Or has it ever been asked, how much money have you spent since you started model railroading? I can hear the groans now, some MR’s have included their lists of locomotives which, in some case run up to 200 to 500 locomotives which may give a certain indication on how much they have spent on JUST locomotives, have a strange feeling there will not be many replies, but many responses as to why this question will not be answered, just a thought. I, and others await…
probably somewhere between $1000-2000.
I’ll have to plead the 5th on this one. My wife and kids aren’t blind, they just never did the “real” math! No, really, I just used my “Mad” $$ over all the 25 or so years. I have a figure for insurance purposes, but who knows the real resale value, I don’t or do I care.
Way too much and still over spending…
I suspect I spent enough money on the hobby over the years to buy–naw,I just don’t wanna know.
40 years in the hobby…Always upgrading to whatever the latest/greatest thing is can get expensive.
I often sell what I don’t need in order to buy what I want…right now am selling 3 Athearn mint SD45T-2’s on Evilbay to buy my son something non-train related that he wants, and am replacing those 3 units with one Atlas Trainman Frisco GP38-2…plus we have 2 BLI E units on layaway.
Between 10 and 20 years ago I traded a lot of HO brass, and learned what not to buy. I did receive quite an education–and now am very well informed regarding what I would ever buy, if I bought any ever again (which I am opting not to do). Actual cash losses due to buying HO brass, finding out some of it was not what it was cracked up to be (some dealers flat out lied, too, about condition and other stuff–they are out of business now), and subsequently selling it: Between $20,000 and $25,000.
Losses due to trading my used stuff on Ebay and replacing with new stuff: Estimated $10,000.
Total amount of money I’ve spent on model trains, either as losses due to trading in the past, or money tied up in my current roster: Estimated $40,000 (this includes about $4,000 in current layout woodwork, scenery, and all rolling stock and motive power).
However, it’s been a really fun 40 years. I’ve owned and played with just about every type of steam engine I ever wanted–the only one I have not owned that I think about getting is the BLI C&O 2-10-4. I’ve owned in brass or otherwise, and have played with, all kinds of articulateds from 2-6-6-2’s to 2-8-8-2’s, challengers, yellowstones, and Big Boys, and have used them to run some truly big freight trains.
Now I’m happy with affordable plastic diesels, and I leave steam to the history books. I didn’t get to see it in revenue service anyway…
Once in awhile I miss the Westside SP 4-10-2 and the PFM Crown Rio Grande M-7
Not really anyones business what I spend or dont spend…
Bottom line? Too much…
Tom
Titan, I stopped count while I was building the new 9.5 foot by 5 foot section I call K-10 Mining.
When I hit the $1,000.00 mark and I was still buying, I decided to stop. [:-^]
When I got started, I guess it was 7 years ago Blue Box freight cars could still be had. I have around 300 and I paid around $6.00 each so $1800.00 in them. Then the up graded PK wheels, and Kadee couplers, I don’t even want to think about them. [:-^]
Far as engines, well I got started cheap by buying BB engines of E-Stupid and I was DC at the time.
Then I got into steam, bought 2 Bachmann DC GS 4’s and I like them. But they did not pull much? So I went to my LHS K-10 Model Trains (yes the mining section is named after it) and told Ken (owner) I wanted a good pulling engine! He showed me a BLI Class J, I bought it for $320.00! I once swore I would never spend over $60.00 for a engine, I was wrong.
When I got the BLI Class J home and fired her up, IT HAD SOUND! [:O]
That is where the real $ started getting spent. First I bought a used Bachmann E-Z Command from T-Stage here at the site for $35.00 and I liked it. But I needed more power, sold off my MRC 9500’s and bought a MRC Power Booster. Then I decided I needed a better DCC system and bought a Digitrax Super Empire Builder for $370.00.
Now after spending $320.00 for the BLI Class J, $225.00 seemed cheap f
Actually, it has been asked more than once. I never kept records. But really, it’s kinda of meaningless given inflation over the 40 year period that I have been in the hobby. The early dollars are worth more than the later ones.
The annual amount has varied over the years depending on where I was in life - very low when the kids were growing up, higher when the house was paid off before I retired. But always after my bills and responsibilities were covered.
Also, I have reached the point where I have most of what I need for my big retirement layout so mostly I’m just filling in with track, glue, wood, etc. as I build.
Enjoy
Paul
You know the real question should be How Much You Have Spent And Was It Worth It. In my case YES! I run my layout 2 hours a day and use to 40 hours a week. By far cheaper than my old Mopars!
Cuda Ken
If you figure over 7 1/2 boxes of Atlas code 83, over 100 turn outs, over 100 tortoise machines. Now 75 Kato’s 7 brass locos, 10 proto 2000 locos, 10 Atlas loco’s and 10 more steam engines and that’s just a start. Plus decoders for every loco and half have sound in them. Over 700 rolling stock with metal wheels and KD’s. Digitrax (2) dcs 100s 2 db150s signaling, track detection, & 7 dt402 radio throttles 10 ds64s and all the wiring and power supplies. 25 sheets of plywood 6 sheets of homasote and all the lumber and screws. You just made me very tired thinking about it let alone the last five years of building and the scenery materials and my time and the electric bills and gas for the tired truck. Now go figure and my wife knows what I have and the value of it all. Good thing I don’t smoke or drink, I never would get everything straight. Jim.
I got back into the hobby 7 or 8 years ago. At that time, I was probably spending at the rate of $1500 a year. Track, turnouts, lumber and foam for benchwork all had to be bought, along with some trains to run, a DCC system, decoders and wire. Roadbed. Ballast. There was a lot to do, but everything got done pretty quickly and then the next project required more materials. But, once the track was down and I started doing scenery, the pace slowed a lot. I found myself putting a lot of time into individual scenic elements. Sure, I was still buying kits and putting them together, but that $20 on a City Classics structure gave me a lot of “play value” as I’d detail the heck out of it for very little cost. So, now that I’ve been doing almost nothing but scenery the last few years, I’m probably only spending $400-$500 a year, which I consider a contribution to the local economy and my LHS, rather than an “expense.”
I’d say $10,000 for a round number, so far.
If caught or captured, I will disavow any statements made in this thread, even if they put me in the comfy chair.
Interesting way you worded the question Tatans, who are “others” awaiting? Is this a jury trial?
That strange feeling may be a nature call.
Thanks for the laugh Tatans.
Talk about a loaded question, I don’t even want to think about how much I have spent over the years. its easily in the fifth digits. I hate to think about how much more I am going to have to spend to get things updated the way I want when I get room for a layout in a few years. Probably in the five digits again. proto wheelsets scale couplers etc etc, lets see do I want to go DCC or stay with the old reliable DC & block control?
It is NOT “how much have you spent?” that should be the real question!
The REAL question should be “how MUCH ENJOYMENT did the money you DID spend on MRRing GIVE you??”
That way you don’t have to lament the money you did spend, or account for it, or anything like that!
{Now if the wife asked, and MOH wanted to pinpoint it, I’d say somewhere around $2000-$3000 over 7 years…but MOH knows what I spent, when I spent it and I haven’t had any to spend the last 2 years. At $3k in 7 years, that works out to about $428 a year, or about $35/ month, or about a $1.00 a day, Now, would MOH begrudge me that- a $1.00 a day??? I think NOT. }
{also MOH is into N scale…so I have bought MOH N scale trains too!!! ARen’t I the LUCKY one?}
{and every vacation revolves around going to see operating Steam trains or train rides!!! No arguments there!!}
[8-|]
Shucks, it’s a hobby. Some advice from friends in the past is relevant. One advised: you can’t justify a boat; either buy it or don’t. Another (related to the ‘66 GTO) advised: don’t keep track of your expenses, just enjoy the car hobby. So, I don’t keep track. My supervisor asks, as the packages arrive, how much an item costs. I say a loco is like a golf driver, the price varies and it depends on the club, new used, etc. She also says my 5’ x 10’ layout is big, so I show her some photos in MR of good sized layouts. To the question of how many locos do you need, I don’t cite the numbers that members here note as that would likely be counterproductive (one issue at a time). I don’t have to count the two not here: one at the LHS for some tinkering, one at BLI for chuff repair.
I’m retired so I consider discretionary expenses justified to the extent affordable, whether travel, golf, model railroading. The tradeoffs include whether we run out of money, how much we put to the grandkids college, and other such things. Last year was the start of my recent railroading entry, so the cost of track, turnouts, DCC and some starting locos added up. I guess this 2nd year will spend less, and next year ditto.
I think items like car and structure kits (and upcoming scenery) are cheap entertainment. My take is it is a great hobby, those who get involved decide how much budget pressures influence their decisions, and one can have a great time with it even with constraints. Budget realities can mean scaling back on expensive items (e.g., most expensive locos) and/or the pace of expenditure. Or I could have reduced the number of turnouts and associated costs on a given sized layout. I’m in no hurry to complete this layout, so I bounce from building a car kit to a new structure, etc. What someone else spends, a lot or a little, do
Not sure, but I can tell you this*:* I would’ve spent at least 2x, if not 3x, the amount I’ve spent in the last 20 yrs if I wasn’t paying for my kids’ educations…[|(]
…but I’ve made the most of what I have been able to afford!
Way to much!!! Ouch
I have spent more than I can justify, truth be told, but I can’t say I am unhappy. Even with the pang of regret or guilt/second-guessing/remorse that sometimes accompanies a purchase, I try to keep it under control while having some fun.
Let’s put it this way. There are hundreds of thousands of middle class earners, whether or not they are retired, who spend the equivalent of a hefty down-payment for a house on their hobbies over a 20-40 year period. What is a large motorbike worth new these days…$13K? $18K? How about a bass boat and 70 hp outboard motor new…with trailer, fees, licence, insurance…about $20K? How about an ultra-lite aircraft, say in kit form…$30K maybe? I really don’t know, but I have spent the cost of a bass boat and accessories to date (with the third layout mostly built), and I don’t intend to stop any time soon. I expect to continue to spend about $1500/annum on this hobby for the next year at least, but I am actually at the point where I don’t want any more steam or diesels. In fact, I have lately begun to consider unloading some of my locos that I don’t run so often. None of mine have more than a couple of actual running hours on them, but some haven’t run in three years. If that’s the case, I can hardly justify having them.
Crandell
Way back when, one of my friend’s wife pulled me aside and ask how many locomotives I owned. Her husband already had six and wanted to buy another one! I had to laugh when I told her I had just started putting together a list for the insurance company. At that point I was up to 300 locos. She thought I was joking at first, then incredulous, then realized I was serious. Last summer, over a decade later, I finally finished the list because I had to move the collection 500 miles to their new home. I could just envision the trailer full of trains in an accident and having them scattered all over the interstate. Insurance for the collection ended up being just over $600 for the year. You could probably extrapolate from that.