To determine mine, I took the square footage of my half-built layout (approx 4X25=100 sq ft) and divided that into the total amount spend on trains, benchwork, etc, approx $3,000, to arrive at a nice round figure of $30 per square foot.
Of course, that did NOT include the labor costs (incl. research time), which would probably make that same square foot cost at least $150 per square foot.
Then, to make this analysis even more exciting, I took the total square footage of my house (approx 5,000) and divided that into what my house is valued at (approx $400,000, a modest price for the area I live in), to find the cost per square foot of house equalling $80 per sq ft.
Thusly, my train layout per square foot is nearly twice as expensive as the cost of the house per sq ft.
David, you gotta start working on a larger layout so you don’t have so much time for this analysis! It did get me looking at how much I’m spending on my 4 by 8 layout, about a thousand Dollars by the time it’s done (lots of operating stuff)! Wow, didn’t realize how much you can dump into a small layout… By the way, that’s very close to your 30 Dollars a square foot!
For me, this one is going to be difficult to determine. I am using a lot of materials from previous layouts. I have to add only a small amount of new stuff, so my cost will be unusually low.[:D]
There’s no way I’m gonna do that calculation. Not even gonna THINK of it. No way do I want my wife to have access to that info, so it ain’t gonna get written down.
Not that I’ve got all that much invested right now…
There is a related thread on the MR forum that you may be interested in reading. It is presently on page 3 or 5? Same question on cost of a layout. Has some good answers. (especially mine!)
I haven’t been on the MR forum in a couple of weeks. I picked up a copy of MR Planning 2004 and saw the square footage mentioned and decided to do a measurement of my own layout and determine the value. It is an interesting metric in determining your investment.
I suppose you could use it for other items in the house. For instance, my 5X9 (?) pool table cost about $4500. Per square foot, that is a mere $100, still less than my train layout. Per square foot, it also gets more play value per visitor (mostly my daughter’s friends).
That would be another variable to put into the formula: play value per square foot based on amount of usage by friends/family members.
For play value my sofa by the tv would win hands down for amount of time spent there viewing the TV. The Beagle also uses it to crash out on.
The bed will probably get more play value than the sofa once I find a significant other.
I don’t know about the significant other comparison. They can be quite expensive, even if you get a large one so the cost/square foot is low.
Even if play value is high, upkeep and maintenance are also considerable. Just changing the scenery can be a significant overhead. And, they can be detrimental to your train hobby, demanding more and more attention. Ever take one to the MALL?
Stick with trains, it is a better deal, and certainly a lower cost/square foot.
Yes, and don’t forget the price tag. The expensive ones come with a lot of circuitry and gee-whiz bangs but require high maintenance or they may blow a circuit and then refuse to move, i.e., become frigid.
The cheaper models are more reliable but not as attractive. They will stay with you a lot longer and don’t need to be returned as often.
My last two models had the gee-whiz bang options and had to be returned. In fact, I’m still paying for them.
Yes, I bought a train a while back and after I got it home it didn’t look as good or run as well as I thought. Fortunately, I was able to display it on a table and another collector took it off my hands.
On the other hand, the same sort of thing happened with a significant other and I had to pay considerable shipping costs to return it. No one else wanted it.
Maybe we need to be more careful in our selection process, and avoid the impulse buy.
If I had test run the train, its flaws would have been revealed and I wouldn’t have bought it. On the other hand, sometimes a train tests well, but will only run erratically when you put it on the layout.
Leasing has its advantages, but you can seldom get any MIB product. In fact, one has to be concerned about a wreck that damages your favorite steamer.
Interesting exercise. Let’s see, since entering the hobby this Christmas, I’ve bought a train set, extra 027 track, two manual switches, a short bridge, a spool of wire, a few lockons, a bag of insulated track pins, two plastic road crossings - plus the cost of getting my folks to mail me my dad’s old trains and the cost of four 4x8 foam panels probably $340 in all (please don’t laugh - this is a huge amount for me). What does that work out to? About $2.70 a square foot I think… I won’t count my CTT and OGR subscriptions…
Double-heading with a nice caboose in the rear can be exhilerating, but is tiring because it requires shoveling a lot of coal to keep the embers bright.
