$4,000.00 + and counting...

Well I offically hate this thead! I was off today and couldn’t keep from thinking about this. So I went through and updated all my “stuff” Total? It’s $13,802.35 and that includes shipping & taxes. Gads.

$19,752.58 without tax on my Lionel collection. I have a combined value of $2,750 on my N scale equipment (almost exclusivly second hand, but good condition).

My upper lip breaks into a sweat just thinking about this. I spend about $5000 last year for my first layout, then wife convinced me to get the basement finished, so $10K for that, plus a new wood stove since the previous monster that came with the place was old and uneconomical…not to mention huge. When it came time to install the carpet, it quickly became crystal clear that Layout Numero Uno was history.

Layout Numero Dos is about 75% done, and I am into it for about $2000, with no more substantial expenses foreseen. I have acquired four locos this year and about five pieces of rolling stock. I also upgraded three QSI chips.

Trust me on this one…it stops here and now.

It never stops… just lays dormant for a while… [:D]

It’s a hydra, I tell ya! You cut down your roster by a car or two, and four more nice RTR ones show up in the latest magazines. What’s the intrepid modeler to do? (Hey, wait a minute…did I use the words “RTR” and “modeler” in the same sentence? [:O] )

doc! we need a bed and a 42 mg application of coal for this one!

Just one more locomotive… one more locomotive, and I promise not to spend any more money on model railroad equipment! Just one more locomotive… please? Please? Pretty please?

I guess I’ve got 8 or 9,000 in model trains and collectables now, but thats over bout 25 years too.

So I don’t figure I’ve done to bad. Most of it’s came from swap meets, flea markets, yard sales and some Ebay.

I do have some extra stuff I plan on selling off next year.

inch

So, um, hows about tossing some of this cash my way eh? [:D]

Oh my! I passed $4000 some time ago. I have probably passed $20,000, but it’s not really important. I spend what I can afford to on the hobby. That has varied over 35 years with some years just renewing magazine subs and other years probably spending a couple of thousand - most years are somewhere in between.

Currently, I have most of the cars and locomotives I want for the layout - I still add some as they appeal to me, but spending in this area is down.

Will probably start my next layout this month so I will be buying lumber, track and roadbed. Most of next year my spending on those three things with maybe some scenery as a relief activity. But of course there is a train show at the end of the month, another in February, and…

Enjoy

Paul

Plywood Pacific $648

DCC $564

playing trains & ignoring the honey do list…priceless!

I stopped counting years ago, it’s worth every penny, you can’t put a price on happiness!

Very true! And people thought hobbiests are nuts! At least we got something to do in our spare time rather than partying and take drugs or whatever!

Hahaha…you are asking the wrong crowd! True hobbiests are the poorest guys in the world like me! They put every cent they can into their hobby and just all adds up over time! The type of people you should be asking is the ones who doesn’t have a hobby! Got some people I know sometimes telling me they are cashed up, what should they do? And I asked him the same question! LOL

I dont want to know and I CERTAINLY don’t want my wife to know! [:O]

Look, I just say “honey, President Bush said the only way to help from my end was to spend, purchase, and help the economy, and I’m patriotic enough to do it”

Just enjoy the fact that that is not £4,000.00 … plus Her Majesty’s Excise duty and the trader’s mark-up… plus postage and packing or the cost of fuel going to get it (currently 91.5p per litre - about $7.25 a US gallon).

And, just to really cheer you up… most toy trains drop about 50% in value in the first year except for the really high demand items (that cost more in the first place)… and try to sell off fast to recoup your costs and the price will nose dive into a crevice in a glacier and never ever re-emerge however much the planet warms up.

MRR are like any hobby… they cost.

The good news is that on their own MRR won’t usually damage your liver, addle your brain or give you a nasty disease. Well, maybe two out of three ain’t bad…

Now I know my wife REALLY loves me. LOL

G’day mate, we also have the same Queen from downunder! Ever since we introduced GST few years back, now we got to pay GST on freight as well! That’s coming from overseas!

You are right, it’s fairly safe except the few things in the ‘Murphy’s Law’ thread! LOL Or unlike in R/C, you tend to try to show off with the biggest jump and that tends to make you put in new parts every now and then…

Just this year or totally all together? For a single year that would be quite a lot… All together that isn’t bad.

Hummm, lets see… I think I’ll need to add a column in my spread sheet for “Date Purchased” ! I did have some rolling stock and a few Locomotives from the past, but to be honest, I would say a good 10K was spent this year. BUT, I have an rationalization!!! I sold one of my Harleys and I’m therefore SAVING money. (Anyone ‘buying’ this??)