i am brand new as a model railroad train hobbyist, and was wondering if it is an exspensive hobby to start up? even though i have loved model trains all my life, will it cost me the shirt off my back to create the most basic of layouts. can anyone help with this?
You can make model railroading as expensive or as cheap as you want to. There have been several articles in magazines like Model Railroader about building layouts for $500 or less. Using creative materials and stuff you already have, you can build a layout fairly cheaply. Then again you can go out and buy all the most expensive stuff if you want to.
One of the great things about this hobby is that you can spend as much or as little as you like. The high-end stuff is pretty pricey, but you can get some very decent stuff for a reasonable chunk of change.
There was a thread in this forum not too long ago started by Jeff Wimberly. He has a very limited fixed income yet has a good-sized operating layout. If you’re strapped for cash, it takes some creative budgeting and and the occasional tough choice, but it’s very do-able. I found out when my wife stopped working full time last year when our second baby was born, and our income suddenly dropped by half! Yet I was still able to build a new layout this year.
Check out the URL below my signature and you can see my layout. Every part of it (this includes multiple locomotives, cars, some custom high-end kits, scenery, wiring, electronics, benchwork, track, etc.) ran probably $4000-$5000 over about 4 years (I left HO to switch to N scale in 2002). Now, you can spend a whole lot more or a whole lot less.
Oh, and [#welcome]!
While you’ll often hear it said that, “this hobby is only as expensive as you want to make it”, unless you plan simply on running around a loop of track set on bare plywood, the costs are going to run into a fair bit of cash to do anything significant.
Some real scroungers can get by on a very limited budget but most of the rest of us end up purchasing the majority of layout materials and rolling stock from a local hobby shop or on-line retailer. That results in the numbers rolling up pretty fast. Based on long experience, I’d say plan on spending around $1,000 up front to get a modest layout started and closer to an eventual $5,000 if you attempt to really finish out a 4x8 that’s reasonably well detailed. Of course, if you are really being truthful about wanting just the most basic of layouts, your costs might tend more toward the lower figure. But appreciate that such limited plans tend to prove rather unfulfilling to the builder.
CNJ831
thanks for the insight into railroading, i’m from out here in bakersfield ca and considering an arizona desert type theme with the flat-top mesa’s and such on a 10 x 12 canvass. i hope it stays on the inexpensive side of things. thanks for your reply
It depends on what you want. I don’t mind paying up to about 110-120 for a nonsound engines, and about 225-250 for a sound equiped engine. I usually purchase engines after holidays otherwise most of the year I accumulate rolling stock and track. It also depends on the scale you model in. Some scales are more expensive than others. Compare G(the largest) to HO, an engine in G might cost 2 or 3 times the HO engine. Atlas(A high quality manufacturer) has recently started a line of engines and cars, that run great, have decent detail, but most of all, are under 100 bucks the cars are already asembled and only cost about 10-15 dollars each, While I don’t have any experince with the new line of trains they make, I do have some of their higher end stuff and I love it. If cheaper stuff uses the same drive as the higher end stuff it will be great. It depends on what you want to do.
Welcome to the world’s most creative hobby[#welcome].
Starting up, your major expense will be construction materials and track, plus rolling stock for one train and a power supply for the locomotive. If you only buy what you expect to use immediately and spread your purchases, the financial side of this hobby can be relatively painless.
One major cost saver is the creative use of junk. I recall hearing of a model rail who let it be known that he needed wood to build his train table. Within days, his friends and co-workers supplied him with enough to build a table twice the size he had planned. Other savings can be had by thinking outside the box. Or you can use the box - cereal, shoe or similar - to temporarily represent the finely detailed building model you aren’t quite able to afford. The possibilities are endless.
Incidentally, flat-topped mesas are more a New Mexico proposition, extending only a relatively short distance into Northeastern Arizona. Most of the territory along the BNSF is either rolling hills or rugged mountains - with grades to match.
Chuck (frequent I-40 flier, modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hawksfan,
What I’d first like to know is: How can you post a question yesterday (11/30/2006) and join the forum today (12/01/2006)? Do you live in an alternative dimension?
Anyway, [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]
As some have already said, you can spend as much or as little as you want. And, you can still purchase higher-end locomotives at not so high-end prices. Here’s a couple of links that you should know about:
Have you decided on an era to model? pre-50s? 50s-60s? Modern? Also, what scale will you be modeling in? HO? N? O?
Tom
I got laid-off from my fulltime job in August. It was a blessing in disguise since a few months later out of boredom and near-depression, I re-discovered my passion for the trains and followed through on a years-old plan to convert from HO to N scale.
I’m sort of self-employed at the moment, I have a part-time evaluation consulting job and make a few bucks here and there as a musician as well. No way do they pay as much as my old job (fortunately I was very stingy in my last year (I fought off several temptations to buy a laptop!) there and still have a good amount saved up).
I also realized that N scale also comes at a premium, especially with new locomotives retailing in the triple-digit figures and freight cars usually going for $10-$40 EACH. And I didn’t even mention my eventual commitment to DCC (gasp!)
I’ve since discovered that eBay is a great resource. I’ve found some locos there for half the retail price, and rolling stock for the price I used to pay for HO scale Athearn/Roundhouse kits 10-20 years ago 
thanks for the links
Very surprisingly this is one of the few hobbies where you REALLY can spend as much or as little as you want, If you are restoring old Ferrari’s it may cost you a few bucks for parts, if you race piston driven fighter aircraft it will cost a couple of bucks for gas, but this hobby can be operated on a shoestring budget if you want it to, a lot of things are scratchbuilt for little money, lots of used equipment is available economically, and a sad-dog face may get you a few goodies too, ask for train stuff for gifts. You may notice that when you view a model scene you have no idea if it cost $150.00 or $15,000.00 as they both look exactly the same, so don’t let cost be a factor. Now when this is all said and done, you will notice that (as in real life) The people telling you it doesn’t cost a lot are usually the people that cost is no factor to them( I’ve had this experience many times), So, as many above have said " get in there and have fun" and you will, it’s all up to you.
No it can be a really cheap hobby. Track can be had for a song at most mrr shows ( I even got a whole lot of code 70 shinoharra turnouts for less than $3.00 a peice at one). You can also buy rail and handlay ( accually I have sean rail given away ). Ebay is great just got 6 cars for $20.00 shipped and these were not your shake the box cars ( two wood cabooses, one by kadee, an mdc tank, a wood flatcar, another cabooses, may be early brass and another car). Scenery materials can accually be free ( woodland sceinics did not exist when Jhon Allen built his stuff, ect ect ect.