Brad Kaplan - Early Standard Gauge Enthusiast

There is a downside to this hobby.  It isn't money, it isn't trades that go bad, it isn't toys that can't be had.  None of that.  It's when I see a note like this on Facebook before I go to sleep (and then fail to sleep at all):

When someone leaves us; whether expected or not.

When you have someone that is an important person.  To his family, his friends, to his co-workers and employees and is also a prolific collector and expert in his area.  Brad was tough as nails and incredibly diligent getting answers to questions about the rarest of rare toy trains.  And unlike Arno, he didn't have a great tome of work that we can look at and remember him by.  It is up to us to remember him as the important participant he was, both in our hobby and as a gentleman scholar of train history.

He will be missed by many, myself included.  We were scheduling and rescheduling lunch and time together.  Now I could just kick myself for not chucking my schedule and getting out to see him.  He was taken from us far too early.  Enough said.

Newt & Arno's Collections

 I've seen two great collections at Stout Auctions this week.  I am glad that they are going through Stout as they are incredibly reputable, honest and family owned.  As a buyer (in the past), I've been incredibly happy with their packing and shipping and was even glad to pay their auction house costs as their service was (in fact) that good.  They also accurately describe what they are auctioning and it was my experience that the in-person auctions are every bit as fun (maybe more) than online.  With Covid starting to slow down and go away, going to an auction house for a great auction should definitely be on the menu.

The Stout Team is 100% spot on showing the Jerry Brown Green Diamond as the highlight of Arno's auction.  I highly recommend checking out both auctions.  My guess is you'll see many of the items running around the SGMA layout @ York or in one of the shows coming up.  Most of these trains are better on a big layout (like any of the SGMA layouts) and not on a shelf.

Yes, Arno's collection does make me a little sad.  Although I am glad his family will benefit from the sale.  And if you do not have the book from Arno and Dave Carse, please buy it.  It will give you much better insight into this auction.

Newt Derby's prewar trains are also extremely well documented and there are some unique items such as the prewar layout, tunnels and scenic lots.  Makes me wish I didn't live in such a small house!

Interested to hear what everyone and/or anyone picks up at these auctions.  They're both for great people from a very solid auction house.

M

Arno's Book and More

 Hello Fellow Hobbyists!  It has been a very long time since I posted last.  It seems we are entering a new era for standard gauge and I have to tell ya, it is pretty exciting.  

First Arno Baar's and Dave Carse's Book -

I have pretty much every book on standard gauge there is (including the Louis Hertz stuff).  I've been trying to think of the best way to encapsulate how I feel about this book.  This book is so good, it in fact IS a collectible.  Yes, I've seen the books that debate what Mario Caruso was thinking in the Lionel Factory or what the Ives management team was thinking in 1922.  I read the McComas and Tuohy books as well as the David Doyle books for years (and they are pretty great)  They are all really cool and make no mistake, absolutely worth the read.  

But this book is different.  It does so much more than capture the story of a company.  It depicts artists and their work, mostly in their own words or in the words of family and close friends.

This is one of the first books that I can pick up at any time, flip to a random page and really be blown away at what I learn and see.  

I've owned quite a few of the items in this book at what time or another.  Not knowing what they were, I thought they were cool for a short period of time and then let them go, usually to someone like Arno that I thought was nuts for buying a "no name brand Japanese Trolley" which turned out to be something a bit more specific and valuable.

And I have vastly more appreciation for the work that I thought I understood and knew about even as it was happening right before my very eyes.

I opened this book for the first time and I got pretty emotional.  I miss my discussions with Arno about the state of the hobby, CMT and CMC and all of the crazy rumors that couldn't be put in the book (because they are rumors).  I consider it pure luck that I am getting to know some of the great people he surrounded himself with that build standard gauge now (you know who you are).  But that still doesn't take away some of the sadness I feel about not seeing Arno role out this wonderful book.

I also am grateful that David Carse took on this book almost like a religious quest.  His commitment resonates through every page.  The writing is brilliant and thorough and demonstrates the same dedication Arno had to shining a light on great builders and their works of art.  

Get this book.  Hopefully there will never be an electronic or softcover version.  It's too special to be in anything other than a hardcover version with thick, heavy bond paper.  Every builders story is well told, every picture is worth a thousand more words.  And one can only wonder what they built that we aren't going to get to see.

Standard gauge is alive and well and is flourishing with Arno and David Carse's book. The book itself is a long awaited collectible that will reward the reader over and over again with new facts, new ideas and great people that are part of the history of this great hobby.

M

PS: there are a couple of pictures from my collection that seem to have snuck in.  Anyone care to guess which one's?