A Better End

This weekend most if not all of my childhood train set will sell on eBay. As you can see it is unremarkable and will not raise much money, but I hope that either directly or indirectly it will continue to give someone pleasure.

When I have mentioned to friends and family that I am selling my train set the near universal opinion is that I shouldn't be doing it, but rather keeping it for any as yet undelivered grandchildren. I have also been asked why now?

Well it has been on my mind for a while and last weekend I actually set some time aside to post it on eBay. This followed a round of decluttering earlier in the year and the realisation that this train set has moved in its box between lofts and within lofts for over 40 years. I cannot recall the last time I set it up and have no expectation that I ever will again.

I asked our local model train society if they had any interest and the answer was "No". I always had the backstop to Freecycle it, but decided to try eBay first. As you can see there is now interest in most of the pieces, something that warms my heart.

As I mentioned it is an unremarkable set, but most of it still has its original boxes, albeit well handled For some reason I was particularly proud of the operating Royal Mail coach. This harks back to the 1960's and reminds me of the film "The Great Train Robbery". It is a clever piece that will deliver one mail bag while collecting another from its trackside depot(?). Until yesterday it did not look as if it would sell, but now I know it will go and live on.

This toy, sophisticated for its time, but simple by today's standards brought me joy as a young boy and I hope that through this sale it will bring pleasure to others for a while to come.

Sometimes it is just time to let go of items from your past. I will always have the memories and hopefully my train set can create new memories for others. That must be a good thing?

I titled this post "a better end", but maybe it should have been called "a new beginning", both for the train set and in a small way for me as the responsibility for caring ( yes, it felt like that) for this set lifts from my shoulders.

Update: All but the transformer and a single goods truck now have good homes. I hope that one way or another they bring enjoyment to another set of people.