New member

[maxtruffles]

Hi I just joined and my name is Shirley.  I joined solely to get some advice/direction/assistance.  I am in the sad, but necessary, process of disposing of my late husbands many collections of "stuff".  I have come across a box that contains a complete Atkinson Cycle Model Gasoline Engine Kit by Joe Tochtrop.  All parts are there as well as the assembly instructions.  My question is, is there a market for this or it goes to the scrap heap?  Any help would be much appreciated.

[MJM460]

Hi Maxtruffles, first please accept my condolences.  Such a sad task to have to undertake.

First, I am sure there is a market.  Please don’t consign that set to scrap.  Someone will definitely appreciate the chance to buy and hopefully build the kit.

If you husband was a member of a local club, it would be worth contacting them, as most clubs have sale tables.

Also, if we know where in the world you are located, some of the members here might contact you by personal message with ideas that might help.

MJM460

[maxtruffles]

Thank you.  I am located in Phoenix, AZ.  Unfortunately my husband did not belong to a club and I haven't had much luck trying to find a local club. 

[crueby]

Here is a list of several steam clubs in the Phoenix area, not gas engines but a lot of times members do both.
http://thunderbirdmodelrrclub.com/
http://maricopalivesteamers.com/
https://www.azmodelrr.com/
Hope that helps!Chris

[Dave Otto]

Hi Shirley, sorry for the loss of your husband.
Pictures would be helpful and you can post them here as an attachment. Since Joe is no longer with us as far as I know that could increase the desirability of the Atkinson Castings as there are no longer being made. I guess it depends on how much effort you want to put into it, as far as packing and shipping is concerned. The short answer yes the engine kit does have value, I would guess 300 to 500 dollars. It would be interesting to see what else you come across as you are cleaning out.

Dave

[Jo]

Hi Shirley,

Good luck on sorting out all of your husband's stuff. Model engineers never throw anything out  Especially if it may come in handy one day  .

Models normally have value, sets of bits (castings) are also saleable and will get more if the drawings go with the bits. You need to be a little more careful on the workshop - yes you can probably sell the big tools on Ebay but you are likely to have to pay a clearance firm all of that money to get rid of the remainder if you don't want to sell the items individually yourself. A model engineering club/society will normally take the lot and give you the proceeds when they sell it (normally cheaply to their members). A second hand tool business will clear the workshop and offer you money but they will have to pay their own staff and transportation costs so again don't expect a high price they are in business to make a profit. If you want to spend lots of time and hassle putting individual items on Fleabay you can maximise the money you make (did I mention it takes a lot of time and hassle doing this  )

Jo

[Vixen]

The true value of these bits is in the joy they give your husband while he was with us

[maxtruffles]

First of all thank you for all your input and advice.  I can't figure out how to respond to each of you individually - I guess I'm more computer illiterate than I thought.

Someone suggested posting pics of what I have - it won't post as they say the file is too large.  If anyone is interested in pics please email me and I will be happy to send that way.

Again thank you all.

[Dave Otto]

Hi Shirley

To send a private you need to click on the members name and then select send personal message from the options at the left hand side of the page.
As far as the image size goes most of us use a program to resize the image, there are many to choose from. I use a free program (Lrfan View) to do my resizing. Not sure if you are using a PC, or maybe a phone or tablet. But email also works if someone is interested, I was just thinking going forward if you had more items that you would like to have identified.

Hope this help some.
Dave