2018)

Also the *Classifieds* section of _*Model Railroader Magazine*_ lists buyers who are looking to purchase estate sales equipment and layouts. You can pick up a copy of that magazine near anywhere, if you don't already have some lying about the house. Very sorry you have to do this, and best wishes on your success.


----------

