Here’s The Ticket! Turner Auctions + Appraisals Presents The Donald Saiger Collection Of Model Trains
Over 225 High-End Trains & Accessories Go Up for Bid on Saturday, August 16
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, August 5, 2025 – Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Donald Saiger Collection of Model Trains on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 10:30 am PDT. Offering over 225 lots from the estate of a Northern Californian who collected trains for over three decades, the auction features high-end model trains – almost all O gauge and most of them 3-rail. Most offerings are post-war and modern-era trains, and many are in their original boxes. Auction lots include diesel, steam, and dummy locomotives; tenders; cabooses including smokers; numerous sets, multi-packs and groupings; a diverse array of train cars, including passenger, coaches, observation, baggage, diner, box, crane, water tender – plus a track cleaning car, fire and logging trains, a rotary snowplow, a Jordan spreader, an electric trolley and an Electroliner, a car ferry, and more. There are also railroad lanterns, train books, accessories, transformers, track components, maintenance equipment, track interface units, and remote controls. Of particular interest to collectors may be the wide selection of plexiglass display cases. The wide variety of manufacturers include Lionel, Overland Models, GR International, Schneider, K-Line, MTH, Atlas, Williams, 3rd Rail/Sunset, Weaver, Precision Scale, Key Imports, KTM, LGB, and Marklin.
Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 10:30 am PDT; sale items are available for preview and bidding now. The auction will be featured live on four platforms: LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Bidsquare, and Turner Auctions + Appraisals’ free mobile app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Apps (“Turner Auctions”). All are easily accessed through the ‘Upcoming Auctions’ page at the company’s website: www.turnerauctionsonline.com/upcoming-auctions/.
About Donald Saiger & His Collection
Born and raised in Chicago, Donald Saiger graduated from Carthage College in Wisconsin in 1958. While he planned to go to dental school, a friend talked him into joining the FBI, which he always said was the better of two choices. As an adult, Mr. Saiger lived in Northern California’s Marin County. He spent most of his professional life doing aerial reconnaissance for the FBI, commuting to his job each day by flying his own plane from his local airport, across the San Francisco Bay, to the FBI’s field office in Oakland, where he picked up his airplane for work. Among his many assignments over a long career were work on the Patty Hearst kidnapping case and providing security in the U.S. for Imelda Marcos, who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986 and is mother of the Philippines’ current president. After San Francisco’s devastating Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 – its 6.9 magnitude killed 63 people, injured over 3,750 persons, and displaced over 12,000 from their homes – Mr. Saiger, with his eagle eye, was responsible for evaluating the runway at the San Francisco Airport to ensure it was safe for subsequent airplane landings. He retired from the FBI in 1989.
But airplanes were not the only modes of transportation that thrilled Mr. Saiger. A lifelong bachelor, he became interested in model trains as a boy, perhaps after growing up in place close enough to hear the trains’ whistles as they passed through town. Some years later, he began collecting model trains — then did so with a passion for over 30 years, according to his long-time friend Kate MacPherson, with whom he walked his Malamute or other dogs for four miles a day for many years. “Enraptured by trains since he was a kid, Don was crazy about model trains and went bananas,” she said.
In the home he had personally built over 30 years before, Mr. Saiger proudly displayed his model trains all over the house – including the kitchen and closets. His expansive train layout, built in the attic space over his three car garage, even featured a simulated lake with a boat! Reflecting his perfectionist qualities, many of his trains were showcased in large plexiglass and wooden display cases, where they could be admired and enjoyed by him and others.
Now, with Mr. Saiger’s passing in 2024 at age 88, train collectors who also appreciate the workmanship of high-end trains may peruse and acquire the engaging objects of Mr. Saiger’s desire and fine collecting eye. Other collecting passions of Mr. Saiger – vintage guns, Civil War memorabilia, and men’s watches – will be offered in future sales at Turner Auctions + Appraisals.
Here are some highlights of the upcoming online sale (please see lot details in the online catalog):
Lot 142: GR International by Samhongsa 1 Gauge Milwaukee Road Hiawatha – Class A (4-4-2) Number 54 of 86. In original shelf-worn wood box. Estimate $3,000-$5,000.
Lot 109: Overland Models O Gauge Union Pacific Gas Turbine Locomotive and Tender. In original, very shelf-worn and faded box. Estimate $4,000-$6,000.
Lot 21: 3rd Rail/Sunset Models Brass O Scale 3 Rail PRR Q-1 4-6-4-4 #6130. In shelf-worn and faded original box. Estimate $3,000-$4,000.
Lot 130: Overland O Gauge OMI 0205.1 Union Pacific #80 Coal Turbine Locomotive (3 pieces). In shelf-worn and faded original box. Estimate $3,000-$4,000.
Lot 63: Lionel O Gauge 3-Rail 6-11448 Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. In original shelf-worn and faded box. Estimate $3,000-$4,000.
Lot 113: Lionel O Gauge 6-28320 Canadian Pacific Evolution Hybrid Locomotive. In original box. Estimate $1,800-$2,500.
Lot 165: G Gauge West Side Lumber Company Shay #15 Locomotive. Estimate $1,500-$2,500.
Lot 173: Lionel O Gauge Smithsonian Pennsylvania Railroad Streamline 4-6-2 Pacific #3768. In original wood presentation box. Number 190/300. Estimate $1,500-$2,000.
Lot 29: Iron Horse Models O Scale by Precision Scale Co. Southern PS-4 4-6-2 Pacific Steam Locomotive and Tender. Factory painted Crescent Limited with Road Number 1393. In original shelf-worn and faded box. Estimate $1,000-$2,000.
Lot 20: 3rd Rail/Sunset Models Brass O Scale North Shore Electroliner #803-#804 3-Rail. In original faded and shelf-worn box. Estimate $1,200-$1,800.
Lot 88: Key Imports O Gauge Santa Fe War-Bonnet EMD E-8 A & B Serial Number 85. In original shelf-worn box. Estimate $1,500-$2,000.
Lot 128: Schneider Model Railroading, Inc. Mason Machine Works Taunton, Massachusetts. O Gauge, 3-Rail. General Haupt USMRR 1863 4-4-0. S/n 4/30. In original shelf-worn box. Estimate $1,500-$2,000.
Lot 97: MTH
O Gauge 20-3529-1 BR 44 Dampflokomotive, Epoche IIIb. Steam Locomotive and Tender in original shelf-worn box. Estimate $1,000-$1,500.
Lot 201: O Gauge Car Ferry model. Holds about 10 freight cars. Estimate $500-$1,000.
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ABOUT TURNER AUCTIONS + APPRAISALS
Based in South San Francisco, Turner Auctions + Appraisals was founded by Stephen Turner to expand and complement the capabilities of Stephen G. Turner Associates, an auction and appraisal consulting firm founded in 2004. Turner Auctions + Appraisals presents online auctions in diverse categories of personal property (www.turnerauctionsonline.com). Among them are Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, Asian Arts, Toys, Jewelry, Militaria, Ethnic Arts, and others. The company offers a range of auction and appraisal services for buyers, sellers, and collectors. Online auctions are held several times a month. Working with leading live and online auction houses on the West Coast since 1991, Turner is a professional appraiser of personal property and seasoned auctioneer. His areas of expertise include fine art, decorative arts, antiques & residential contents. The company welcomes consignments and appraisals.
For more information about the company, please contact:
Stephen Turner, President, Turner Auctions + Appraisals, 461 Littlefield Avenue, South San Francisco, CA 94080
415-964-5250 / [email protected] / www.turnerauctionsonline.com
For media inquiries or photos, please contact: Jill Turner, Rodin & Shelley Associates / [email protected]
