Im looking to buy about 150-200 dollars worth of freight cars for my new layout. Anybody know where to get the most bang for my buck?
~Thanks
Try local Flea Market, Local RR Club swap meet, ebay, Craigslist, Facebook, ect
I would try a train show first, then Ebay. I find a lot of cheaper but good looking freight cars at train shows and flea markets, but Ebay is still good for buying a lot of cars.
Look for Athearn blue box and MDC kits on Ebay and local train shows, LHS’s.
I get mine at train shows. Maybe $4 $5 a car. Some paint, some decals, kadee couplers, maybe metal wheels, and they are good to go. They will pass the 2 foot rule inspection, and that’s good enough for me.
Notice, no scale.
No era mentioned.
Sounds like, my train does not work. What is wrong? lol
Go to ebay for River City Raiload. MDC Shake The Box kits if you like HO scale. I have bought from them.
Rich
EBAY… Where they stack em deep and sell em cheap [bow]
That depends on what you want, sheer quantity over quality?
I have to agree with the others though, the used market is definitely more bang for the buck. For quality cars, I was at a swap meet last weekend and got 20 Intermountain tank cars for $15 each, flats for $10, and built up Red Caboose Reefers for $12. So for $200 one could get about 15 cars.
Contrast that with a sheer quantity strategy and I think you could get about 60 of the old Bachmann, Industrial, AHM, Mehano, IHC cars with the old horn hook couplers for that same $200 price.
Go middle of the road and look for older Athearn, Bowser, MDC (Roundhouse), Train Minature, and Accurail cars in the $4-$8 price range. That would get you 30-40 cars.
Regardless if you go the ebay route, just make certain to buy quantities of cars in a single auction. Otherwise your value goes away with shipping charges. Many dealers are now charging a per auction shipping charge instead of combining shipping.
I go with what everybody has told you already. One has to be carefull in forums as to not “advertise” other forums and groups…but…yahoo, HO interchange and HO swap are another source.
Also ! Consider putting your $200 on the counter of your LHS (not the “big box variety”) You might be surprised as to what deals you can make. A couple of the shops I go to have “new old stock” for $10 to $15, or whatever you deal them down to. Sometimes the stock they took to train shows are “open” for “haggling” over prices. You have to ask, and don’t be shy!
Mike.
Sorry for the lack of information, my layout is ho scale and i would prefer tankers but anything will really do. and i am looking for a fair amount of detail.
~Mike
Tell us a bit about your railroad. What railroads are in the region where your railroad runs, and what products do they carry? What era is your layout built to represent? How big is your layout, and how tight are your curves?
I’m going to urge you to “think outside the boxcar.” Instead of spending that $200 all at once, spread it around. Buy, for example, a nice new built-up reefer, and a train-show castoff. Put them in front of you, and think about what you’d rather look at when your trains are going by. Note also that your $5 boxcar might need $6 worth of wheels and trucks plus a pair of Kadee couplers to make it even serviceable.
Buy some kits. Look at Bowser and Tichy, in particular, because they offer reasonably detailed models for a good price. Get an Accurail or Roundhouse kit, too, because they’re relatively easy to assemble if you haven’t done a lot of kitbuilding yet. Personally, I like to put together kits, and consider the “play value” of the time I spend building them to be part of the bargain.
Most important, building a model railroad is more of a marathon than a sprint. Start with a few cars, and let your experience with them be your guide. Your railroad may run on a tight schedule, but you don’t have to.
My railroad’s era is very recent and as for the location, its completely open to ideas. My plan is something like that of Uray Colorado (Although i dont even know how many trains are around there). My tightest curve isnt very sharp (could be 15 inches but the two outside rails can handle anything).
Here is a picture of the layout so you can get a feel for what i might need:
Used cars are the most bang for the buck. Get them at train shows, prices are as low as $2-5 with KDs (or clones) and no box for HO. You can get them cheaper, but they usually need some work.
A better approach might be to define what you are interested in and what level of detail you desire. Then look at what is available to meet those desires. Then where to buy.
Good luck
Paul
Check out some of the “non-auction” sites where FS (for sale) and WTB (want to buy) items are listed. Yahoo Groups HOinterchange and HOrailroading are examples. Usually lower cost than ebay probably because no bidding for buyers and no listing costs and ease of use for sellers. I bought about two dozen Roundhouse Old Timer freight cars for about five bucks a pop.
Jim
This is indeed a bewildering question. Era? Kits or RTR? And how many freight cars ideally would you like for this expenditure? I mean the very finest RTR cars at $200 total might be just 5 cars at $40@!
And there is some pure junk out there that is very cheap.
I am not a big Ebay type but I agree with the prior poster who mentioned swap meets and “previously enjoyed” cars. Catch the right deal and you can get metal wheelsets, Kadee couplers, nicely weathered, and sometimes all of that for $4 or so a car. Also, with the move towards RTR, I have seen the old Proto 2000 freight car kits selling at extraordinarily low prices at swap meets.
Just remember the famous words of John Ruskin, a writer, thinker, and art critic from the 19th century. What he said then is still true today:
“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey. It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
Dave Nelson