The BIG clean out!

I've decided to clear the majority of my railway collection... and there's more in the garage!

This is probably the most embarrassing photo I will ever post on any of my blogs... It is what happens when you make a New Years' resolution to finally clean out the study in the hopes of being able to start work on that new little project layout that will sit atop my IKEA cabinet on the left.

"Sometimes you can just get overwhelmed by something you set out to do."

While waiting to make an announcement on the release of my next Philden Model Railway Presents book, I took it upon myself to finally sort out my study and prepare some space to delve into a new OO-9 micro layout. After already clearing a lot of my surplus Australian model railway rolingstock late last year as Philden Street Yard nears completion, I still had boxes and bags full of N scale models that I didn't quite know what to do with, and box after box of railway memorabilia stored in the garage that needed to find a way upstairs and onto a place on a shelf. Late last year, my cousin in Melbourne contacted me and asked if I was interested in a collection of Victorian Railway 'stuff' from a deceased estate, to which I said yes, and it too also arrived over the Christmas holidays period. Amongst it was a near complete set of VR Newsletters dating right back to WWII.

All I wanted to achieve by the end of this week was to make space for another matching IKEA cabinet to sit alongside my desk. But when I brought everything upstairs and into the study, it was obvious that there is no way on earth that everything was going to fit into another 4 shelf IKEA cabinet. It was one of those moments where I just looked at everything and asked "what have I done?"

Amongst my latest prized acquisitions that my cousin sent up to me, were 3 signs that once hung beneath the clocks at Flinders Street Station. Late last year someone on Facebook had offered the complete set of signs for sale, and after a quick 3 way conversation between myself, my cousin Chris and the seller in Melbourne's west, my cuz collected the Belgrave Line, Sandringham Line and Williamstown Line baked enamel signs in person, held them aside until the goods from the deceased estate sale had cleared, and mailed the lot up to me in Queensland. The signs are in beautiful condition, and along with some other prized pieces such as a NSW shunters' lamp and an ex-QR sign, are going to become the feature of a small display unit in our lounge room opposite my layout. Along with some family photos and some of my wife's decorating skills of course!

These 3 signs once hung beneath Flinders Street Stations' train display boards in the foyer at the top of the staircase. They will now be displayed alongside my Melbourne-themed model railway.

As for my study... If it won't fit nicely into one of the IKEA shelves such as the one above, then I can't justify hanging onto it any longer. As I write this, I've already listed 800 items up on eBay, and still have the entire floor shown in the top photo, a wardrobe full of timetables and tickets, and a pile of railway books, magazines and DVD's that won't fit into the much-needed IKEA cabinet I'm hoping to pick-up this weekend.

I'm hoping to have them all listed on eBay over the next 3 days. I try to photograph about 100 items at a time, and then sit and list them while I have a cup of tea to give my back a break. Usually I give a quick check on eBay to see what prices people are asking for similar items, and where possible try to price mine to be cheaper. It's a fair way of valuing things, but you can't discount history after all, and a lot of the tickets, timetables, books and such I've been collecting since I was a young man.

Rather than field questions or be the subject of nasty conversations on the many Facebook groups that I ultimately left last year, I actually prefer selling on eBay. It's been supporting me as a writer for the past year, and still provides the greatest search results for items as obscure as a 1948 Victorian Railways newsletter.

As my Australian model railway days are now drawing to an end, holding onto all this stuff for research (a fancy word for collecting), has already served its purpose. There's one more model railway book I will write this year, and one final railway photo book I hope to produce after our end of year holiday to Victoria and South Australia to close the curtain on a writing career.

Self-producing my own books hasn't been a cheap exercise, and the more I become known in model railway circles the more I'm struggling with that certain element of people you inevitably encounter in any walk of life who only want to bring you down. I'm taking a break from Facebook in 2023 and will most likely give attending exhibitions with the new layout a miss. It can be tiring trying to socially complement other modellers efforts all the time while trying to filter out the negative conversations I seem to encounter in return. I'd rather my legacy be remembered from writing books that will help fast-track the next generation's modelling skills.

Well, I do hope you check out what I am clearing over the coming weekend. Hopefully it will cover the cost of the insurance excess from someone reversing into our Mitsubishi Outlander over Christmas, and not leaving a note. For once I just want my Mitsi fixed rather than wondering how I can afford a new model train!