Whatever your interest is, you´ll end up having to spend $$$ on your hobby. How much that can be depends on your financial situation.
If you are like me, there is little to no free cash to be spend on a hobby. But that´s no reason not to stay in the hobby. There are many ways to stretch a buck. Scratchbuilding and kit building are just two of them.
The most important one is to cut down on your dreams. Reduce your plans to what you can afford. If you cannot afford to build a basement filling empire, build a small ISL. If you cannot afford to buy that super-detailed model, get a cheaper one and add the detail yourself.
This list could be a mile long.
For me, the only way to stay active in the hobby is to build a mini-modular layout. A mini-module does not cost a fortune in up front cash. $ 10 - 15 are usually enough to buy all the material you need to build a new module. You can slowly grow your layout - at a pace you can afford.
Mourning about high prices will be of no help - finding innovative ways sure is!
Most people get the point of this conversation a few well… do not. The point is while the hobby industry seems to go one way some of us have to go a different path to stay in the hobby. While you see video’s of this new product is x price you know you won’t buy one. If less and less people buy there will be less and less hobby. Unfortunately there are a few people that think $1000 plastic locos are alright. Good for you as long as you have more money than … If you are happy good for you. If I can be just as happy on my budget good for me. Anyone that pays list for anything is nutz. The problem is someone has to buy the stuff period.
My comments reflect how my actions in the hobby have changed. I read more and work on different areas of the hobby than the past. I watch what I buy and plan instead of impulse buying.
Of course there are worthy things that can be discussed about MRing on a budget. I didn’t say there wasn’t. My comment wasn’t a troll comment. Every week some of you guys just continually bring up the high cost of MRing and how hard done by you are. It’s getting old!!! If I had to choose between model railroading and paying for health insurance for my wife guess what I would do, LOL. Priorities are important in life, MRing not so much.
WIht a new furnace to put in {yesterday} and a new roof desparately before winter, there IS no money fo the hobby. ANd now trhe tie rod ends need to be replaced on one vehicle SOON for a cool $700.
Santa was good to us laet year {My Ohter Half is into Nscale.}
I am on disability and MOH is a part time grocery store clerk and with food and gas going where it is, we are hurting.
In times past I have had success with Bachmann DCC OnBoard locos {$40-50 diesel, $70-100 Steam} and they served me well.
I want ot expand {actually build a whole new layout} but that will have to wait as I want to go from code 100 to code 83.
I buy online at places like wholesaletrains,com and shop their brick and mortar store in Horseheads, NY. I live 45 mins away.
If I need to, I can put together some kits I already have. I can use cardboard and balsa wood to build buildings if I want. Cereal boxes can come in handy for that. Dirt from the yard or potting soil can help. Cheap “oops” paints can help.
One can manage quite well if one thinks about purchases and such. Baby steps and saving a little at a time can go a long way towards your goals if you are patient enough…
The furance installed yesterday told me his 4 year old son is now into Ho scale trains and he went to a LHS to him and paid $86 for TWO “built ups” buildings that wre what his son begged for. I told him about wholesaletrains.com and he said he would check it out.
The hobby is what you make of it. Enjoy what you can when you can.
Get ahold of one of your local high schools or trade schools, they always are looking for cars to work on as teaching aids. Usually they will do jobs like that for free, you just buy the parts. Expect your vehicle to be tied up for a day or two though.
As I read your original post and this subsequent post, the inference is that the MRR companies have not recognized the declining average spend by the consumer. With the MSRP of new offerings going up, and model railroad consumers spending going down, if these two divergent trends continue then the inevitable conclusion is that the models won’t sell.
Clearly there is a segment of the market for whom dollars are tight and spending reduced. What we don’t know is if this segment is a significant and growing part of the consumer base? Your inference is that this is significant and that the manufacturers need to recognize it.
I am reasonably confident that the manufacturers are on the ball and have a good handle on the market. Companies like Broadway Limited and Walthers Proto do not seem to be releasing nearly the same number of new models as in the past. A lot of new announcements seem to be for re-runs of older models with new road names. So the first response to the softening economy may well have been to produce fewer new models and milk profits from existing tooling.
The problem the manufacturers have is actually worse on the supply end. Costs are escalating significantly. Petro based raw materials, transportation and Chinese labor costs are rising very quickly.
On the other end, the consumer has been demanding better quality, more features and road specific detail, and so far seems to have been willing to pay for it.
However, I would contend that the main MRR companies have tried to address the more budget minded model railroader. Athearn basic R to R, Atlas Trainman, and Bachmann DCC on-board are clearly trying to offer decent quality at reasonable prices.
Trying to put words in other people’s mouths - especially when it comes to opinions - is always slippery ground. At first, I thought the point of the thread was to describe ways to enjoy the hobby on less money. But this post makes me think there’s also a rant about high prices component. This homey don’t play that game.
I guess I’m a nut case. I usually do pay full list for the craftsman kits I buy. I generally (but not always) pay full list for trucks and couplers and paint and decals and detail parts, too. Locomotives are usually out-of-production items, so I pay the going rate that I think is fair.
I’m quite thankful for those who bought brass when I couldn’t afford it, and those who buy high end brass or plastic locomotives and rolling stock that I can’t afford today. The signficant improvements in accuracy, detail, and performance made by the manufacturers to support the higher prices trickle down into the lower end where I live. Examples of the improvements trickling down are the improved performance of Bachmann’s standard line and Roundhouse’s Old Timer steamers.
Likewise, I’m thankful for the number of large layouts and owners with money who support the tremendous variety and quantity of accurate, smooth-running locomotives and cars. The manufacturers would not be able to produce the stuff they do if they had to rely on me buying it. But because ther
Owning and flying your own single prop aircraft and having a 4X8 model railroad is like comparing apples to oranges. Why doesn’t the original poster start collecting rocks then? Or how about bird watching? Maybe jogging?
Because he likes model railroading.
I agree with the ridiculous prices, but I realize there’s more to the hobby than having the latest, greatest and largest. If you’re the competitive type that feels the need impress everyone, then yes, you need to have money and/or amazing skills to keep up. Unfortunately, the majority of us don’t possess either great fortunes or abilities.
I never could understand the high cost of the hobby and use to use terms like “robber Baron prices” when these topics came up but,that was before I started shopping on line and yes e-Bay…
As far as BB type kits those was ok in their day but,the hobby advanced beyond generic cars and locomotives-see the hundreds of BB kits at larger train shows usually price 3/$10.00 and they still get pass over in favor of the newer RTR cars.
What this got to do with a hobby budget?
Tons really…One can usually buy what he/she wants at a discount price once he/she learns to shop around and stop paying full price at their LHS for those high price detailed locomotives.
As a example how one can save money.
I am changing road names and rather then buy new locomotives I bought the needed lettered shells from Atlas.
Some really good replies!!! Yes there are companies like Bachmann, Atlas and Athearn that do make affordable products. I do shop Ebay and go to shows. Many times patience is required to get something I want. It may also take a lot of searching. The working quality of the products does seem 10 times better than 20 years ago. For the manufactures of the product it is really a gamble. Blown injection molding and tooling has a very high cost and the object is to retrieve the majority of the cost as soon as possible. That is why you probably see a lot of reissues with different roads and road numbers. The more product you make on an existing mold the cheaper things are to make. Older models (but not to old usually) are a great thing to get. Sometimes I will want that really expensive new loco but end up buying 3 or 4 older units instead. Instead of the $64.95 car I may but 4 or 5 of the Proto 2000 time savers. There are many options in this hobby but I believe that if more of the manufactures work to help the budget minded there is a big market. The fact still remains you can ask what ever price you want for something. If I cannot afford it or do not see it as a good value then I won’t buy it. For all those that can afford craftsman kits and brass loco at list price. Congrats! If you see what you are buying as worth while do it!
I like flying in airplanes and I like when my buddy gives me the controls once in awhile. I love flying but just because I like it doesn’t mean it’s my god given right to do it if I can’t afford it. I like fast cars too but I can’t afford to drive a Ferrari. I can cry and complain on all the forums I want to but it’s not going to change the fact that I just can’t afford it. I laugh sometimes at the people that post about how much this hobby costs and then find out they live in less then stellar digs. Lets be a little more realistic people. Chances are if you can’t afford to buy a loco for a hundred bucks or even drop 25 bucks on a good boxcar then your probably in the wrong hobby. Period. The guys that continually bring up this topic DON’T have layouts or have tiny little one’s stuck under a bed or something. Why they do this I don’t know. There is acceptions to this of course, Jeffery is one of them. He does great for what life has dealt him. I never hear Jeff complaining and he is thankful for everything that comes his way. The rest of them though it’s a non stop cry fest every week. It does get old after awhile a
Bought a Genesis Canadian Pacific Boxcar off of TA462 for $20 4 years ago. eBay!
Bought a complete Trueline (P1K) train set, CP RS18, only ran at Christmas, $20 - Kijiji! Came home after work, Saw it, was the first one to reply as their email went nuts afterwards & has it in my hands within the hour before they could change their minds!
Got a 4-8-4 President’s Choice Steam Locomotive & a bunch of junk with it $ 20 - Kijiji!
Got a 60L Rubbermaid tote full of Woodland Scenics ballast, water, coal & trees for $60
Deals are there to be had, you have to look for them. I’m always scouring Kijiji & eBay looking for stuff. Heck, I even had a guy tell me to look through second hand shops for stuff.
I’m on a budget, wife thinks I have too much stuff, so I don’t buy large ticket items.
When my LHS was open, he did layaway so I was able to get a whole lot of new stuff ( without the wife knowing ) that way
Also
A good chunk of my rolling stock & locomotive fleet I’ve bought second hand. Yes I love the feel & aroma of brand new, first one to open the box since the factory locomotive or boxcar, but second hand is still new to me!
And that was delivered!!! Most of my 20 odd Proto 2000 GP9’s were less then 50 bucks a piece. I’ve bought a ton of stuff off of Kijiji and especially Ebay for half of the list price. The Whitby show last year I picked up a Kato AC4400CW for 60 bucks and that included a Athearn Genesis car for free. I also got a Athearn P42 in VIA colours for 80 bucks at the same show. It went on Ebay though. Bought a box full of Transport trucks from Trucks and Stuff for 20 bucks at a show. I think there was around 30 trucks in it. Saved 270 bucks just on that. I NEVER pay list price. Even the infamous Rapido Canadian’s I’ve ordered I didn’t buy at list price. I’m on Kijiji and Ebay every single day and there are tons of deals to be had. A buddy of mine just picked up 20 Peco turnouts, new in their packages for 25 bucks for the lot.
Some great replies to a fiery subject, seems that for every forumer that says if you can’t afford to be in the hobby get lost, as many reply they spend very little and truly enjoy model railroading.
Remember, if you can’t afford an Italian sports car, don’t hang around the local Lamborghini Aventador 2.9s sports car club.
Local train shows in your area might be good place to save a bit of $ on needed stuff. Many dealers attending our local shows, discount stuff, just before shows close on last day. And, reading through very old mrr mags [ of which, have quite a few am glad I saved ] , there’s many good articles on how to do/ make/ build layout projects, items at very low cost. This being in comparison to the mindset of manufacturers, dealers and many modern modelers. Yours truly has been retired over 10 yrs. Uncle Sam’s poised to trash my SS check, so am definitely going to do with/ use Yankee Ingenuity much more in the future, if I want my small r-o-w kept busy w/ HO freight traffic. DCC is now only a dream for yours truly, so am very glad I kept NOS MRC Tech 3 stashed away. And, having bought a ton of other HO over past 40 yrs. [ most NIB ] didn’t hurt either. TTFN. …Old Tom aka papasmurf in NH
Ya, I didn’t want to mention that in case someone from Winnipeg wanted the same service! [:)]
I found, on the other side of Toronto, a powered BB GP35, paid $10 for it. it was missing the stanchions & the end railings, but I happened to have spares that worked. Again, eBay
You have officialy defined my style of railroading: more flexible track arrangements, not a lot of footprint. The floor is my benchwork, and 70% of my motive power is secondhand, with one being old Athearn Blue Box (see "Re-Motoring Athearn Bluebox SD40-2: Is it Worth it). It looks crummy, but can still pull 20 freight cars at realistic speeds. Still, modeling on a budget makes things quite interesting, but fun nonetheless.
OK! Now all this sound like what we call a “voisin gonflable” in French. You know, that kind of people that always need to make people around them looks silly by overdoing everything somebody do. If you buy a 100$ loco, they will outbid you with a 200$ one… And no, I’m not picking on TA comment. He sounds harsh, but I must admit it’s true that highly priced things sells very well in our days.
That kind of behavior can be found anywhere. One of my coworker lives for his car, always wanting the best, right now, when it’s fully priced and new. Things works fine for many of us, a few buy things at high price when brand new, get tired of it very quickly and then sell them for discounted price to less fortunate people. That’s how it works. Anyway, it’s been a long time since I bought something at full MRSP…
However, MRR is somewhat different. It takes time… lot of time. So if you’re not a compulsive buyer, you should find a way to work around the budget as explained by RMax and others. And as many of us pointed out, for most modellers, generic models are enough. In the later years, I found out it was better to invest on things that matters when you try to pinpoint a specific prototype flavour, these are often locomotives, cabooses and special cars associated with a railroad. Most other things won’t catch your eyes. That’s how I work my budget. Never forget quality over quantity counts on some things.
By example, Canadian modellers are quite blessed since two years. Expensive models of rolling stock they saw in their backyard are now available. I recently found out the very locomotive that actually pulls trains in my forsaken neighborhood will be available in HO! Out of curiosity, I compared how much it cost me to superdetail generic models to a more of less level of accuracy… I end up to the same amount of cash, the same, if not more. Proof that kitbashing may be economical in some ways, but not always. And don’t mistake me, I’m a kitbashing and scratchbuilding proponent. (I rec