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Some posters should just stick to their repetitious warnings about the end of the hobby, because their stats work is poor. According to the US Dept of Labor, 1980 average weekly earnings for non-supervisory and production workers (to leave out those accursed high wage earners some posters so despise) was $240.77. So far in 2005, it is $543.04. So in 1980 the Atlas diesel I mentioned in an earlier post that cost $21.99 street price would have been about 9% of a week's salary for a production worker. An Atlas Trainman diesel at $55 street price in 2005 would be 10% of the week's salary for a worker making the average non-supervisory or production worker's wage. 1% difference in real cost for a vastly improved product? Sounds like the hobby is pretty cheap. Again, this is without extensive shopping around. How about retirees? In 1980, the average social security weekly benefit to a male was $86.31. The Atlas diesel of 1980 was just over 25% of Grandpa's weekly Social Security benefit. In 2003 (the last year I had figures handy), the average weekly Social Security benefit paid to a man was $239.75. A Trainman diesel sets today's AARP member back 22.9% of the weekly benefit. Cheaper today in relative terms. Sorry to intrude on all the gloom and doom with real data ... we now return you to the usual whining session. Jon
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