OK, we all know model railroading can be an expensive hobby. There are probably several hundred threads on this topic buried in the archives of this very Forum proving it. So instead of complaining, let’s try to turn our focus to the useful parts of those threads.
What are your ideas and suggestions for enjoying model railroading inexpensively?
One of my favorites is scratchbuilding. Rather than purchasing a kit everyone else already has on their layouts, I’d rather start with a few inexpensive packs of Evergreen and Plastruct styrene and some Tichy or Campbell detail castings. Usually I’m just trying to make an interesting looking structure, though I have duplicated prototype structures before. Since coming to MR I’ve been building a lot more in wood, as well. Scratchbuilding is not much harder than building from a kit, but it’s a lot cheaper. And the result is something I can be proud of as the product of my own imagination and labor.
Now, let’s hear your constructive tips for keeping the cost of the hobby down.
Because our HO scale club layout is in the high Sonoran desert, a lot of our scenery is desert. Nothing is cheaper for scenery than actual desert dirt. After scooping up a coffee can full of dirt from around the clubhouse and running it through a flour sifter to get rid of the larger pieces, we mix it with casting plaster, water, glue, cinnamon brown acrylic paint, and a little dishwashing detergent, then spread it on with a small paint brush. Ground foam and clump foliage is added while everything is still wet, and a little 50/50 white glue mix is dribbled on.
Here are some ideas: 1. Avoid buying RTR. If so, get more milleage by weathering it, etc. 2. Make up some purchasing rules (e.g., treat yourself at birthday, Xmas, etc.) 3. Accept the fact that doing things yourself is a learning process - be patient and practice on low cost models. 4. Building scenery is generally cheaper than working on locos, etc 5. Take your time. Redo things you are not happy with. 6. Resist buying expensive tools that are unnecessary 7. Don’t buy a new kit before finishing one. 8. Use cheaper paints for small things 9. Learn how to use ebay wisely 10. Buy less but quality locos. Sticking to a specific RR and era usually limits costs… Simon
I think being a disciplined purchaser, or rather, being a disciplined modeler, can save a tremendous amount of hobby money by eliminating the impulse purchases of things that are unrelated to your goals of era, location, prototype, and for that matter, gauge and scale. Impulse purchases can be fun to be sure but for the modeler on a budget, they can be devastating to that budget. This idea may not work for everyone, but when I go to a big train show I bring cash and limit my purchases to cash – a sort of built-in discipline.
Learning to repair what is broken or not right is a skill that over time can save money, including repairing things that are purchased cheaply because they are broken or incomplete. Besides the sense of triumph when the repair is a success is fun in its own right.
Also saving the pieces from “disasters” can create a supply of parts and resources for future repairs or kitbashing (or trading with others). When I was a young modeler I’d throw away my modeling disasters because I hated being reminded of my failures. Then I’d later (often much later) regret not saving the parts and fragments. Now I hardly throw anything away which might in turn be a problem of a different sort I suppose.
Buying used stuff applies not just to the trains, but to books and tools. There are bargains to be had.
I second Steve Otte’s remark about scratchbuilding. But I found it unfortunate when Walthers discontinued their “Modulars” series of parts, evidently due to lack of interest or perhaps due to not being able to convey how the “system” was meant to work.
Track and wiring and control are expensive. Scenery, by contrast, is actually rather cheap. Careful choice of track plan can lead to a layout which is not only more realistic looking but is cheaper, by having a high ratio of scenery to track. Most trac
Use natural materials for scenery. Commercial trees are very costly. But going out into a vacant lot and clipping some weeds (with permission) is free. Two issue ago there was a great article on making trees from goldenrod. I’m going to try it.
On a similar note, repurposing household objects for modeling can save you money. Gears from old CD drives make great model machinery.
Prioritize. Set realistic goals for layout completion and locomotive acquisition and decide which is most important to you.
Properly maintain your fleet. Your locomotives will last longer and run better.
Scratch building can be a money saver, but it is easy to run up the price with those lovely detail parts and beautiful sheets of shingle roofing and siding. I did a nice model of a local passenger station, but by the time I was finished I had a surprising amount of money sunk into it.
Train shows have real deals in used rolling stock and structures. With some paint and detail work, they can be made into first rate models. Or into parts cars, yielding doors, brake equiipment, ends, roofs, anything.
I made my own roadbed out of white pine. All it takes is a bandsaw.
Craft store acrylic paint is way cheaper than any paint from a hobby shop. Rattle cans can give a decent paint job, maybe not quite as nice as air brush, but decent.
Scrap house wire makes a good bus. Go for 14 gauge, it’s easier to work with than 12 gauge. Telephone cable is good for most things and turns up surplus for real cheap.
Old computer power supplies come in a nice metal enclosure, with a detachable line cord and fuses. Good for homebrew power projects.
A walk around layout doesn’t really need electric switch machines. A simple overcenter spring will hold the points against the stock rails, and you can throw the turnout with a finger.
DCC is overkill on a smallish one man layout.
Homemade trees from weeds are cheap and decent looking.
This is a good thread addressing the cost issues of the hobby.
Cost has ‘always’ been a problem for me…even after 43 years. I’ve had to be as resourceful as possible.
I frequented trains shows in the past. (no longer an option…none in this area)
I’ve stayed with DC and the use of old MRC packs or homebuilt power supplies.
Though I have bought some new ready to run beauties in the last few years, they were treats or gifts to myself. They can be counted on one hand.
In the past 3 months, buying from Ebay, I added to my Reading fleet, 16 locomotives total (Athearn BB, and old Atlas), and painted and decalled them all accurately for less than the retail price of a BLI Reading 4-8-4.
There are many other measures I’ve taken to enable me to stay in the hobby. But I don’t want to tie up this thread.
Oh…one more thing. I take no shame in being a dumpster diver. LOL
I have old freight cars and locomotives that came with train sets. Although the track, power pack is gone and diesels no longer work. I did buy some old freight cars way before converting to knuckle couplers. Now these freight cars help me play with my trains and pretending to be in late 1950s thru the early 1970s.
It has been keeping me busy for the last few weeks.
I run by my self so DC is for me but i buy only DCC ready locos because i might someday change over and i have so much to last my life time so buying has slowed down train shows is the best for me to buy found new flex code 100 for two dallors a stick and the LHS i go to lots of times puts things on the bargin shelf with a good discount and if you see something on the shelf that’s been their a while he will reduced it also so MRing can be cheaper.
I buy damaged goods on ebay. For example, a non-running Proto E8 was had for 30 bucks and all it needed was a motor lead resoldered. I’m pretty good at fixing other stuff too.
I forgot to mention something since I don’t have a train set layout I place 4 tracks on my dresser measuring 3’4". I place a few freight cars and a diesel or two making a consist pretending it’s going through cities, desert, forest, and in between.
When my family goes out I’ll be at home with the dog and than run into my room and take out my trains into living room and set up a small oval loop with little track that I have. My modern equipment is Amtrak, BNSF or Union Pacific depending on the mood but if I have enough equipment than I can run Conrail. All in DC power and I have no switch tracks to switch locomotives or cars.
Model Railroading is still fun for me no matter what happens with or without tracks. Imagination is a powerful tool to have when you have nothing.
My Great Grandma Lawson used to tell my dad, when he complained about not having some of the toys or clothes that his peers had at school:
“Use what you have, and you’ll never want for anything.”
I have only dabbled, with a small “d”, in scratching out something from available materials, but in the few instances where I have done that, it has left me intensely pleased and happy with my effort. As some of you will recall, I scratched a bumper/ramp at the end of one of my turntable radials. It looked quite realistic, helped by my previous scratching of my second trestle.
While it isn’t technically scratch building, I did gather, clean, and then spread local beach sand for my ballast. I have done that three times now. It never looks unnatural, if not entirely realistic, but that is due to my own mediocre skills in grooming the ballast and in weathering it all. It’s the right size and shape, and it’s free.
I’ll only deal, in closing, with spending. Do it carefully. Do it sparingly. Most of us must buy what we need in the hobby, but if we could limit that to unique or simply too complex items, we’d be surprised at how little we need to enjoy our hobby.
Pick a prototype and era. Plan accordingly - instead of a gaggle of “gotta have one of everything”, stick to a few locos. Unless you’re filling up a barn, you probably can;t run dozens of locos at once anyway, so buy a few, and buy rolling stock. In kits as much as possible. Generally half the price of RTR.
Learn how to swap digits in the car numbers, so you cna build a whole fleet from inexpensive kits, rather than have to resort to buying an expensive RTR version just to get a different number.
Learn patience. Yeah it might be cool to get it all TODAY, but this is a lifelong hobby. Aquire bit by bit. All those limited run locos and cars? Yeah, they might be sold out 2 days after release, but a few months later and they are ALL OVER eBay. Outside of some truly rare brass pieces, nothing is truly ever unobtainable.
And speaking of eBay, more patience. See a loco you really want? Fine, go for it - but control your impulse to bid more. It’s not the first time nor the last time you will see one of them listed, and if you don;t win this one, you can always try the next one. Don’t get caught in a bidding frenzy, and you can walk away with a $150 loco for $50 or less. Most of my fleet was built this way.
Think outside the box. Have a lot of things you need to paint flat black, like car weights? Don’t spend $6+ for that tiny can of Testor’s spray paint, spend $1.29 and get the BIG can of spray paint. It’s plenty good for basic work like that. Doing lots of scenery? Don’t get little squeeze bottles of Elmer’s glue, you cna buy gallon jugs of it at the big box stores. Don’t spend a fortune on ‘scenic cement’ - buy a gallon of Elmer’s and some cheap 70% alcohol from the Dollar Store and mix up your own. Need some CA? Here’s where it pays to NOT buy the biggest bottle, unless you have a huge project that will be continuously worked on. I’ve found a pack of a dozen tiny tubes at the big box stores, it
In the scratchbuilding zone, here’s a tip. You can find largish sheets of plastic (~2’ feet square) at most hardware and home stores. They are called "For Sale " signs[;)], but also come with other such information printed on them. The ones printed single side are best, because that saves a lots of scraping away at the painted to get a surface that glues well, if double sided.
Another source if you need even more plastic is to find a local plastics dealer. They have it in 4x8 sheets. Cutting usually costs you something, but you can also roll up a sheet and tie it to get it into a small car so you can get it home to cut at your leisure.
Since you need big buildings cheap to use up that styrene, remember that black foamcore board can be used to build structure cores cheaper than about anything else. It’s light, strong, and easy to cut.
For electrical connections, use what probably keeps your house wiring safely connected, the humble, very cheap wire nut. I started a discussion and poll on this topic in another forum and found close to two-thirds of those answering used or planned to use them to wire their layouts, yet you see almost nothing about their use in the hobby press.
Don’t buy expensive RTR freight cars. Build a few Accurail freight car kits as beginner projects and work your way up to highly detailed kits and eventually maybe build some craftsman kits from wood or resin. Building model kits is fun! It will also save money over buying expensive RTR kits.
You don’t even have to stick to a regional. Pick a small part of a big system. MEC’s Rockland Branch around 1950, SP’s Monterey Branch (up to 1971, also had passenger train), Santa Fe’s San Jacinto Branch, Bangor & Aroostook’s Searsport Branch (F3’s, BL2’s,GP7’s into the early 80’s). There’s all kind of opportunity out there that doesn’t require a huge loco roster or a collection of freight cars rivaling the UP.
Have a budget and stick to it. Mine is $75 a month. If I need something more expensive than that, I have to wait several months. Track your budget on a spreadsheet or log book.
Take a shopping list when you go to the LHS or especially a train show. Don’t purchase anything not on your list. Make a wish list if you see something you want that isn’t on your list.
Consider alternate sources for materials: medical supply stores for plaster cloth, returned cans of paint at home improvement stores, damaged foam panels (sometimes free for the asking).
Show your family and friends how to shop at your favorite e-tailer and give them a copy of your wish lost. Or ask for gift certificates. The good folks at M.B. Klein probably expect a large order from me in the first weeks of the new year.
Scratch building structures is a blast! I get the building that I want in a size that fits my space. If you look at the cost for any specific scratch built structure it is definately cheaper than similar kits. The caveat is that you have to avoid buying a whole bunch of scratch building supplies on spec. Otherwise you could spend a lot of money on stuff that sits in a drawer.
Kit bashing can also be economical. I wanted a small rural grocery store that would sit right at the backdrop. In fact I had to cut the building in half to get the footprint I wanted. That left me with the back half of the building which, with a little bashing, just happened to look like the front half of a small house. It fits perfectly beside the store.
I am also working on a fleet of cabooses. I started with BB el cheapos from eBay for which I had paid only a few bucks each. I am in the process of replacing all the molded on grabs with wire, adding a few grabs where Athearn had neglected to install them, installing power pickup for working marker lamps and interior lighting for the conductor’s desk, and a scratch built keep alive circuit. I estimate that the cabooses will have cost me about $35.00 each when finished which is not exactly cheap, but it is half the price of the current Rapido offerings with similar features. Plus, they fit my era and road name perfectly.
I am also a strong believer in eBay as an economical source for specific items. By ‘specific’ I mean that I only buy what I need and I resist the urge to buy things that look good but are not on the purchase list. It took me a while before I realized how easy it was to blow a lot of money on things I didn’t have a specific need for. By watching eBay patiently I have been able to aquire many things at very good prices, like warm white 3mm LEDs for $0.02 each. The trick is to not act like a kid in a candy shop with a ton of money in his/her pocket.
I have also limited the number of locomotives that I purchase. I will be runnin