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[quote user="One Track Mind"]Can't help it: I'm not piling on CNJ831, but while this thread continues to roll along, it amuses me that just Friday I felt the need to soothe an apologetic customer who felt bad because he was "just an armchair model railroader." This guy has bought a lot...a LOT of magazines and books from me over the years...I explained that in our tolerant hobby, ahem, there has always been armchair model railroaders...that there is more of them than you would think...and that they enjoy the hobby vicariously. But according to the definition given somewhere in this thread, shall we just refer to these folks as "armchairs" from now on since according to the definition they cannot be armchair model railroaders? Sorry, just being a little facetious this afternoon.[/quote] How about this analogy from my hobby:  "All bands need fans."  Not all can be Rush, Stevie Ray or Stevie Wonder.  And nobody expects that either.  Some people don't need to be musicians to enjoy music.  I don't see where everybody needs to be a master modeler to enjoy modeling. BUT now back to the original subject.  Who can afford this hobby?  Well....I found this little inflation calculator.  <a href="http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/">http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/</a> According to the calculator: $10 in 1956 would be the equivilant of $74.45 today.  And guess what? You can buy a very basic engine for about $74.45. Now in 1956 DCC did not exist so we can't really tell what the inflationary toll that would have on an engine.  Also, from what some seasoned MRR's tell me the quality of motors, wheels, and such are far better than before.  Since I was not into this hobby 50 years ago I have no idea what the start up cost were but for some of the more seasoned members maybe they can use the site to see if the cost has exceeded inflation.
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