Model Railroading > "Wall Street Journal" Article on Train Rooms

While it is behind a paywall the Wall Street Journal has an extensive article about train rooms and model railroading.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/model-railroads-in-homes-11596731451?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

 

Can you copy and paste the article for those of use that do not have access to the WSJ?

I'm sure Trainorders would have no problem with copying and pasting their content people pay for to other sites.

I'm sorry. That would be a violation of copyright law. 

When I retired, I gave up my online subscription. So, we went to the closest Barnes & Noble and purchased a copy. It is a huge color spread. Worth the $4 (single copy price).

Good article. I can relate, as I have a small 10'x6' layout that can be (and has been) moved. As we start looking for our next house, one of the first things I do is imagine securing a room for the table. Walking thru a home, I'll say to my wife, "THIS would be a good train room". Some realtors showing us houses then have puzzled looks on their faces...

MSE Wrote:
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> I'm sorry. That would be a violation of copyright
> law. 

Ok, thanks for posting a link to an article most of us can't read.  

Highlights:

1) Model Railroading is an expensive hobby
2) Some Modelers look for potential room(s) in which to build their layout when house shopping
3) Not surprisingly, the home buyer who buys a house to build a railroad in tends to be older 
4) Having a fully built and operational layout in a home for sale can be a selling point. 

Large scale (3 rail) stuff prominently featured...

 

M-420 Wrote:
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> Highlights:
>
> 4) Having a fully built and operational layout in
> a home for sale can be a selling point

Interesting. Many report real estate agent comment the opposite.

Posted from Android

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
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> M-420 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------
> > Highlights:
> > 4) Having a fully built and operational layout in a home for sale can be a selling point
>
> Interesting. Many report real estate agent comment the opposite.
>

Well there was ONE example sited - a $2 Million dollar sale... Hardly a Representative sample.

When we sold our home in Arlington VA in 1984 one punter offered to buy it with the basement layout and all the cars, etc.
I turned him down. He didn't buy the house but it sold easily. I would have left the layout but not all the
cars, etc., I had kitbashed.
 

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
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> Interesting. Many report real estate agent
> comment the opposite.
>
I would definitely agree with that. When we listed our house in SoCal, I had the layout removed before any pictures or listing. With our current house, the layout stays but no pix of that room in the listing.

In 1995, Frank Sinatra sold his estate in Rancho Mirage, CA.  The multi acre compound contained a building built to look like a small town railroad station, which contained Frank's Lionel train collection and layout.  The buyer was a former Canadian railroad executive and he offered to buy the layout & trains.  I was asked by Barbara, Frank's wife, if I would drive out to the desert and do an appraisal of the items, which I did.  The buyer did purchase everything, along with the REAL railroad caboose (I believe ATSF but don't remember for sure) that sat in Frank's back yard on a section of real track, which housed his gym, sauna, etc.  I have no idea if any of that stuff is still there.  Frank Sinatra grew up in Hoboken, NJ and played in the railroad yards as a kid.  He loved trains his entire life.

Hope you are all doing well,

Allen Drucker

Yes, most often home buyers don't want the model railroad. And most of the time, it is hard to sell a model railroad to another model railroader, since a model railroad is such an individual thing.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Yes, most often home buyers don't want the model
> railroad. And most of the time, it is hard to sell
> a model railroad to another model railroader,
> since a model railroad is such an individual
> thing.

Hopefully I will have many years in my house, but I do occasionally think about what will happen to the layout when the time comes to sell. We have no plans to move, but God may have other plans at some point.

The layout I've always wanted is, by necessity, not movable. It's multi-deck. It also fills the garage as well as part of the basement, so we have no garage. Unless one of my kids decides to move into the house, we will most likely have to rip it up and put the garage back. With luck I'll be drooling in a nursing home when that has to happen and I'll make sure there are funds for the kids to take care of it.

There's also the issue of the 1:1 coach in my basement. That will probably need to be ripped out too.

When people ask how much our house is worth, I point to the other houses on the street and say "They are worth over $1 million. Our house is worth $4.97."

-Jason