Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Cost to replace inventory

3353 views
17 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    November 2015
  • 723 posts
Cost to replace inventory
Posted by UNCLEBUTCH on Sunday, January 14, 2018 10:24 AM

With the recent threads on white glue,foam, cement,; And the tread of a member wanting to build a diorma I got to wonder, what if some one stole all your stuff? Not engines, rolling stock or track or tools.

How mutch have you got invested in  strip wood, styrene , glues and paint, cement,foliage, ect.

I,m sure most of us accumuated it over the years, but if you had to replace it all at once

I don,t have hard numbers, but I bet I got a more then a couple hundred bucks in supplies, not counting the free stuff i gathered.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
  • 7,667 posts
Posted by rrebell on Sunday, January 14, 2018 10:38 AM

My old layout considering everything about $1000 but it was 15x30 and the lighting cost around $400.

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Southern California
  • 1,682 posts
Posted by Lone Wolf and Santa Fe on Sunday, January 14, 2018 11:44 AM

I try to only buy it as I need it. I just spent $30 on paint for a dozen little tiny bottles of paint. I have about another $30 worth of unused paint, $20 worth of unused styrene sheets, plus brushes, glues and a small amount of lumber etc. Now if you add in unused couplers, wheels and aftermarket details then maybe another $50. Then add another $50 for unused scenery. So I would say about $200 for unused supplies.

Modeling a fictional version of California set in the 1990s Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Railroad
  • Member since
    March 2002
  • From: Milwaukee WI (Fox Point)
  • 11,439 posts
Posted by dknelson on Sunday, January 14, 2018 11:54 AM

UNCLEBUTCH
what if some one stole all your stuff? Not engines, rolling stock or track or tools. How mutch have you got invested in  strip wood, styrene , glues and paint, cement,foliage, ect. I,m sure most of us accumuated it over the years, but if you had to replace it all at once

Oh my I do not want to even think about this.  

A pretty odd burglar that is for sure.  

I have over the years accumulated way more raw materials than I can ever use, but much of it was an outrageous bargain and not only could I never replicate those bargain prices, but in some cases I bought it only because it WAS a bargain.

Example, a LHS was going out of business and selling stuff off cheap.  Among the items was their Plastruct point of purchase display, still mostly loaded with Plastruct engineering plastic and styrene.  I offered $15 for the whole thing and my offer was accepted happily.  Retail value of the contents is surely in the $100s.

  Another LHS was going under and a professional auction firm was auctioning off the contents row by row.  An entire row of rolling stock kits, or track, or locomotives, and guys were bidding in the thousands of dollars.  Not for me. But the END of a row was also being auctioned and I bid $75 for an end of row display that again was mostly Plastruct and Evergreen styrene.  When I talleyed the retail value of what I got, it was just under $500.

I got similar deals on strip wood at a swap meet and some estate sales, and Walthers' retail showroom sells damaged or damaged packaging strip wood and styrene cheaply. 

One of those estate sales by the way was that of the famous kitbasher Art Curren, so I have some of his leftovers from famous projects in plastic bags.  He was a great fan of the Mt Vernon Mfg kit that Tyco and LifeLike have offered over the years.  

I'd have to think long and hard about what I would actually bother to replace if suddenly it was gone due to theft or disaster.  There are certain styrene shapes and sizes that I have yet to ever use for example.

Dave Nelson

 

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Sunday, January 14, 2018 12:14 PM

Nice going Dave!

I have no idea what I exactly have, let alone how much it would cost to replace.  I was, and am, the type of guy that also figured, "I'm here now, (at the LHS) and I need one, but two would be good for extra, so I'll just get three".

If someone was to steel everything, let me know so I can show the thief where everything is at, and you have to take it ALL, EVERYTHING, so I have an excuse to start over.

Maybe I could start out at Dave's house!  Laugh

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, January 14, 2018 12:25 PM

My biggest fear of loss is my collection of decals, because they cannot be readily replaced. I have spent over $2,000.00 with Rail Graphics on STRATTON AND GILLETTE decals. Producing new art alone would be prohibitive. I have decals I have collected for 30 years from other modellers custom railroads. None of this can be replaced.

.

As far as tools and supplies, easily thousands. I have three Kennedy parts boxes, a Kennedy machinist tool chest, and a Snap-On tool box all on my workbench.

.

Oh, the workbench... It is an industrial workbench made by Edsal with a full electrical upper shelf and maple block top... It is the most expensive piece of furntiure I own!

.

Ugh, I do not want to think about this.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Sunday, January 14, 2018 12:28 PM

We were recently burglarized, they entered the house through the garage by forcing open the garage door.  The garage is Mel’s train room, they completely ignored my thousands of $$$ of HO trains and power tools.  They only took my wife’s cell, my tablet, found my keys on my computer workstation.  They left in our car.  The car was recovered four days later missing the battery.  Lazy bunch, we had just put $600 of rubber on the car three days earlier, they didn’t touch the tires.  The tires still had the stickers on them and you could hear them clicking on the pavement.
 
I guess they weren’t into trains or tires.
 
 
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
  
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
  • 9,352 posts
Posted by BATMAN on Sunday, January 14, 2018 12:34 PM

When I got back into the hobby twelve years ago, I spent about $8000.00 in short order. Since then the money spent has been a dribble, though I buy what I want or need.

We just had a flood in our crawlspace and that was an eye opener let me tell you. The crap we had in the crawlspace is adding up to $1000.00s of dollars. I'll give one example, There was a small paper bag I picked up to throw out, in it were nine wooden propellers for my R/C planes. Replacement value $112.00 plus tax. To think I was just about to just chuck it. 

You never get back what you lose, insurance just eases the pain.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Sunday, January 14, 2018 12:55 PM

If you're talking about model train-related stuff that's not on the layout, I'd guess two or three hundred for styrene, perhaps double-or-so that for paint and paint-related stuff, such as brushes and airbrushes, strippers, thinners, etc.  My compressor, I think, would be irreplaceable in-kind. 

Also not on the layout are seven locomotives awaiting rebuilding as models of specific prototypes - probably not worth much as they're plastic steamers, currently in a torn-down state in their boxes - perhaps a hundred bucks worth of brass detail parts stored in the same boxes. 
I also have six brass locomotives, all in various torn-down states for painting and re-detailing.  Only two of them are mine.  If they were assembled and painted, perhaps $1500-$1800, but as-is, not very much. 

Besides that, a bunch of tools, repair parts, scratchbuilding stuff, models (all plastic) in a display case, railroad-related books and artifacts, photos, etc., etc. 

To be honest, I doubt that there's much that anyone would consider worth taking...even I have trouble finding stuff amid the clutter.  I'd think that a well-prepared thief would bring a dumpster - anything here of value would not likely be recognised as such in its current state.

Wayne

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 1,500 posts
Posted by ROBERT PETRICK on Sunday, January 14, 2018 1:55 PM

Tons of model railroad stuff laying around; certainly hundreds, maybe a thousand or more. But if someone did steal anything, at least I'd know there was another model railroader within a hundred miles.

Robert 

LINK to SNSR Blog


  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Sunday, January 14, 2018 5:02 PM

It would only be a guess, but if I forget fasteners, lumber, tools, rolling stock, DCC system, and track elements (both commercial and hand-laid), the rest of the stuff used and still on hand in some quantity would have to approach $1500.  That would comprise the glues and caulks, paints (craft and wall), brushes, roadbed, ground foam varieties, commercial ballast, and trees, window screening, plaster and hydrocal, masonry dyes, and sundry stuff. 

A quick estimate of the stuff lying around today, partially used or new and unopened, would be $600.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, January 14, 2018 7:23 PM

Good Heavens! This thread really has me thinking.

.

It would cost over $500.00 just to replace the paint in this drawer.

.

.

I have so much stuff that is in my workshop. I have every size of plastic Evergreen makes, and every size HO sclae lumber Northeastern makes. Kadee couplers out the wazoo! I have over 50 pairs of Kadee trucks waiting for freight cars to be completed.

.

Does anyone know how insurance treats this stuff?

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    November 2013
  • 2,775 posts
Posted by snjroy on Sunday, January 14, 2018 8:15 PM

I worry more about fire than theft. A lot of my stuff would be hard to replace, like scratchbuilt and kit locos. I don't worry too much about raw materials. My parts box is a lot harder to replace. 

Simon

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Monday, January 15, 2018 1:19 AM

One area of my collection that suprised me a bit in terms of cost was all of my detailing supplies. When the packages only cost a few dollars each buying a few at a time doesn't seem to be a huge investment. However, the details for my nine stall Walthers roundhouse alone cost me almost $200.00 Cdn. I have about $100.00 in small welding equipment bits and pieces, as well as a couple of Woodland Scenics welding sets. Then there are the fire extinguishers, fire hoses and stands, skids and barrels full of supplies, and on and on.

Adds up pretty quick!

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
  • 1,835 posts
Posted by bearman on Monday, January 15, 2018 1:26 AM

You have got to be kidding.  I dont want to know how much I have spent.

Bear "It's all about having fun."

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, January 15, 2018 8:31 AM

snjroy
I worry more about fire than theft.

.

Yes, me too. No thief is going to bother with a drawer full of Vallejo and Citadel model paint. They probably don't want brass locomotives either.

.

Fire is a huge concern. Especially with all the fireworks now. It seems 2-3 houses burn down each year due to errant fireworks. My wiring is 30 years old in the house. I don't have any problems, but I do worry. Especially after this kitchen remodel and I got to see how poorly some of it was installed.

.

So... does anyone know how insurance would handle the loss of several thousand dollars worth of modelling supplies? My gut feeling is they would never believe me about what this stuff costs to replace... especially the custom decals.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 2:58 PM

SeeYou190
Does anyone know how insurance treats this stuff?

Helps if you keep receipts. Or logs of 'what you have' that have detailed information or part numbers that can be used for 'comps'.

some of us with older 'collector vehicles' have learned to get a formal appraisal on them... as insurance will try to pretend they're just old cars in random condition for the number of years otherwise, no matter how you protest what 'good shape' they were in.

The picture of the paint drawer would document 'replacement value' of that number of new bottles.  Subject to limits on some categories, like valuable jewelry, in your policy.

Some insurance companies may offer additional or specialized coverage as a 'rider'.  I suspect it would be worth discussing with your present agent (or some of those prospective ones hungry for new business).

  • Member since
    April 2009
  • From: Staten Island NY
  • 1,734 posts
Posted by joe323 on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 6:37 AM

Maybe the MRR is why I have an alarm and a "watchdog" Smile

Economically thinking perhaps I have spent 2,000 to 3,000 but how do you replace the hours spent building the RR and collection.

Joe Staten Island West 

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!