Im jamie colby driving through dallas, texas. What do you get when you couple a onetrack mind to a boxcar full of bucks . A strange inheritance that im told is just the ticket. My name is jane sanders. My husband, steve, was always into his model trains. But when he got sick, they became much more than a hobby. They took him on the trip of a lifetime. I meet jane at her home here in dallas. She leads me upstairs, and i am transported to a railroad wonderland. [ train whistle blows ] oh, my goodness. Unbelievable. Its massive, 2,000 square feet, taking up an entire wing of janes house. Oh, my gosh. Thats so fantastic the locomotives drive past hundreds of handcrafted figurines and intricate details. Theres two men sharing lunch on the stairs, a blonde bombshell hitchhiker, a 1950s gas station. Theyre cleaning the windshield like the good, old days. Yes. And a scene from main street, usa. Theres the diner with people actually sitting in there eating. Absolutely spectacular, to every detail, jane. Whats more, theres a tale behind each detail joined together like verses of a poem written by janes late husband, steve. Its all his story. A story that begins in 1944, when Steve Sanders is born right here in the heart of texas. His mother would take him to Union Station in downtown dallas, then put him on a train to go to camp in colorado. He just always loved it, so ever since then, his love of trains built up. A love that continues to build even through steves College Years at the Kemper Military School in missouri. Steve goes on to become a green beret who sees action in vietnam, is wounded, and awarded a purple heart. He loved his military service. That was the best thing he ever did in his life. Back in dallas, hes set up with jane on a blind date. Had you ever met someone like steve before . No, and i never have since. He was a very, very loving person, generous, and enjoyed life. Steve and jane are soon married, and he opens his first business, a hobby shop. Thats when he started collecting the trains. I didnt think about it. He would just buy the trains and set them back, and set them back. Steve goes after the largestsize models he can find, the gscale trains made in germany. G stands for gross, german for big. He wanted the biggest and the best. In 1981, another of steves dreams comes true when he and jane adopt twin girls, christina and stephanie. Did it change him to be a father . Yeah. In a lot of ways, it did. He was so protective of those girls. Oh, my gosh. He just was so scared about anything happening to them. How would you describe him and his love of trains . He would find ways for us to go on train trips. He made us ride the train all the way from dallas to minnesota once. It was horrible, but he had a great time. Steve wants to give a better life to his young daughters, so he looks to make more money by going to work in the family oildrilling business and becoming a preciousmetals dealer. He used to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and everybody would say, well, why are you working so hard . He goes, well, i have to take care of my girls. And steve keeps buying up model trains. His lucrative Business Ventures allow him to add hundreds of engines, cars and pieces of track to his stockpile. Probably some you didnt know about. Yeah. Well, i never really paid a whole lot of attention to them. I would just keep seeing these red boxes building up. Steve does have a plan. One day, hes going to build the Model Railway of his dreams. He had a train room, and he had started a small train set. It was never finished. We werent allowed to touch it, not allowed to play on it, and wed be climbing on it, and hed, get off that thats where my trains are going to go maybe hell finish it when he retires, when hell have all the time in the world. But steve learns the 60s can be a cruel decade. He suffers a string of Health Setbacks triplebypass surgery, prostate cancer, and multiple back operations. So much for a life of leisure. He really suffered. He was so tired, in pain, everything. Steve knows the proverbial train is leaving the station. Its time, once and for all, to finish that railroad display. Hed always had a big vision for it, but knew he needed help bringing it to life, firstclass help. So he tracked down an artist who designs museum exhibits and film sets. Steve approached me and wanted someone to design the ultimate train layout. Robert reid is dazzled by steves ambitious plan. Hes on board. But did they start too late to fulfill steves dream . That was the tragedy. Heres a strange inheritance quiz question. Theyre all modelrailroad enthusiasts, but which music legend was a spokesman for Lionel Trains . The answer after the break. Livin in this crazy world so caught up in the confusion nothin is makin sense for me and you weve got to give a little love have a little hope make this world a little better so, which music legend was a spokesman for Lionel Trains in the 70s . Neil young was a part owner of lionel, but its johnny cash, the man in black, who served as its spokesman in the 1970s. For decades, these model trains are stockpiled in Steve Sanders texas home to be used one day in the mother of all model railroads. In his 60s, with his health in decline, steve works with a movieset and museumdisplay designer to finally bring his lifelong dream to fruition. He wanted it to be a tour of the southwest from colorado through new mexico to arizona to west texas and on through dallas. Hes telling his life story in trains. He is. It is. He was definitely involved. Each little vignette had to tell an important story. But putting together a display for steves gscale trains is a huge challenge. Its much larger than most train layouts. Figures in this scale are very difficult to come by. Hundreds of figures like these, many personally handcrafted and all custom painted. These werent things that you just buy off the shelf. We had people making trees, all the rock work, the scenic work. We actually created the buildings, most of them from scratch. Steve, running out of time but not money, spares no expense. Fortytwo thousand dollars to create a pintsized drivein theater, complete with a feature film playing on the screen. Its a miniature projector. Its not a tv screen. And then the sound comes from original drivein movie speakers. Steve pays a sculptor 80,000 more to create a Rocky Mountain scene that includes 32inch trees and a working tram. And another 40,000 for murals to give it the feel of big sky country. Theres shooting stars that go across the sky. Theres thunder and lightning effects. We were able to develop something that was museum worthy. Dad always did everything all the way, especially this. Do you have any idea what steve spent to put this together . Ive always heard the figure of 1 million. Does it matter . Not to me. I thought he works hard, hes a good husband, if he wants it, let him have it. Before i knew it, this is what we end up with. What were your thoughts about it . Whenever he would add something to it or finish it, even though id seen it a hundred times, he goes, you want to see your inheritance again . In december 2012, after four years of construction, the 2,000squarefoot display is finally completed. It seems that its not just a train set. Its pretty much the story of his life. The journey starts here, 1950s dallas Union Station, where steves love affair with trains first blossomed. From there, the layout heads to steves boyhood summer camp in colorado. Then continues past his hobby shop and through the oil fields of west texas, which helped make him rich. Then theres the ranch where jane and steve raised their girls. Is it an exact replica . Pretty close. It has the blue roof, which is one of favorite things that we had about it. And that drivein . Playing an army movie. Tell me the truth. Did yall make out at that Movie Theater . No, not that one. [ both laugh ] and, of course, he creates a tribute to his wife, the mary jane train station. And its more than just a massive piece of art. Steve designed seven track loops that can handle up to 12 engines running simultaneously. He had ideas in his head and hed be sure whatever he wanted done, got done and done the right way. With his vision realized, steve began sharing his magnificent train display with anyone who will come see it. And he loved that . Oh, heavens yes. He stood up there and ran those trains all night long. But steves joy is shortlived. In february 2013, just months after the display is finished, steve is diagnosed with his most dire ailment, stagefour lung cancer. Hed walk me in here and show me how to work everything. Because he knew he wouldnt be able to be the conductor here forever. Yeah. He wanted to make sure we knew how to take care of everything, including his trains. His illness spreads quickly. He was diagnosed february the 12th and died may the 28th. That was all the time we had left. That was the tragedy. We finished this masterpiece and he had such little time to enjoy it. Steve sanders is just 68 years old. What do you miss the most . [ voice breaking ] i miss the most sitting at the dinner table with him and us exchanging stories. Thats my hardest time every day. He leaves his enormous model train display, along with hundreds of trains in storage, in the care of his daughters and widow. Did steve tell you what to do . No. He got sick and died so quickly that we didnt have time to discuss it. So, for the time being, jane just keeps the display in her home, acting as its loyal custodian. Its a fulltime job to take care of them, to keep them clean and running in good shape. Then in 2017, jane decides to downsize her life, putting her 10,000squarefoot house on the market. I knew id have to do something at some point. I felt like i didnt want to leave it to my daughters to have to deal with it. Its time to tear up the tracks. But then what . Heres another quiz question for you. The answer when we return. But im not standing still. And with godaddy, ive made my ideas real. I made my own way, now its time to make yours. Everything is working, working, just like it should wade im a veteran, my victory was admitting i had ptsd and getting help. Announcer as americas veterans face challenges, dav is there. Wade i no longer see it as a weakness, but a sign of strength. I call it, posttraumatic growth. Announcer dav provides a lifetime of support, helping veterans of every generation get the benefits theyve earned. Armando i am a veteran, i lost both legs in vietnam. Announcer every year, dav helps more than a million veterans so they can reach victories great and small. Armando my victory was getting my benefits and a good education. Jason im a veteran, when i got out i felt like nowhere was safe. My victory was finding the help i needed. Announcer but there is more to be done, and more victories to be won. Jason thanks to dav, now i feel like im human again. Announcer help support more victories for veterans, go to dav. Org the term described the constant dancing motion of track workers as they lunged against their tools in unison to nudge the rails. His 2,000squarefoot modeltrain display tells Steve Sanders life story. He built it in his house in dallas and, before he died, he taught his daughters, christina and stephanie, how to operate it. And now theyre going to teach me. I happen to love trains. Are you going to let me try something . Of course. Show me how it works. Okay. Pull this lever slowly and were going to go one after the other. All systems go. Seems easy, until steves daughters warn me that his complicated layout demands that the trains run at precise speeds. Get it wrong, and ill crash a couple of very expensive locomotives into each other. Yikes so im driving three trains at once. Fortunately today, nothing goes off the rails. I love it. I could be here all day. What steve didnt do was instruct his widow, jane, what he wanted her to do with the trains after he died. Do you wish he had made these kind of arrangements before . Well, i wish had, but there just really wasnt the time to even get into it. Jane estimates steve spent about 1 million on the trains and layout. So perhaps selling off the cars and display, piece by piece, could be just the ticket. Enter appraiser Laurence Martin to provide his expert financial analysis. I went through every train, every locomotive, every car. It was over 126 man hours. I mean, shock and awe would be a good way to phrase that. And youd be shocked how much some of steves model trains are worth. He has one locomotive, was by row and company, that is one of only 30 in the world. Its value 5,300. This Pennsylvania Railroad model is one of only 250 and worth nearly 4,000. While this limitededition steam engine comes in at 1,900. The train total 137,000. Steves custom display itself is a different story. With no real secondary market, those pieces wont fetch anything near what he paid for them. I dont know too many people that spend that kind of money to have a model train set running around in their house. Laurence estimates the layout and all its components are worth about 200,000, so it doesnt make much sense to sell off the inheritance piecemeal. And thats actually a relief for stephanie and christina. His only dream was to make sure that everyone that wanted to could enjoy them. But then, what to do . How many options did you have . Not very many. Its so big that not just anybody could take it. The family begins seeking out someone who could take the entire display. Originally, id love to have given then to the childrens hospital, but they didnt have the room. It just wasnt feasible. So they reach out to a bigger facility. We checked with at t stadium, too, but it was a little large for the stadium so. Even for a stadium . Even for the stadium. But the family doesnt give up yet. They leave their info at a museum in nearby frisco, texas. I got a message on my desk that someone had an interest in donating a train layout to us. Bob laprelle is the ceo of the museum of the American Railroad, which has honored Railroad History since 1962. You must get calls all the time of people who think their train sets are good enough for a museum. Yes, we do. In fact, weve turned down quite a few over the years. Did you come immediately out to see it . We came out within a week or so. It just blew us away. The creativity that went into this layout far exceeds just about anything else weve ever seen. The family offers to donate the display, plus steves vast collection of model trains, to the museum. But theres still one, giant bridge to cross. What if you start taking it apart, and its destroyed . Whats your strange inheritance story . Wed love to tell it. Send me an email or go to our website, strangeinheritance. Com. So, from the two trucks over here. I want you to pick a new truck for your mom or dad, knowing that they could possibly pass it down to you one day. Cool. But before you decide, you should know that chevy silverados are the most dependable, longest lasting fullsize pickups on the road. Which means that ford f150s are not. laughs which truck would you pick . The chevy. The chevy. The chevy. There you go. Boom. That was obvious. Plus it looks cooler. No doubt about it. Now they know what to get me. laughs now back to strange inheritance. Jane sanders and her daughters want to donate the gigantic model train display their husband and father left behind to the museum of the American Railroad in frisco, texas. Its got to be a little bittersweet. It is. Its almost like its the end of an era. And how do you feel about that . Happy that everyone is going to enjoy his dream but sad that its not ours to keep to ourselves anymore. Was it a piece of your husband leaving . It is, but at the same time i know so many more people are going to get to see it, and thats what he wanted. Now train museum ceo bob laprelle needs to clear the biggest hurdle moving the layout without destroying it. This cant be very easy. Well, its a massive project, and its a specialized job. Your first cut could be the end of this railroad. It could fall apart. Well. In june 2017, the breakdown begins. Step one label every single one of the thousands of individual pieces. Well try to document as much as we can of the existing configuration of the layout before we attempt to dismantle it. With the inventory complete, each piece is delicately removed. Then youve got to consider everything that you dont see the wiring, the hidden loop tracks, the behindthescenes parts of it. Finally, the various sections of the layout, called decks, are ever so carefully split apart. Youve got to make strategic cuts and be very careful with it. The last step forklift the decks out of their secondstory home. One wrong move and the display will come crashing down. We just dont want to drop anything. That would be a tragedy. But there will be no tragedies today. The sections are safely loaded onto a truck and the entire lot gets shipped to nearby frisco, texas, for reassembly. And the museum will not only reinstall the display, but add to it, so they can show off even more of steves trains. We can share it with, you know, literally tens of thousands of people a year. And even though hes no longer with us, he really lives on. Do you think he would approve of what youre doing . Oh, i think he would be so excited. He always had this way of giggling when he was very, very happy and i think that he would just be Walking Around giggling right now. That legacy is still going and will continue for, hopefully, very, very many years, that my children can take their children to go see it and say this was pops place. When it comes to modeltrain enthusiasts, steves in very good company. Take frank sinatra. Old blue eyes dedicated an entire wing of his california ranch to model trains. Then theres buster keaton. He was so enamored with the hobby that he had trains running through his backyard carrying cocktails to poolside quests. And when rod stewarts train display was featured on the cover of model railroader, he said it meant more to him than being on the cover of rolling stone. Im jamie colby. Thanks so much for watching strange inheritance. And remember you cant take it with you. [ train whistle blows ] talk about getting the keys to the city. They walk around like they own the place. Sounds like youre the unofficial mayor of this town. Well, thats one of my hats. Guess what . They do. Your dad bought the whole neighborhood . Yes. The whole town. It is a real community. Very closeknit. I was told i was born here, but i was too young to remember. They never thought theyd live to see this day. Makes me sad. I dont want to have to move. When is the last time you got a listing for a wh