As many have posted in another thread, the costs to build even a small model railroad are thru the roof these days. But there are many ways to still enjoy the hobby in a more simplier way if you know how and are willing to do some…actual modeling!
For myself, I have to split my income between my G scale out in my garden and my small HO layout indoors. Both are built on a shoe string budget, yet have some of the best trains made running on them. How do I do this you might ask. I hound train shows, the local hobby shop and ebay. My tastes are steam and logging on the HO layout, and a mix of Euro and narrow gauge industrial on my G scale layout. My baby HO layout is only 33" deep by 55" wide. Once completed will be a small logging line. As I have a complete distaste for a certian brands geared engines due to enginnering/quality failures in the drives. I hunted down an old PFM/United brass import. On ebay they can fetch $300 plus, not in the budget. However at a local NMRA show I found an old 2 truck class B shay for $100 bill. It had a minor issue of a broken solder joint in the crankshaft rendering it a one truck drive. I had that issue fixed with a little flux and some heat from my soldering iron as soon as I got home(I also fix this kind of issues for others). I always recommend to others to invest as much as you can afford into atleast 1 good locomotive and transformer/throttle. I prefer my steam to be brass, older imports that are more affordable and normaly cheaper than modern fragile plastic engines. I can find an average steam model for under $250 many times, usualy unpainted and most do run well after a basic lube job. Brass steam is much easier to work on, usualy 3 small screws and the boiler lifts off the drive chassis. Painting isnt as hard as it looks and there are seveal great sources online detailing how to do it. My freight cars are
Spending over $30 on a good USED (Atlas/Kato/Walthers) locomotive almost never happens for me; freight cars capped at $11, passenger at $13 (has to include shipping). So if you’re talking about $100 locomotives, and calling it a bargain, great for you.
I don’t buy new,infact I have not bought any new locomotives in any of the scales I dabble in for atleast the 5 years.That last new car I’ve ordered is the new Accurail PS-2 covered hopper in HO.
I have more fun and get much more satisfaction from reworking older locos and cars.It’s kind of fun to have someone say "That’s a neat boxcar,who made it"and I get to answer “I did.”
Very simple answer – if model railroading is too expensive for you, find a different hobby. Try golf, surfing, scuba diving, motorcycles, ATVs, tennis, archery, etc. and see how expensive they are.
Complaining on these forums is not going to change anything.
I wonder if other hobbies (i.e. model ship building, doll houses, rc planes/vehicles etc.) are facing the same issues. Model railroading also has other expenses that other hobbies don’t. The room expense for where the layout is located, lumber for the bench work, hardware,paint, lighting, wire, climate control, non hobby tools to build the layout.
I’ve been doing this great hobby for a number of years now and have thousands of dollars invested, as soon dcc came into the picture the investment grew. To save a lot of money I did it in the scenery department where I started gathering materials from the out doors, I think the biggest investment with the out doors stuff was the old blender I bought from the thrift shop.
Your not kidding for sure. I run two old harleys for my wife and I and when we travel I often do scuba diving. Too cold here in ontario for my liking for diving. I’m also restoring a 1963 vespa. Its not cheap trying to enjoy life.[;)]
How many times have we had this question pop up? I am a member to this forum for a little over 5 years now and I can´t remember a year, when a complaint about the rising cost of our hobby has not come up a minimum of 6 times!
I do my model railroading on a shoestring budget, although it sometimes hurts not to be able to go on a shopping tour.
The cost of model railroading is as high as you want to let it get! There is a simple recipe of controlling the cost:
Don´t buy things you can´t afford
Cut down on your dreams to something realistic - you don´t need to have a basement-size layout to enjoy this hobby
I only call it a bargain, compared to typical prices. My point is, there are bargains out there. I am not so much venting on high prices, they are hear to stay whether we like it or not. Its more on what we are all doing to cope with them, maybe its buying only used, or only vintage stuff. Maybe we are downscaling the proposed size of a layout, and concentrating on a small layout instead of a basement size empire. Thats what most of the folks in the UK do, they have small houses like I do, or even smaller appartments. They concentrate on nice shelf switching layouts, many times with a fiddle yard and sector plate to each track. Rather than have 3-10 good engines, they have one or two really super nice engines. Quality instead of quantity. Thats my style. I would rather have one brass shay, than 3 or 4 plastic ones, one nice brass road engine for running at the club layout ect. Those are just examples. If you have the income to have a basement empire, by all means go for it. But I feel most of us feel pinched by high prices everywhere, from trains to grocerys. How do you deal with it? Mike
This is what bothers me about this forum. There is always people complaining about the cost of the hobby. If you can’t afford it then get out of it. Hobbies cost money. Hey, I like classic Porsches but I don’t collect them because I can’t afford to. You don’t see me on Classic Porsche Forums complaining about the cost of owning one. Sometimes I wonder about the people on this forum that cry about the cost of things in this hobby and then cry about the cost of maintaining their trailer or house or the price of food etc in another thread. Guess what, if your struggling to live day to day then this hobby isn’t for you. Rant over.
Try RC aircraft… Where your $300-500 could (or I should say WILL) eventually end up a pile of scrap on fire after it augers into the parking lot. I am just very frugal. I comb Ebay for deals and I am not overly ambitious in that I keep my layouts small enough to be manageable.
I scratch build and buy used at shows. Saves a bunch. A lot of the price increases is technology/electronics as was as RTR. So, to avoid the price increases I just avoid those things and normally it works out great.
I have also begun to buy brass which holds its’ value better or increases better.
Decided to give up golf about 8 years ago, got tired of paying to get frustrated. built a 21X8 ho layout, got it about 80% finished,have a stable ot 10 DCC locos, purchased new. 175 rolling stock almost all bought at shows. lots of fun, no frustrations, and money in the bank. What’s not to like. I find that shopping for bargains at shows is fun and a challenge, and an excellent way to control costs.
I still buy new items, including some of the higher end, more detailed models, but in small numbers. Consequently, I am always playing catch-up when models that meet my goals are sold-out because I can’t afford to keep up with them all as they are produced and hit the market.
BTW, Accurail has recently come out with a nice looking CF4750 hopper, an all new kit for under $20, more like 14 to 16 dollars street price. Going to kits like these and finding others from Accurail, MDC, Athearn and Walthers at trains shows can be great cost savers.
What do I do? I have since had to change my buying practices from ma & Pa shops (if you can find them) to now using EBay. NOS and NIB models can be found for pennies on the dollar.
Unfortunately, we only have two small multi scale train shows here a year (sometimes, not always - thats the unfortunate part). They arent very large ones and are seldom advertised. But if I get to go, i hit every HO table vendor. Great deals here!
Lastly, since my roadname has never been that popular with manufacturers (and I am tired of waiting), and the prices for models has gotten rude, I have decided to make my own. Its just plastic, metal, and a bit of paint. Plus, if you can make one, you can make many. The cost here is time, not money. Time I have, money I dont.
These are some of the ways I combat todays overly high prices. It works for me. I get an accurate model without the wait, I get it cheap, and I am just as happy in the end. I dont have that ‘nice layout’ yet so I am focussing on my rolling stock until I do. However, I summize I will be doing alot of the same technique in building my road when that day comes.
Who said that you have to be buying things to stay active in the hobby? For all I care, just posting on a model train forum like this counts as being active, regardless of what you may or may not be spending your money on.