No More Trains


Larry

Larry

Long Winded Old Fart
This Past Friday I sold off all the train tables(steel) & all the Plywood that covered them. All of the scenery, tree's, mountains, engines, freight & passenger cars, vehicles, equipment, trucks & trailers, track, turnouts, magnets, engine parts & supplies, couplers & parts, shells, frames, engine weights & everything related to a 51 year collection of Model railroading has been sold. In the next 2 weeks I will be packing & shipping all the items that have been paid for in the last 3 weeks & some items I got large downpayments on & as soon as they are paid in full will also be shipped.
It only took 6 weeks to sell everything pertaining to trains & I think that is a record for ModelrailroadForum members. I only kept 3 items. 2 engines & a Schnabel car & a kitbashed Bobber caboose. These will be displayed below my flat screen TV in the Livingroom. I still have my large Photo album w/my layout & 3 video's on YouTube. I cancelled my Photobucket acct. & 2 email sites pertaining to trains. I unsubscribed to Model Trainstuff & RailPictures.net email notifacations. I'm getting rid of all train catalogs, magazines, etc.
Larry:eek:
 
Almost like the end of an era. Sad times, indeed. I wish you the best Larry, in what ever you do. Please don't cancel us here on the Forums, you have too much knowledge. Besides, contrary to popular opinion, it's not always good to go cold turkey!
 
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Burlington Bob said:
Almost like the end of era. Sad times, indeed. I wish you the best Larry, in what ever you do. Please don't cancel us here on the Forums, you have too much knowledge. Besides, contrary to popular opinion, it's not always good to go cold turkey!
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Promise, I'll throw in a little knowledge every once in a while. Been here since 2000.;)
 
Back in '98 I did that when I sold my Aussie built Chrysler Valiant Charger that I had put a lot of hours and money into for $1825, a pittance of what it cost 'cause I couldn't justify at the time the dollars to keep it registered and nowhere to keep it protected.

I then gave away all the publications and hardback books, series of magazines that were devoted to them to the guy that bought it. I very much regret all now, 'cause you could tack on a couple of noughts to that price (saw a rusted out shell on wheels go for $2500 about 3 years ago) and the mags and books are selling on eBay for good money.

My stepson and his wife in NZ sent me a book written by a Kiwi and an Aussie (they were "bigger" in NZ than here until recently) detailing the cars history and racing exploits with pics etc of the design development overseen by Bob Hubbach, the chief exterior stylist, from Michigan. Others in his stable of involvment have been the Chrysler Atlantic show car, Dodge Viper GTS coupe, co-design of the Copperhead showcar etc.

So this book ain't goin' nowhere unless someone prises it out o' my hands with a big sum of dosh. (which I can then spend on trains, haha.)
 
When Studebaker Moved to Canada in 1965 & all of the Studebaker Dealers in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale & all over south Florida went out of business I was already in the parts business for those cars. Back then I was known as "Larry the Studebaker Man". I use to buy up all of the Studes. I could find & strip them down. I wasn't paying much for them(usually between 25 & 50 bucks a pc.)& I had a huge building in Hialeah, Fl. to store them in. I was selling the tops off of the Hardtop coupes to a Boat Mfg'er & he was incasing them in Fibreglass & putting them on all his speed boats. I was also selling the 289 CI motors for inboard boat engines. I was going all over Florida & south Ga. buying up Parts Inventories from former dealers. I had every parts book & flat rate books from the early 30's all the way up to about 1969 for Studebaker & Packard. I was making good money driving a Semi for Central Trucklines hauling south Florida only freight. I also worked for my dad in his welding shop. I would take my Bonus Money & buy Studebakers. Over about 10 yrs. I drove quite a few of them too. When I moved to Arcadia in 1971 I sold 90% of the parts to Standard Surplus in South bend, Indiana which were selling the same things I was. I had brand new pickup beds, new engines in crates, tranny's in crates & tons & tons of parts in the original boxes. I left about 40 Coupe Bodies in that building. Brought all of the Publications w/me here. I tried for about 20 yrs. to sell them & ended up giving them to a Club out of Indiana. I wish I had at least kept 1 car & 1 pickup--Never see those things coming. The last Auction I saw on TV was about 3 yrs. ago & a 1953 hard-top Commander Coupe sold for $85 thousand.
We grow to soon Old't & to late smart. I owned a Speed shop in the 70's & had a super fast Chevy powered Ford Truck. Those days are long gone. Now, I'm spending my days recycling Electronics & hoping to go back into my Metal sculptures some day.
Larry:D
 
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Back to NO Trains. Oh yes another thing I did away w/my "How to Work on trains" "Blog".:rolleyes:
 
At least I'm not the only Studebaker nut. Here's my '62 GT Hawk with the R-1 package. Restored it about 8 years ago.

Take care, enjoyed your posts.
 
Ummmmm, I might have missed the reason for. This would make sense if you were moving into a small, one room apartment but nothing like that was mentioned.
 
Something happened that's for sure. Sad but without any information there is nothing we can do to help.
 
Would you indulge us with some context, please, Larry? This sounds draconian, and highly unusual.
 
Larry,

Thank you for all your thoughtful posts, great pictures, and help through the years on this forum. Also, thanks for some of your trains!

Best of luck in life, my friend...

Brad
 
montanan said:
At least I'm not the only Studebaker nut. Here's my '62 GT Hawk with the R-1 package. Restored it about 8 years ago.

Take care, enjoyed your posts.
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Had 1 of those in 1968 that had a factory Paxton Supercharger attached. The guy that I bought it off of said there were only 50 of that model w/the supercharger. I only paid $50.00 for it & it only had 3000 miles on it. OOOOh to have it now.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
Ummmmm, I might have missed the reason for. This would make sense if you were moving into a small, one room apartment but nothing like that was mentioned.
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2 years ago I had back surgery & sense then I've had a lot of pain in my legs, feet & shoulders. Just laying under the layout on my Chariot for a short time & I was out for 3 days. Stretching across the train tables didn't help either. Standing on a short step ladder was even worse. So, about 8 weeks ago I decided after 51 years in the Hobby I was quitting. I started taking apart the layout w/a little help from my friends. They worked for about 2 nights & decided the work was to hard, so, I finished it up w/a few bad pains & some cuts & scratches on arms & hands. It only took me 6 weeks to sell everything. I don't miss it yet & hope I don't. I have plenty to keep me busy everyday providing people getting rid of their electronic & electrical equipment for me to recycle. Everyone keeps telling me in the next 2 years there won't be any of this around. By then I hope to be back in the Metal Sculptures business & won't have to worry about recycling this stuff.
I'll let everyone know if I decide to get back into trains. It won't be HO scale though, it will be 1&1/2" scale running in the woods on a 7&1/2" width rail.:D:):rolleyes::eek:
 
This is what keeps me busy all day. I get at least 3 or 4 calls a day from people wanting to get rid of their old TV's, Computers, Printers & any & all electronics. I had to go & buy a trailer to pull behind my Chevy HHR, because some days I had to unload 2 0r 3 times haling all that junk in my car. Now, I can make all the pickups (usually 3 computer stores on tuesdays) at once.
 
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Larry, it's been fun. Take care of yourself. Your reasons for leaving trains are the same reasons I left N scale. And I may still leave trains in a few years. If I do, though, I won't be going to inch and a half gauge, I'll stay out altogether.
 
Larry said:
Had 1 of those in 1968 that had a factory Paxton Supercharger attached. The guy that I bought it off of said there were only 50 of that model w/the supercharger. I only paid $50.00 for it & it only had 3000 miles on it. OOOOh to have it now.
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This has the factory Paxton supercharger with a factory 4 speed. The only thing I did wrong on it was to keep the original black color. What a pain to keep clean.
 
montanan said:
This has the factory Paxton supercharger with a factory 4 speed. The only thing I did wrong on it was to keep the original black color. What a pain to keep clean.
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After you wash it & let it dry or dry it w/a soft cloth, spray it w/Windex window cleaner & wipe it off. The best wax you can ever use on a vehicle & it stays shiney for at least 2 years & is easy to wash. Try it in a small place on the paint. Is that factory paint or your paint? The dust doesn't like to stick to the Windex. I did my Chevy HHR & all my friends think I had a custom hand wax done on the car. Took me about a half hr. to do the whole car. I used a bath towel to wipe off the Windex.
 
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