Track is expensive!

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
21

Thirty years ago most people worked as hard for $40 as they do today for $150 - the loco is the same price.

As others have said - not a cheap hobby - never has been.

I too use Atlas track and turnouts - they work just fine.

Personally you could not give me a PECO turnout - WHY - I don’t like the built in throw bar spring, and I like the isolated metal frog design used by Atlas and others now days.

How do people afford basement sized layouts? - well here were I live eveyone has a basement and many model railroaders have those basement sized layouts, so it must not be too hard.

For one thing they are not built over night, so expenses are spread out. Second, we all make choices in life regarding making money and spending money. That guy with the basement sized layout may well do without all sorts of things you consider important or necessary so he can afford to build his layout - or he might just be well off.

Sheldon

22

i have been in shock since i saw a $40.00 flat car. i was lucky enough to stock up on most everything years ago and now i joke about how all i buy is paint and glue.

another model railroader friend of mine was doing the same thing and i am afraid someday a social worker and a psychiatrist will come to our homes and try to help us clean out our basements. at least we will get to be on TV. (you can throw out the tyco stuff but i want to keep the brass)

Charlie

23

You can build turnouts yourself from rail stock and PCB ties or wooden ties. They’ll end up costing you about an hour each and something upwards of about $5-$6 or so. Once you have made the third or fourth, you’ll be making turnouts much better than those you can buy commercially, at least in terms of tolerances and conformity to NMRA standards. They’ll be very smooth and durable, provided your rolling stock has wheelsets in gauge.

Crandell

24

Quite easily done even with a regular railway if you model some place like Clapham Junction with about 2500 trains a day: http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/place/2231267-clapham-junction-station

Of course your budget for track and equipment will have to approach the GDP for a small country.

Andre

25

Is track really that expensive, shoot $6-7 for a pack of 6, 5 in. code 80 atlas track at the LHS. nah, it’s ok besides I’ve found some N scale heavens that have loco’s, track, and rolling stock I’m looking for. If you want the prices you feel are fair, you must do some digging. that’s why I keep buying some of the most obscure things many haven’t seen since the release of that item, like those Kato BN E’s or the 6 and 4 car passenger sets. then again sometimes I stumble upon these things, out of pure luck.

26

13 turnouts for a starter 4x8 layout seems a bit “excessive.” Are you sure you’re not trying to shove too many tracks into one 4x8?

You can go with any design you want. But I must admit my first layout was 9 turnouts, including a switchback yard. It is harder then you think lining up track and turnouts.

27

LION models New York City Subway.

LION runs Broadway Local from 242nd Street to South Ferry and back. Trains depart every 5 minutes and take 20 minutes to complete the run.

In ADDITION the LION represents the 7th Avenue Express as it runs between Lenox tower and Nevins tower, again on a five minute headway, but these trains (only one train per loop) just run continuously with no switching of tracks required.

Here is Train Register (timetable?) of LION showing the Local Trains as managed by the 242nd Street tower. There are six train sets making the 20 minute loop. Operations of trains on the railroad are fully automatic, and require no 1:1 oaf with a knob.

Here is 242nd Street Interlocking Tower of LION. It is a representation of GRS Model-5 Interlocking Tower… It takes a LION to align tracks in and out of the 242nd Street Station, him can also use the other levers to lay up trains when not in use, or to allow work trains out onto the railroad.

LION’S next project is to instal a good signal system. At the moment there is none, and only the fife minute headway keeps trains from running into each other. This system is not fool proof, needs better, but that entails setting up 30 control blocks. LION will run about 5 signals as if they were just one signal, but the bottom line is a train will not leave station A if station B is occupied. Him will need 30 relays, the rest, including track detection circuits, him will have to build by himself since him cannot afford to buy stuff.

Here is service map of Broadway LION: (Each station shown is modeled and served by local train.)

28

True that but, cars like that should be in a museum and not on a layout…[:-^][swg]

Seriously I can’t get over the detail on today’s cars…

29

Real railroads find that turnouts are expensive too! They try to get the job done with as few as possible.

Fewer turnouts on a model railroad can be more realistic, but maybe less fun.

However, many turnouts may be unrealistic and cause unnecessary stopping and backing, which can be no fun at all.

See if you really need 13 on your 4x8.

30

This is my track plan:

31

S scale and O scale turnouts cost more.

This is one place where scratchbuilding will save you money.

But as others have noted, you buy that basement layout over many years. I’m in the first phase of building my basement layout. But for the last 20 years I have been in S scale accumulating cars, locomotives, buildings, rail, flex track, and various parts. I already have enough cars (200+) and locomotives (11) for the whole basement with the exception of about a half dozen passenger and mail baggage cars which will have to be scratchbuilt. I have about 100 ft of flex track and 300 ft of rail. I salvaged the benchwork from my last two layouts which did the first phase - 12 x 31 ft…

While I do make impulse buys. I have been focused on the Ma&Pa for 15 years, so almost everything I have bought is appropriate.

Frankly, I don’t build fast enough to need more than a couple hundred dollars a month now for supplies. I expect this layout to take several years to complete.

BTW My first layout in HO had 7 Atlas turnouts - all worked fine.

Good luck

Paul

32

My first paying job in 1976 as an adult living on my own (and married) was with the Coast Guard, bringing home $500 a month. Rent was $170, followed by $225 for 6 months, then back to a cheaper $180 place. Not a lot left over for model railroading (or even furniture).

I was building a 4x8 with 10 turnouts. Atlas NS Custom-Line turnouts (no code 83 back then) were discounted to $8.55 according to the ads in MR. My income and the cost of track were just not matching up. So I decided I better hand lay my track to keep expenses in line, and to better spread the hobby purchases over time.

When I got the 1st oval laid, we realized $225 rent on $500 income doesn’t work. So we moved to a smaller, cheaper place which didn’t have room for a 4x8. So I down-sized to a 4x6 that started with 4 turnouts and ended up with 8 turnouts, a crossing, and a turntable.

Using Jack Work’s Birth of a Turnout in the April 1963 MR as a guide, my very first handlaid turnout (code 70) was a success, and even looked better to my eye than the Atlas Custom Line product. Total cost in materials were less than $2 per turnout (ties, spikes, rail, ballast), and I paid 95 cents each for 2 three point gauges. The needle-nose pliers, file, hack saw blade, Atlas track saw, and soldering iron I already had. I cut up a small piece of PC board from Radio Shack for the throw bars; the rest of the ties were wood.

FWIW, I’ve learned to despise cork roadbed. It’s never failed to dry and crumble - and I’ve tried cork roadbed on 3 separate occasions - given enough time. My preference to date is Homasote, but I’ve also used Celotex, Upson, redwood, and clear pine as well as cork over the years. The Northern California Narrow Gaugers have switched to 1/8" doorskin for roadbed - I may very well give that a try at my next opportunity.

I’m here to say that HO handlaid track is really not all that difficult, eve

33

I was in the hobby in the 70’s so I know about years ago, and I know about now. Years ago there was very little but it WAS cheap, and everything else had to be kitbashed or scratchbuilt. Now you can still do those same things, BUT, there is a lot of very nice off the shelf stuff available.

As for shocking prices, I saw some trains in store windows in the late 60’s and early 70’s that shocked me. I still see prices like that. This is all very unremarkable if you’ve been in the hobby a long time.

As for those $40 flat cars, I’m assuming you mean the Genesis 89’ F89F. They are very nice and I haven’t paid over $25 for any of the ones I bought, and the last couple were $18 and $22. I guess quoting the MSRP has it’s effect eh?

34

Swell idea to use caulk to attach the track! Here is why: you can use a bent angle cake decorator {available at any cake/crafty store} and slide it along under the track to carefully separate it from the base.

Now, as for turnouts…I DOn’t put any glue, or adhesive any where near them. TEST them throughly before you rely on them in place…Then when installed, just use the rail joiners to hold in place.Then, if yhey fail while on your temporary pike, they can be lifted out easily and replaced. ALso no glue, ballast or adhesives in the way means flawless operation for switches. They don’t get “glued in place”.

[8-|]

35

I think the cost of track is one reason ISL is becoming more popular then ever before.In fact Lance Mindheim has written 4 books on the subject…

The track for my planed ISL cost less then $200.00 at street.That’s for Peco medium switches and Micro Engineering flex track.

36

I got into the hobby in 1991. I was able to pickup USED turnouts from members of a club , They are Atlas and I’m still using them. They survived Hurricane Andrew .

Phil

I

37

Phil,There is certainly nothing with buying use track…I’ve done that many times over the years.

In fact my 6’ test track is made from used brass flex track I picked up for a $1.00 at a train show.Total cost for my test track $5.00 including the board.

38

What exactly does ISL stand for?

Rich

39

Larry- I’m also using TRU-SCALE obtained from a member that had passed on. The track was then over 30 years old. Thanks to Jeff and his “GLEAMING” method, works great. Cost me nothing.

Phil

40

Industrial Switching Layout or ISL for short.I picked up that term while attending a seminar on " Prototypical track planing and choosing the right LDEs".One section covered switching layouts…

I attended this seminar 7-8 years ago? A lot of the discussed principals on ISL designs stuck with me.