I’m sitting here wondering if its time to slow down and hold back on Engine purchases, I’ve notice there is no more competition ,everyone is demanding top dollar for the sale, and up up goes the cost.How many engines does one really need to acquire and at what cost?. A single Locomotive nowadays cost app $265.00 on average, that’s a lot of rolling stock or detail materials you can buy. I’m not sure if i’m alone in this or if there are others.
How did you derive that number?
Non-sound locos, with or without DCC, are available for far less than that at street price. There are hundreds of models for sale at on-line retailers far below the price you cite.
I recall that you started a similar thread a while back and were unhappy with the resulting discussion.
No…I missed out on two locomotives and kept putting off buying 'em.
Lesson learn?
Buy now or lament later.
BTW.I’m yet to pay over $80.00 for any RTR or DCC ready locomotive.
Far as the $265.00, if you are talking Steam, yes there are a lot of them in that range.There is plenty of engines under that prices. But, there are many well above that mark as well.
None sound diesels can be had between $65.00 to $150.00.
Cuda Ken
Another “how expensive our hobby has turned” - kvetching thread?
A waste of time.
It’s only a hobby so we don’t get too concerned about what we can or can’t buy. If the price is too high, we wait for it to come down or don’t buy. Not much financial sense to buy model locos as an investment–unless you can get a real deal and have a way to get a good price with low transactions cost/time.
Richard
Is it time to hold back?
That’s strickly an individual decision.
Bob
Well, I just bought a Bachmann DCC, Sound 4-6-0 for $149. Last month I bought Bachmann 4-4-0 DCC, no sound for $119 and have since seen them for $109. MB Klein’s web site shows 54 under $119 and 40 $119 and over. All of these are at discount - some quite heavily discounted.
How many engines you “need” is up to you. I think the average layout is a bedroom size or smaller so most layouts won’t run more than 4-6 engines unless double heading. My under construction basement filling layout is only expected to have a maximum of 6-8 engines operating at one time when it’s finally finished.
So really I’m just collecting engines I like. In fact the Bachmann engines I bought are HO and I’m building the big layout in S. I just like them and have a small test track layout I can run them on.
This is a hobby, how you spend your hobby dollars is up to you of course. But unless you are a collector, or have a large group over, 2 or 3 engines is probably all you can run at once any way. So if you have that many you don’t “need” any more.
Enjoy
Paul
Most of my locomotive fleet cost me under $40 each. Careful shopping on eBay. Yes, I have a few nerly new sound locos that cost a bit more than that, but all the P2K locos I have, the majority of my Stewarts, and all those Atlas RS-3’s I picked up were all under $40.
Hold back? depends on you, really. This week was liek Christmas for me as I had a package of something waiting for me nearly every day. OK, mostly it was some undec hopepr car kits and building supplies like grab irons and detail parts, and some glue, and paint. So the overall totalw asn;t really that great - and this will provide me with weeks of work. Step out of the “open the box, place on tracks, run in circles” world and consider kitbashign and scratchbuilding. It’s fun and inexpensive. I’ve always been a kit builder, really prefer kits. Just recently stepped over to the ‘dark side’ and started goign beyond what comes in the kit package, and it’s a lot of fun. Fun value and amount of hobby time per dollar can be very high if you are willing to accept that building things is a good part of the fun.
Then there are other reasons to ‘hold back’ besides the cost. How many locos can you realistically support on your layout? I’ve already accumulated more than I need. At this point I have enough to handle the layout I’d LIKE to build. If I hit the lottery today I doubt I’d buy a whole lot more locos, at some point enough is enough, at least when you are modeling a specific road. Oh look, another run of Genesis Big Boys. Well, not even the least bit interested in one. The clostes one to me is over an horu away and is stuffed and mounted. Such a thing never ran here and as impressive as it is, I have no real reason to run one on my layout. Plus I’m more of a Baldwin fan when it comes to steam and the numbers don’t lie, the Big Boy wasn;t the most powerful loco, it was physically larger, but a Baldwin beats it out on pulling power. [:D]
&nbs
I need to take a break from buying anything, except perhaps glue and paint. I have at least a year’s backlog of unbuilt kits, and most of them are structures so I’ve got layout-building to do along with them.
I run a dual-era layout, so I’ve got a half-dozen steamers and about 10 Transition Era diesels, plus 4 traction motors for subways and trolleys. I’ve chosen my engines so I don’t have any functional gaps. I’ve got engines for through trains, way freights and switching. Sure, there are always some engines out there that would be nice to have, but at this point I’m not looking to increase my roster.
The most I paid for any engine is $230. One cost me $15 (used) at a train show, and the cheapest new engines were a pair of $40 geeps I added decoders to. Most recently, one of those Bachmann 4-6-0s with DCC and sound set me back $130.
It is of course just a hobby, and one should spend or not spend whatever you are comfortable with, on whatever aspect of the hobby suits you.
That said, here is how it works for me.
I’m not a collector, I don’t use DCC or onboard sound.
I have a very carefully thought out set of goals for my modeling activities. I am a modeler, that is I build stuff, kits, scratch build, kit bash - structures, rolling stock, locos - every aspect of the hobby.
I am also into “operation”.
So my “needs” are pretty well defined, I seldom if ever buy items outside the “needs” list to complete the set of goals already established. And the list of goals has not changed measurably in 25 years.
So, if something becomes available that fills in a missing item on the “need” list, and the price is right and the money available - I buy it, no question, no problem.
But I don’t look for new stuff to buy just to buy something new.
I have about 130 locos, but that counts every B unit, etc. Actually I have locomotive sets for about 40-50 trains. My layout plain will stage 25 trains and requires extra sets for power changes during operating sessions, etc.
I have about 800 freight cars, 800 divided by 20 freight trains = 40 cars per train - that is about my average train length.
I have about 100 passenger cars, 100 divided by 8 trains = about 12 cars per train.
Yes there ar few more items of motive power and rolling stock on my “need” list, but it is pretty selective now.
I have a plan, and I stick to it.
And like Randy, my dollar cost average price of locos is well under $100 per powered unit - likely somewhere around $65 to $75.
Sheldon
Why are you buying all of those engines in the first place? Is this a specific collection (like all the '60s DRGW diesels or something) or are you gathering the locomotives you need for a layout.
Without knowing ‘why’ it’s hard to speculate ‘why not’?
My own modeling is pretty restricted to a certain time and place – I spend more time researching and building and less time (and cash) on random buying.
If we’re discussing used locomotives and new ones bought at huge discounts, then yes, one can go building a fleet without the need to ‘hold back’.
If you have to ask the question of “can I afford this” then the fact you had to ask the question (for a hobby purchase) is answer enough as far as I’m concerned. If money isn’t the issue, then if what you already have is never used, looked at or even worse, you forget you even bought it and already have it, then you may want to thin the heard a bit.
[soapbox] Retailers are free to charge whatever they want for their products and you are free to go out and make more money ( if you don’t have enough) and by them.
Brent[C):-)]
Absolutely, and if one feels the need to consider the question, he/she probably can’t afford any of that kind of discretionary spending anyway. There must be some painting needing done around the property, some trim replacement, an upgrade of some sort…? To me, if one is lamenting the cost of locomotives, one is probably not in a good position to be thinking of hobby spending at all.
Crandell
I don’t think that necessarily follows. I have my eye on something right now but I keep holding back because the $150 could be reallocated to other hobbies and interests that would have more immediate utility. To say that one should only spend on hobbies if they are so fortunate as to not bat any eye at any significant expense (and I’d call, arbitrarily, $100 significant because in day to day life how many items are you buying that are $100.), then any hobby is out of reach of most people. I could readily afford that purchase and plan on dropping multiples of that amount on a new bicycle tomorrow. And could still stack that loco on top of that purchase without it shocking the system. But its still “hrm, $150 on a loco that’s going to largely sit on a shelf for the time being or…go pick up a few Blu-Rays tonight.”
Many years back I wanted to start MR, brass locomotives were right out of my economic realm, they cost a LOT of money, looked last week at used brass locomotives, huge choice, guaranteed, many under $300, now if you are looking for a specific loco type or specific railroad you may be out of luck, but the choice is immense, good deals on brass track and other used equipment, you are off to a reasonable pleasurable hobby, your layout may not be type specific(who cares) but it’s a load of fun.
only if you have a lot money to spend.i don’t have that money.
J. P. Morgan was talking about a large steam yacht, but the words apply:
If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
If you, the buyer, don’t think the seller’s product is worth its asking price - you’re right (there are things out there that the seller would have to pay ME to carry out to the dumpster.)
However, all discretionary spending is a matter of individual decision. How you decide to spend, or not spend, your money isn’t of interest to me unless I’m trying to sell you something, which I’m not.
I’m sure the opposite is equally true, so I won’t bore you with my hobby spending statistics.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - behind schedule, under budget)
Make your choices based on your “need” of the product and your ability to afford it. I have been acquiring my locomotive fleet as it becomes available and goes on sale. There are only a few that I need now. Same thing with structure kits and freight car kits. I also tend to shop the consignment rack at my local hobby shop and save a great deal there. I have no layout yet but have been buying equipment and structures so I can build the layout I want later. The hobby materials don’t go bad, structures, cars, locos, track etc, but will nearly always cost more later, and many are limited runs and quickly go out of production.
Based on that I spend what I can afford and try to find bargains that will fit my specific needs. You can rest assured that if you see something that is a must have it will quickly become unavailable and much more expensive. Example my 2 models of 2-6-6-6 are now more than twice what I paid for them, Rivarossi berks at 29.95 each, 2-10-4s with sound, 2-8-2 with sound etc. I have completed my Steam fleet with out breaking the bank. The diesel fleet is nearly complete as well.
Good luck with your choices. Just remember it is likely to cost more later and be harder to find. Look what happened to the blue box kits and many others. Thank goodness for accurail, branchline by atlas and tichy.