Does anyone else ever get frustrated by the cost of MRR’ing? I mean you really can’t have a nice layout unless you spend a boat load of money. For example, if you want to make a nice yard, you need to spend a fortune on TO’s, then you need switches, or ground throws, than you need coupling/ uncoupling.
Its starting to drive me crazy. I mean the Caboose ground throws, cost $4 a piece. Come on, its a piece of plastic! I know why it is so expensive. I mean there really is not that much of a demand in MRR’ing so the companies that make things need to charge a higher price to get there money back. But in the same idea, how are you going to attract new people to the hobby? When someone who is on the fence about whether to start a MRR researches what type of time and money, they may very well decide is just not worth the cost.
I hope people don’t accuse me of not being serious about this hobby because of my complaints. In fact I am very serious about this hobby and that is why the high cost upsets me so much. I have plenty of room for a potentially great layout, but it is really a dream because I just can’t afford much, and it really is discouraging.
Well sorry about the crybaby attitude, but I am just starting to get overwhelmed. Every time I spend money on something new it leads me down another road where I have to spend more money.
Any one else have an opinion about the high cost of MRR’ing.
Yup! I am always bankrupt because I always spend my savings, and I don’t actually get that much. I too am serious about the hobby, I have about $100 to spend, (the result of the whole summer and must of the spring mowing lawns and baby-sitting) and guess what I’ll spend it on? Model trains!
The prices you quote indicate to me that you’re paying full retail prices instead of shopping around for cheaper sources. Caboose Industries ground throws, for example, can be had for just over half the $4 price you quote from some of the mail order sources.
While it’s true that postage must be added, in my case the nearest “local hobby shop” is 80 miles away in Tucson, Arizona, so the cost of gasoline to get there and back cancels out any advantage over mail order and being able to get an item right away instead of waiting a few days for delivery.
No, not at all. I’m not made of money. I’m living off a retirement income. I’m forced to make choices about what I would like and what I can afford on my layout but so what. That’s true in all phases of life. Sure it would be nice to drive a Mercedes but a Mazda is what I can afford. I’d like to fly first class everywhere I go, I can only afford coach. I pick and choose when I treat myself to the finer things and make do with what I can afford the rest of the time. If you don’t or can’t spend the money, then spend your time. You could probably save money on turnouts by learning to scratchbuild them. Another option would be to find a second job. Working part time would give you the few extra dollars to spend on your hobby. There are options.
Let’s also remember that all of the plastic items we use are made from…OIL! The cost for the raw materials rises with the cost of oil. I frequently search the Walthers online catalog, searching only for items on sale…give the order to my LHS and I don’t pay shipping costs.
Recent changes to exchange rates are running up costs of imports. Much is from China that has higher inflation than USA and they are allowing their currancy to increase in its exchange rates (not as fast as US would like, however) .
Perhaps because 99 times out of 100 it usually does. On a positive note, whenever I get the “man that stuff is expensive” I pull out some old MRR issues and look at what great work some have done with minimal capital investment.
are like that. They are bored and need something to rant about, anything. I heard the same complaints back in the 1960s. History always repeats itself.
I understand what our OP is saying, but who with limited means isn’t going to find the same problems with (name a hobby, pastime where ones spends and doesn’t earn)? Try running a 30’ sailing craft for a couple of years and see what real money is all about. YEEOOOOOW!
I may be wrong, I havent’ actually priced them, but R/C aircraft can’t be cheap to get into and then to run for a hobby’s life.
I would say that even throwing darts can get expensive since it often is accompanied by beers and burgers.
We all can’t have it all. Only so much money to go around, and others get more of it than you and I.
I know what you mean by turnouts, though. So, I paid up front and made a bunch of my own with Fast Tracks and can now make a passable turnout of almost any type. The last was a #6 double-slip in HO with Code 100. Amazingly…it actually works!
Don’t get me wrong here. I am spending a lot of time trying to do anything I can that improves my layout without spending money. I have scratchbuilt a few structures from wood coffee stirrers, so I hope nobody accuses me of not trying. I scratcbuilt a Trestle bridge, a Water Tower, made my own rock molds, made my own Tunnel Portels from wood, etc…
And I sincerely hope this thread does not lead to pandemonium. I just had to get my frustrations off my chest. I tried to say my piece in as diplomtic a way as possible, so people don’t cut me down. I’m just saying I’m not made of money. Unless you are rich, you simply can’t deny the fact that this stuff costs a lot of money.
On that note I want to thank Scubaterry for helping me by giving me a 3-truck Shay. I don’t want Terry to think I don’t appreciate what he did for me. I won’t forget a gesture like that.
This topic appears about every other month or so and the content of the message has not changed much over the past few years. Along with any hobby comes a price tag, and model railroading is not immune to rising costs, especially in plastics.
With the cost of oil on the rise ($/bbl of oil hit $93.00+ for January futures) this affects the cost of plastics, and plastic is an oil based derivative. And with many modeling materials made of plastic such as styrene the cost of production goes up with the price of oil.
I can tell you that compared to many other hobbies you can make model railroading as expensive as you want, but it can be a very reasonably priced hobby as well.
Take the hobby of boating for instance. We went camping one weekend in the summer at Falls Lake near our house. The whole day we sat on the shore and watched as boats, ski jets, party boats, fishing boats, ski boats, etc…plied the waters. So we got to thinking about getting into boating (this was prior to the severe drought conditions) and started pricing out some boats. Your basic new pontoon boat at 18’ which can hold 6-8 people starts at around $13,000.00. This is before you get a new hitch for your vehicle, and make sure the vehicle has the towing capacity to pull the boat and trailer. Then you have licensing fees, radio options, protective covers, and all the associated gear and accessories that might be required down the road, oh, and don’t forget such things as gas, oil, and maintenance.
Then you have golf…
I can tell you that I have not come anywhere close to spending $13,000 on model railroading over the past 30+ years that I have been in the hobby. Maybe ½ that, but not anywhere near the cost of a new boat.
Why? Because people have stong feelings about it or because this is about the 10th thread of this nature in the last few months?[:O]
Instead of repeating what others have said in all those other threads. Personally I think that for what one is getting for the money, in many ways it is much cheaper than what it used to be. Also there are many ways to make it much cheaper - purchasing used, scratchbuilding, etc.
Go slow and spend what you can. Design your layout and plan your construction in stages that allow for operation at each stage. Build it as funds are available.
Most large layouts were built over many years. See John Armstrong’s article on building his Canandaigua Southern printed in MR Jan&Mar 1971, reprinted in The Classic Layout Designs of John Armstrong. It shows his yearly progress in benchwork and tracklaying.
Scratchbuilding certain products such as turnouts can save money. Sometimes you can scrounge materials such as wood (be careful it’s in usable condition) or use non model railroading materials such as kitty litter or sand for ballast. There have been many articles over the years in MR on making controls, some of which were fairly cheap.
My biggest problem is the increase in price of rolling stock and locomotives. When I seriously got in the hobby in 1992, using Athearn for example, would have brand new Locomotive kits for 30 bucks a powered SD40-2 at the high end, $18 for a dummy. This was the most pricey of the Athearn line. Now I see even the dummy kits running 45 some bucks a piece. Athearn hoppers for example were about seven bucks, now I see them running about 18 bucks a piece for a kit, not to mention their redy to runs, which run as high as $25[:O] a piece, for one hopper car. Let’s not even talk about the new SD70ms, for example, running about 130 bucks. When I got started, 130 bucks would buy me a couple engines some cars, track a few acessories and a little ground foam.[8D]
Now I know I sound like an old fart[:D], and I understand our current environment we live in and figuring in inflation, but wow, I am really glad I purchased what I did in the early 90s, as I couldn’t imagine starting from scatch in this day and age. Sorry, when I saw this thread I needed to vent my frustrations on this as well and glad that its not just me a some of my fellow model railroaders.
I have been do N scale for 30 years now and when I see the cost of some of this stuff , I am happy I am not new to this hobbie or need a whole lot. I have a bunch of old engines I use for interchangeing with my main roads. They come on the layout , drop off some cars and leave , so they dont have to run as nice as the ones I do switching with. I use newer Atlas for switching and old Atlas for interchange. Or some Like Like engines for interchange.
Also you can save a bit by scratchbuilding. which once you start you will not want another kit. Also it takes a while to scratchbuild stuff so you can save up your beans for the next big purchase.
The one thing that really irks me is the price of box cars etc. Come on now $20 a pop is unreal. I would not want to think what it would cost today to replace my cars.
Tom, you called it. Started a little early too… [V]
I don’t usually chime in on these sorts of topics, but this is a classsic example of how they spin out of control. Somebody starts name calling and then it eventually turns nasty.
As for the subject, yeah, it’s been beaten to death countless times over the years. But it doesn’t mean people need to be nasty about it.
Pick two. If you want A) and C), then it won’t be B).
You don’t like the cost of switches? Make them yourself. You don’t like the cost of ground throws? Make them yourself. Just because someone makes a switch for $20 or a ground throw for $4 doesn’t mean you actually have to buy it…you can make them yourself. Sure, it will take you some time, but that’s the price you pay for not spending money for nice stuff.
Heck, I know one guy who runs his DC layout with cab block control by using a 2x4 with nails pounded in it. Each nail has wire wrapped around it that goes to a block. He then uses two aligator clips to power each block for his On30 layout. Now that’s cheap! [:)]