Richard Napper’s model railroad items, books, and tools will soon be disbursed through an estate sale and through consignment at a model railroad shop in Topeka. His brother is allowing a pre-sale of these items for those who were his friends, fellow modelers, and railfan colleagues. It will be held on Saturday, September 7, Noon until 4 p.m., at Richard’s home, 7244 NW US Hwy 24, Topeka, KS. His brother is very committed to paying off Richard’s debts. The purpose of this pre-sale is to help out Richard’s brother financially and to give those of us who were Richard’s friends and colleagues an opportunity of purchasing things we will value and use that once belonged to him. Items will be sold at a price that will be a good value to those purchasing them, but do not expect things to be sold at “fire sale” or “garage sale” prices. Richard had lots of one-of-a-kind items, and did not have any “junk.” Cash and personal checks will be accepted, but not credit cards. US Hwy 24, as you probably know, is a busy highway. Those of you who have to park on the shoulder, please be careful! Frisco modelers: Richard once said he had tried to model every diesel on Frisco’s roster. I think he succeeded in that, or at least came close to it. The diesels that appeared in both black/yellow and orange/white probably have a counterpart on Richard’s shelves. I do not have access to the inventory, and cannot tell you what is available. I will also be working the sale and will not have the leisure to shop for anyone. If you think there might be something that you want, and there probably will be, you will have to show up in person. I will post updates on the estate sale and consignment sale plans as things become known. If you have other questions you can contact me via a private message on this web site.
I regret that I will not be able to attend, but I can personally testify to his workmanship when it came to modeling the Frisco, having seen the layout he was working on when he lived in Manhattan, KS. Whoever buys anything from the estate, will definitely NOT be buying crap. I'll have to wait until a list of some sort comes out, but when it does I will be most interested. Richard was a friend of mine, and whatever I can do to help his family settle his debt load, I will happily do. Please, keep us posted.
I would be very interested in any slides, etc., for the site here. Did Richard have such items? Charlie
I know he had plenty of pictures- he shared a bunch of ''em with me, both of Frisco and whatever else was in front of his lens.
Not that it really matters, but I'm not sure that Richard took many photographs himself. I believe he collected ones others took like Howard Killiam.
Concerning his estate as a whole, I for one would be curious to know several things: (1) Who is assisting his brother in assessing the value and pricing the items? (2) Has anyone on the forum actually been to his house, either before of after his death and knows in general what he had? I believe that the signature item he built was a huge bridge which contains at least 100 packages of Evergreen strip styrene. I believe he wrote an article about it in Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine. If so, does anyone remember the issue?
Bob, I downloaded the MRH index and Richard had 3 articles published. None was a bridge. I also looked into MR CD and didn't find the bridge there either. I wish I could go. I was interested in his combine caboose.
I remember a photo of the bridge and I think an article about in the NMRA Bulletin. Not sure if I have a copy, but will look. Tony L.