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.
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.
