Hey Everybody, its that time of the year again that I start getting into trains :D. I’ve been constantly building small scenic pieces out of foam that I bought from the Hardware store. So far I have my N Gauge circular christmas layout almost done but with the extra pieces some ideas have come to mind.
I looked online and it seems that there are very few layouts for sale, or not as many as I expected. I’ve now found that building one from foam was not as hard as I thought (Though I have A LOT to learn) and although I am not into trains for money, I thought it would be cool to get into the “Buying and Selling” side of things as well.
If I made an oval T gauge layout (I am not sure of a t gauge oval but I am sure it is tiny) that had a detailed landscape, trees, buildings, and most of all- a clean look…how much would these sell for?
Regardless of it it sells or not, I’m still going to buy a little T gauge to make a layout out of it, the only reason I would sell it is so I could keep coming up with new layout ideas but without them stacking up in my house, its win win!.
The biggest thing about T gauge is that everything is only available thru a single manufacturer and only thru a handful of LHSs, 99% of which are located in Japan. That can be an issue if you have any warranty issues. I would love to try T also. I am currently working on a 10"x 15" micro but in N. Can’t help with sale value. Too new and small a product line.
I think T guage is too new to have any measurable market value in the U.S. It was developed in Japan because an average apartment there is no bigger than a single bedroom in many U.S. homes and they don’t have room for anything larger.
As already noted, you’re also limited to only one manufacturer in Japan for T Gauge equipment, so prices are going to naturally be considerably higher than for any other scale.
With a monopoly market they can charge whatever they feel the market will bear. At the present time, I would assume that if anything breaks there will be no way to repair it and no source of repair parts.
So-called T gauge would be garden railway fodder for most people - so a loop around a larger-scale house might work.
As for commercial value, the limited availability of any possible expansion stock and general unsuitability for young children make it much less desirable than HO or even N. I, who model Japan with (mostly) Japanese-manufactured products, wouldn’t touch it with an insulated pole.
I won’t go into the financial aspects except to note that my subscription to Tetsudo Mokei Shumi will be much more expensive this year - not because the price went up (it didn’t) but because this year’s dollar doesn’t trade for as many Yen. The rate of exchange has been steadily deteriorating, with no improvement in sight.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in 1:80 scale, aka HOj)
Before the advent of T-gauge, Z scale used to be the smallest working model railroad system in the world. Marklin introduced it in the early 1970´s to fight dwindling sales of their mainstream product, which failed to attract the younger folks back into the hobby shops. Since the early days, Z scale has developed into something serious, but still lacks a broad supplier base. Other than Marklin, there is only one more source offering locos and rolling stock, if we neglect the limited range offered by Tenshodo in the Japanese market. In the 1970´s and 1980´s, a lot of folks not really into model railroading bought Z scale train sets, just for the technical fascination. Still its market share van be neglected.
I am afraid the same fate will be up for T gauge, not only because of the limited availability and variety. How can you get that railroad feeling, when the train is not much larger than a pen? Too small for my big hands and failing eyes. I am having problems with N scale already, the scale I currently model in.
T-gauge will in my opinion remain a niche product, a technical gimmick for people, who´d like to try something new.
Thanks for the quick and detailed responses guys! Come to think of it I probably will just get a Z scale. When you compare then to T, they don’t feel too small anymore. The only downside to things like that are getting houses for them!
I guess layouts just aren’t in the market right now either. Have any of you guys ever tried to sell one?
Unless you are wiling to build on commission precisely to a customer’s (demanding) specifications and to a high level of appearance and quality, it is unlikely that this will be a profitable venture. Most folks selling built-up layouts “on spec” find they actually sell for less than the cost of the components and materials.
Three-rail O-gauge layouts might be an exception, but HO and N scale layouts built to average finish and quality rarely seem to reap even the materials costs, let alone anything for the time spent.
