Ward Kimball's Train and Toy Collection

"What is insane today is reasonable tomorrow," said Stuart Waldman, a major dealer in toy trains from Staten Island, New York, who sat in the first row at the sale of Ward Kimball's train and toy collection at the Ramada Inn at the Philadelphia International Airport on November 19 and 20, 2004. "As a businessman there was no way I could buy for resale. Prices were pushed to new levels, and when the second half of Ward Kimball's collection is sold in May, I predict prices will be higher."

The sale was produced by Carversville, Pennsylvania, toy auction promoter Noel Barrett. The classic trains and stations were made in Europe by Märklin, Bing, Carette, and others, and in America by George Brown, Lionel, and American Flyer. They were sold along with toys by Reed, Bliss, Lehmann, Gunthermann, Stevens & Brown, and others. Barrett estimated the sale would bring as much as $1.731 million, and it brought a million more—$2.734 million (including buyers' premiums). There is no sales tax on an estate sale in Pennsylvania.

"It was the most expensive train sale in history. That much money has never changed hands in one day at a train sale," said a surprised Ken Post, a train dealer in Closter, New Jersey, who served as Barrett's consultant for the cataloging and estimates. Post said he based his estimates on what similar trains had sold for in the past, and at the Kimball sale many sold for two and three times his expectations.

The success of this sale was due to a combination of factors. Kimball was a famous collector (a celebrated Disney animator) who publicized his collection in many articles in trade journals and magazines over the last 35 years, the collection was off the market for a generation, and there is a supply of new collectors in America and abroad. It was an example of supply and demand: there is a demand for fine trains, but there is little supply.

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