benchwork type?

I've never tried to sell one but I've torn down a lot of layouts. I think the first thing to consider is the type of construction, will it stand disassembly and reconstruction? The typical L girder layout is pretty floppy when cut apart so something built with a possible move in mind might be a better candidate. The second consideration is how desirable and how finished is the layout, a buyer is going to have to really want it to make all the work worthwhile. I've never finished a layout to the point that I thought it was worth saving so I just salvaged whatever turnouts and details I could and scrapped the benchwork......DaveB

Thanks Dave good points.. If

Thanks Dave good points.. If it is just bench work why bother  and if  finished will it fit in the buyers space without destroying the scenery.?

LGirder Reinforcement

Hi Ray,

Maybe the two pair of shorts I just got at Good Will for a song when we went to drop some stuff off got me going on this post.

When I think about the time it takes to...  If the price was right... Carbide blade in a circular saw, a reciprocating saw and you got a TOMA module or three....  Think about the cost of track, cork, wire, WOOD, etc. before it hits the dumpster which causes cash outflow.

A sheet of 1/2" plywood cut to 2-4 inch strips and  screwed into the bottom of the L girders would stiffen it up.  

I would think that the cost of the piece for sale would be proportional to the amount of finished work done.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I certainly would have considered buying parts of a working layout when I started!

I'm sure Joe F has a good reason for not doing classified ads but.....

Now I got to remember to keep my shorts on.....

Nick

Hi Ray:When we moved from

Hi Ray:

When we moved from Kansas a couple of years ago I initially, tried to offer my simple layout for sale...with no takers. I eventually, wound up giving one end of it to a friend with track (it was one a large sheet, of 2" foam who could load it into his truck). 

I discovered years ago when I received a fairly, large N scale layout from the estate of a dear, deceased, that often what worked for one modeler and his layout becomes very difficult for another to include in another's. Even though I had designed and built this for my friend, when I attempted to add it to my layout ... it just didn't work and I returned it to the heirs with thanks but no thanks.

Best advice: Salvage what you can (I did save most of my straight 1X4 s for building the new Minnesota layout) from the old layout, throw the rest away and start new with the next one.

Barry, who found it to be true.

I have

I have built and sold three layouts, two HO and one N. The best place is post a flyer in a brick and mortar hobby shop. I sold the HO layouts that way. I was moving to Alaska in 2012 and sold everything I had for next to nothing and the N layout. Wish I wouldn't have done that. I returned to modeling in 2014 and now have to sell my custom 2x4 N layout. No takers on N scale flea market FB pages or on Craigslist. It's real tough to do this. 

PS - The HO layouts were built to come apart in sections and the N was a door. 

Labor

I agree Barry salvage what you can. There in is the rub.Collecting rolling stock loose or easily removed details I ink is easy and requires little labor or knowledge. If you are talking bench work with track and the track isn't ballasted, then with some free labor it is probably worth salvaging although I am not sure there is much if any value Now assume you have a totally scenicked large layout with craftsman and scratch built structures vehicles and details   If you have the space that might be worth some money and if the layout fit  your space with minimal modifications, but if it needs heavy reworking you will need to be very talented to resurrect  the layout; to remove transport and rebuild it.IMHO

I have looked at the adds in MR and see many looking for Collections, but none for layouts.

Recycling

Ray:

In 2010 I had just torn down an "island" style layout and was in flux about which direction to head. An elderly gentleman had been asking if anyone was interested in his 16' x 24' HO layout built into a custom building for that purpose. It was mostly scrap wood and a lot of screws. The L-girders and box frames seemed to be experiments. After trying to find logical places to cut rails and support members from below I hit it with a cordless reciprocating saw, trying to save signature scenes and yards, but the plaster mountains didn't fair well. 

After wrestling all this into the back of my pickup truck and a 16' horse trailer it made the 90 mile ride home considerably worse for wear. These were stacked in a tractor shed and photographed to consider rebuilding. 

My space was / is the same size but in an attic space with sloping ceilings down to 4' from the floor at the ends and a door in the side rather than end. No matter what I drew, much had to go. After a year of deliberation my focus changed anyway to On30 with the idea of salvaging switches and track to build my empire.

This didn't work out so well. As Rick Riemer in bias blog recently, track  an be built too well. All of the track Mr. Johnson used was Shinohara glued to cork over luan with waterproof​ Titebond. All I could save were the rails. None of the switches. Long story short, all was pretty much lost. 

Of course all stories have a lesson and I have learned not to use recycled wood but handlaying track and switches is  ow one of my favorite parts of the hobby. I now would build in modules with keyways or pins as alignment. End plates and pc ties seem to make a stable way to protect rails and removable building bases seem to make an easy way to build on my workbench as well as remove and replace later if desired. Certainly these could be sold or passed on at some point as well. 

Doing a layout "right" means different things to different people so I won't say this is the best but I hope that by taking my time, which can equate to more fun per hobby dollar, will also result in a layout that can have another life after mine.

Thanks Neil, but you didn't

Thanks Neil, but you didn't answer the $64 question. What did you pay for the layout and what was the layout like?Plastic buildings or craftsman type world class or toy like, or in the middle?

                                                                                                                               Thanks\                                                                                                                                                                             Ray

Nada

 There was no money involved and I wanted to help more than wanting a huge roundy-round. It had a couple nice bridges and a lot of Tortuous switch motors that I've kept. He had just turned 88 and was worried it would become a burden on his children. All the locos were saved, buildings donated to a museum, and the old Prodigy DCC system was in pieces but I still have it.

Would I do it again? - probably, but with fewer expectations. 

...

I purchased an 800 square foot layout from my club and essentially scrapped it out, it took two weeks to do it but I now have a lot of building materials for my large layout project when that becomes viable.

Thanks Neil & Benny

Thanks Neil

I belonged to a group and we removed layouts for some of the widows. . After rolling stock and buildings were removed we sold the rest at shows and gave the proceeds to the widows  Alot  went into dumpsters including bench work,scenery track work and general trash. But there was never any thought of trying to sell thelayouts.They were generally seen as a liability.These were nice layouts, but not  great.

Thanks Benny

I think I remember reading about that. What was included? Did you get help from other members?  Were  yuo paying for lumber or buildings etc.,

My real question has anyone received a substantial bid for a layout ? So many famous layouts have been abandon, and am not aware of any,but Paul Dolkas being sold. Part of the V&O was saved, but I think it was given to a  friend.