With all the prices going thru the roof have you bought as many items as last year. I read about UP the evil empire but in reality what is $4 added to the cost when people are wanting $200 for a locomotive. Sound, DCC and other whiz bangs some of us can live without. I’ve stopped buying many items and have gone to super detailing others. There comes a point when I have to draw the line. So no I’m not buying as much. I will probably buy 1 major engine this year 2 at the most. I’ve ordered my 1 expensive freight car this year and no more. I’ll be buying undec. Athearns and dummies as needed.
considering most of the stuff i have was bought this year i don’t think i’ve bought as much as last year. i started in the hobby in october so i didn’t really buy all that much to start with. i didn’t go to my first show until November.
i’ll probably buy 1-3 locos this year if i ever get enough money and go to another show. i’ll probably buy more track and building stuff than anything because right now what i have isn’t looking that great. i have a depot and a loop, thats it.
Not sure if my purchasing has been more or less than last year. I have purchased several engines this year:
1 - Spectrum 4-6-0
2 - BLI Milw USRA 2-8-2’s
I plan on purchasing the following when they arrive:
4 - P2K Ph1 GP9’s
1 - Intermountain Ph1 FP7
1 Walthers new brick train station
I have bought maybe 10-12 freight/passenger cars(both low & high end models). I also have purchased decoders and a pair of Soundtraxx 2-8-0 sound units for my pair of Spectrum 2-8-0’s.
Other than those items, it has been parts/paints/supplies…
I bought WAY more stuff last year, but that’s beacuse so many cool goodies were being released all at once. I also took advantage of a couple of big going out of business sales (remember Model Expo?) and stocked up on lots of things. I was also building my layout, so I laid in a large stock of Peco and Micro Engineering track.
This year has been pretty slow, purchasewise. The only engine I’ve bought is a BLI USRA heavy 2-8-2, but I have six of the light Mikes on preorder. I think I’ve bought something like 25 freight cars, and will likely buy another ten or so by the end of the year. Of course, I’m selling a lot of my older stuff to support my hobby, due to the new & “interesting” prices…!
I wasn’t necessarily the one buying the stuff, but I have acquired way more stuff this year than the past year, largely in part to the construction of my new layout. In fact, on Monday, I made the largest purchase I have made in a long time: $158 on buildings and scenery. Until now I thought that was enough to “finish” the layout, but now I remember that I have two creeks and didn’t buy any water-making material. Oops. Now all sorts of small things I need are coming to mind. Oh well.
Reed
I definetly bought more stuff this year than last…starting a brand new layout is high dollar…let’s see…since march i’ve bought 38 new turnouts, three new locos, 2 boxes of flex track (100 count), 5 boxes of cork roadbed, enough lumber to build a small storage shed, lots of electronic parts, screws, track nails, glue, paint, spackling, chalk, wire, toggle switches, styrene plastic, plastruct, bridge girders, balsa wood, hardboard, and 4-12 pack boxes of tortoise machines…my credit card holders love me!..Chuck
I am always bottom feeding on rolling stock and structure kits on Ebay. On those items, my spending has been pretty constant over the years. I have spent more this year on the hobby in general because I am building a new layout. It’s amazing how quickly it adds up…lumber, wire, track , switches, etc…
I don’t keep real close track, but if I guess at an annualized expenditure rate (it’s about mid year now) I’d say I’m about average. Of course I’m not a big spender. This year has seemed different as I’m out of the country and have had to make my purchases in two lumps during my two trips back north of the border when I could stop in at my LHS.
This year has been mostly scenery stuff, plus maybe 13 cars (half of them special ordered by my LHS), some paints, details, etc. No locos, although I could be tempted later this fall.
One of the side advantages of having a small layout is that you quickly aquire enough locos and rolling stock to more than populate the layout. That helps to keep the ‘new loco fever’ in check (not completely eliminated, but within reasonable bounds).
I’ve bought more stuff this year so far. Mainly scenery, becnhwork materials, structures, and an air compressor. Only a couple freight cars and other small details make up the remainder. I plan on buying two Atlas C40-8W’s when they come out later this year and plans for a staging yard are in the works.
I actually have not bought anthing this year. [:(] Well, from the LHS that is. I did buy some stuff second hand, but have not gone to get it yet. The seller took it over to a 3rd party who is “keeping” the items until I get up there to get them.
My last purchase (at the LHS) was 2 Proto 2000 Frisco E 8/9s, and a bunch of IHC Frisco passenger cars. I want to add the lighting kit but first want to look into “people, seats, etc” for inside the cards. Someone posted a while back about painting inside and I liked that idea, but want to check out more details for “inside”.
So does second hand count? Aww, it doesn’t matter, money wise I spend more last year. [:(]
I have bought somewhat less stuff this year, not counting expenditures for a display I’m working on for someone else…last year was mostly getting “the basics” (benchwork, paint, tools, etc.) and this year was more getting little things I wanted/needed above and beyond the basics.
I spent less because I wanted less…I haven’t noticed a dramatic shift upward in price between this year and last year.
i really splurged last year and bought tons of stuff. mostly passenger trains and unit freight trains (coal and grain).
this year i am mostly buing locomotives. i pretty much have every locomotive i need to fill my roster except for the SD45T-2, SD40T-2, GP38-2, and the B30-7. if the SD45T’s come out before the end of the year i might end up spending more this year than last because i plan on getting at least 10 of them. it’s just a locomotive that any SP modeler MUST have.
lets see… i need:
12 SD45T-2’s SP, SSW, SP speed lettering
12 SD40T-2’s SP, SSW, DRGW, SPSF kodachrome
2 GP38-2 SP
2 GP40-2 SP
1 B23-7 SP
3 B30-7 SP
2 or 4 SD38-2’s to work the West Colton yard
and 1 MK5000C if i can ever find one.
and i have to build me a couple of SP TEBU’s to go with the GP40-2’s
then my roster for my Beaumont Hill layout will be complete. gotta have lots of power because most of the trains on this line had anywhere from 6-10 locomotives per train. plus, i really like painting and detailing SP locomotives. there is just so much cool stuff to put on them[:D]
i changed eras since last year i have been selling off all that sutff i bought because i dont need it anymore and i have been using the money to buy the locomotives i do need.
With the spiraling prices, I have to say less this year and, since my layout is almost fully completed, likely even less next year.
I think if those responding were polled you’d find that a great many of the guys buying more stuff are relatively new to the hobby (less than half a dozen years or so) and still have the “kid in the candy shop” mentallity that we all once had when entering the hobby. That attitude results in buying every new thing that catches their fancy…whether it’s appropriate for their layout or not (Big Boys on 18" radius curves!). Most long-time hobbyist buy what they truly need and don’t throw cash or plastic to the wind helter-skelter.
Hey, everything in life is a tradeoff, eh? Bought less stuff, spent more money! It’s the American way! Actually I bought a couple of BLI E-7’s and a few Walthers cars to add to my 1947/8 Empire Builder. And I have converted my Stewart GN freight FT’s to DCC and am having a ‘B’ unit filled with sound. Next year comes the NCE Radio Pro DCC.
I have been trying to buy as many kits as possible, so I have bought more this year.
I was concerned that Athearn will discontinue their Blue Box (unofficial name, I think) kits because I do not see many and because they have moved, so I sent an e-mail to them. They said as long as there enough demand they will keep producing them. Like i said in the “Athearn, MDC” thread, EVERYBODY BUY ATHEARN KITS. They, obviously, would not tell their production schedule but they did say they will be making the GP-7 (formerly mislabled as GP-9) in the fall.
Unfortunately the Walthers kits are a different story.