I don't think this belongs in railfanning or classifieds because I believe it is of interest to some museums and historical societies represented here. If I'm wrong, feel free to relocate.

Ed McHugh was a long-time federal employee who spent the last years of his life living in NE Ohio. He also was a huge collector of railroad hardware and memorabilia. I knew Ed casually through the Akron Railroad Club, and saw him a few times a year, mostly for several hours during the annual train show in Kirtland, OH, where we volunteered to man the Club's sale/display tables. I had no idea how big a collector Ed was, but now his collection is going up for auction through a dealer in the Kansas City, MO area in the middle of next month. I would especially want to alert those here with connections to the B&O Museum, the RR Museum of PA, FEBT, I think the NYC group in upstate NY, IRM, and possibly Gold Coast in Florida, for the opportunity to acquire actual pieces of coach interiors, step boxes, china, signage; and a matching set of builder's plate, number plate, and headlight from NYC J3a Hudson 5449. There is a museum quality display model of a PRR S-1 Duplex; several tail signs from and station gate signs for famous trains, like the 20th Century Ltd., Capitol Ltd. and National Ltd. Dining car, parlor car, and lounge car chairs for several different railroads, several lounge car floor ashtray/drink holders, station clocks, timetable racks, etc. He also collected maritime and airline memorabilia which is also part of the sale. Collection is heavy on B&O, PRR, NYC, but also has mid-western and western artifacts, as well as some European items.

Link to auction house catalog courtesy of Craig Sanders' Akron Railroads Blog:

http://dirksoulisauctions.com/2019/12/1 ... ilroadiana

This might be one of the last of the big-time, old-timers collections of steam-era railroad "stuff" to be dispersed from an estate.

Wow. Thanks for posting this. I think I found my Christmas list. An incredible collection.

Appreciate that Kelly. When someone as connected as you finds something I put out valuable, that is really great.

It's hardly "the last."

I am personally aware of a couple massive collections that are second- or third-generation collectors still snapping up what comes on the market as the guys who actually pried these things off the locos, pulled them from the dumpsters, etc. pass on or just get tired of lugging the stuff. Prices continue to skyrocket in British nameplate auctions, for example.

There is a large metal pole shed somewhere in the Northeast, inconspicuous in a non-rail setting, that houses two walls covered with PRR cast number plates and station signs, builders plates, and more, which began when the current owner purchased the past owner's entire collection--including photos, negatives, and films--before his passing. In the middle of it is a four-track-main O-scale "layout"--minimal scenery but awesome locos and cars, from brass steam to the most tricked-out MTH models with onboard sound. And, yes, there's other ephemera--lots of Northeastern rare lanterns, hardware, other station signs, etc.

The cynics have been predicting the bottom falling out of the market for railroadiana as the people who remember steam and railroad-run passenger trains pass on and the newer generation have no connection to it. I haven't seen this quite manifest itself yet, but prices are slipping on books as the smartphone generation seems disinterested in reading a dead-trees book.

Like many of you who looked at the offering, I drooled over a few things (especially the train bulletin boards) but we all know it'll go for much more than the projected amounts in the auction listing.Indeed. I know of a guy who bought a house which had a walkway paved with builder and number plates off various steam locomotives, including what I had bene told was several WP&Y narrow gauge engines that were scrapped by the NP after the war. I thought perhaps one of them might be one of the ET&WNC locomotive plates, but alas, none were in the collection. The owner hasn't sold any of them yet and I suspect he'd be selling them in an auction like this. I wasn't allowed to take any photos but there was a huge stack of them and the owner said there was a stack of steam headlights behind other stuff that he didn't want to mess with to show me. That will make for an amazing sale when he decides to sell, but for now it's one of those 'secret squirrel' things I only got to see as a friend of a friend of his allowed me to peek at it.
I don't know, have you seen what headlights and plates are going at the shows and online right now?
I agree that some things are going down in price (especially books and brass model trains) but if the bottom falls out on steam hardware it isn't going to happen very soon.

I'm not sure about that.

The problem with a massive collection like this going up all at once is that most collectors, even the well-heeled ones, can only spend so much in one shot. That tends to hold down prices a bit.

If all you want is that one WM Pacific plate and eagle, then the sky might be the limit, but if you're a Santa Fe of NYC collector, you may have to decide which drumhead, number plate, headlight, etc, you want most or can afford. The REAL fun begins when once the one object of desire is gone, then you (may) have more to spend on the next one to come along in the auction.

Some of the estimates seem unrealistic; a few are spot on; and I'm sure that at least some lot will realize far, far more than the estimate. It all depends how many REALLY want it and what's in their wallet or credit line.....

That is true. I also dabble in military firearms collecting and a lot of the sales and auctions are seeing rare or desirable pieces selling on par with estimates or below a lot more now than in the past. A lot of big collections are hitting the auctions and, as mentioned, even the well financed collectors aren't going to pay any more than needed. One of the biggest areas of price decline is transferrable machine guns-partly because of the wait required while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives does their record check and approves the transfer-currently six to nine months.

Well, this was a surprise.

I forwarded links to a couple specific items to appropriate "authorities" on the subjects at hand--the kind of people that Brother Woodring suggested needed to be notified, the ones that could just buy them for the appropriate museums, or figure out the best home for them.

Every one that's gotten back to me so far has raised serious questions about the items in question--wrong size, wrong configuration, wrong font, they didn't have those, etc. I've asked for more details.

This could get interesting...........

I took a look through the auction listings today - a few thoughts:

1. There is a large collection of porcelain signs. In my experience, these are almost always recent recreations or reproductions, and frequently modern-day designs featuring vintage railroads.

2. The condition of many of the items in the collection appear to be immaculate - far better than what I have seen for railroad-used items such as this. I question if many of them are recent recreations as well.

3. Does this auction house have experience in dealing with railroad memorabilia such as this? I presume they don't - a red flag.

4. Is this individual still alive? I presume he is deceased. I ask as he likely amassed a large collection of these items as decorations around the train room without thought of them having resale value, so wasn't concerned by reproductions - he created or collected reproductions without any intention to defraud future purchasers, but if he is deceased, that is now impossible to verify.

I also advise caution.

I have reviewed the auction list and there may be a few problem items. I am always getting calls or emails about locomotive builder's plates and number plates. You really have to be careful and know the background of them when making a major purchase. I have helped other collectors save thousands of dollars on some specific plates, like a UP Big Boy shield. If you are not sure, contact someone BEFORE you buy. I usually get the call after the purchase is made and they often do not like what I have to tell them. All of us get burned on a bad piece from time to time.

Keep in mind that this is not ALL the items in the "McHugh Collection".

The second round, including at least a couple of the high-ticket 'teasers', will be previewed the day before the first-round auction begins -- on Friday, December 13th, perhaps not the most auspicious of days. That auction won't happen until some point in 'spring 2020'.

Yes, Ed died last Spring, I kind of thought that was implied in my post. No, I do not believe it would have been his intent to try and defraud anyone. As far as I know, his family was not really into the hobby, so that is probably why they did not specifically seek out an auction house with expertise in railroad collectables. I noticed at least one discrepancy in the listings that indicated they are not experts in railroad items - lumping in a couple of RDC models with a dome car model - a very basic mistake. I'm glad I posted this auction to the group here, and I appreciate the expertise brought out in assessing the value and authenticity of the collection. I'm sure there are valuable items in the collection, but Ed was not wealthy, so yeah, there are probably reproductions in there that were used as decorations. Hopefully, some of his items go to places that can use and value them for future viewers.

This auction house has done at least several other vary large railroadiana collection auctions like this in the past 7-8 years or so that I know of and I thought they did a good job. You could bid in person as well as on-line.

I looked at the items online, most of the hardware looks to be genuine , yes I think some of the signs are repo's and I know nothing about china but a lot of it looks good.
M Nix

I went to the auction, rubbed elbows with the high rollers. I found out that it took three semi's to haul the collection from Ohio. The auctioneer seems to know his stuff, he tries to find knowledgeable people to help with the identification and listing of items. I can't afford the high buck items, but if I see any smalls on future auctions I'll go back.
Prices of the catalogued items should be listed online in a few days.