I'll never tell.
Counting my O Gauge years, swtched to HO in 1948 it has been 67 year and counting.
tatans I've been waiting for this question on this forum, and many replies are as expected: "way too much" seems to be the preferred answer, c'mon guys, how about the 2000 square foot layout with 3,000 cars and 400 brass locomotives, I don't think it could be built for $2,000. Are people ashamed or embarrassed to admit what they spend on the hobby? I'm waiting for the guy that spent $225,000 on his layout and where are the guys that have 550 brass locos, there are plenty of them out there, let's hear from them. I think I'm in the $600.00 range.
I've been waiting for this question on this forum, and many replies are as expected: "way too much" seems to be the preferred answer, c'mon guys, how about the 2000 square foot layout with 3,000 cars and 400 brass locomotives, I don't think it could be built for $2,000. Are people ashamed or embarrassed to admit what they spend on the hobby? I'm waiting for the guy that spent $225,000 on his layout and where are the guys that have 550 brass locos, there are plenty of them out there, let's hear from them.
I think I'm in the $600.00 range.
paul_r Interesting topic. The real question, though, is "How much is a hobby worth to YOU?" ... Once I actively started collecting on my own, starting in the early '70s, I bought lots of stuff (that I now consider junk), but still had lots of enjoyment in fondling it and dreaming of my eventual layout.
Interesting topic. The real question, though, is "How much is a hobby worth to YOU?" ... Once I actively started collecting on my own, starting in the early '70s, I bought lots of stuff (that I now consider junk), but still had lots of enjoyment in fondling it and dreaming of my eventual layout.
I agree wholeheartedly with paul_r. The money is immaterial. Return on investment is the true measure. I am just beginning my model railroading experience and don't have an inch of rail laid yet although I do have a small, but growing, collection of motive power and rolling stock. The enjoyment brought to me thus far makes every cent well spent. I don't know I would say fondling as paur_r does. Well, OK I'll admit it, there is fondling involved. Now fetch me my credit card, I have a hobby to get on with!
Alan
Freelancing the LK&O Railroad
BRAKIE With 55 misspent years in the hobby all I can say is way to much.
With 55 misspent years in the hobby all I can say is way to much.
55 misspent years!?!?!
A lot of time there----
My locomotives now number over 110---and with about 350 cars---do you think I have enough?
Weeeelll---by the looks of things---maybe not----seeeeems that another relative passed on and left me a brass collection now---- BTW---most of my locomotives came about by sheer luck of having someone donate an entire collection of them at our local Goodwill store. I can say that aside from picking up about 6 ARNOLD S-2's at a LHS most of my "collection" has come about used----
As for the total---maybe $1,700---
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Probably for me 15K + I was in O scale awith my first train set in the 70's then switched to HO. I used to buy cars at K-mart for .99 I had tons of fun then went off to college. Sold just about everything. Then met my present wife and got back into it and going strong ever since! I spend just enought to keep me out of divorce court!
I started in HO in 1971, switched to O in late 70's and S in early 90's. Total spent is over $10,000 and less than $30,000. I'm not overly concerned about it. I have managed to get a lot of things I wanted and have more than enough for what I want to do. I continue to buy as things appeal to me.
Enjoy
Paul
I'm not sure it is anybodys business what I spend, so I won't give a figure. I have enjoyed a lifetime in the hobby, and been able to do pretty much what I want and the way I want, so I will let it go at that. Besides you can spend a ton of money and still come up with a dog, while others spend very little and come up with a masterpiece. The rest of us fall somewhere in between.
Bob
rrebellI doubt they hang out on this forum!
I doubt they hang out on this forum!
My uncle(s) are among them. The one is not internet savy, so you won't find him on any forums to talk about how much he has invested.
Figuring in the rolling stock on his home layout, the rolling stock on the "club" layout (all my uncles are shared owners of it), building supplies, materials, track, scenery, buildings etc etc (basically any associated cost short of his steam/diesel locomotives). I'd say there is an easy 1/4 of a million invested between those two layouts. This includes the combined total of all my uncles for the club layout**.
Now, for steam and diesel engines, brass and plastic alike, I can honestly guess he has at the least a hundred grand alone invested in the massive amount of running gear he has. Though this would be a "retail" figure as he's a dealer and paid much less than retail for them, but that price isn't easy to figure out. Last "run night" he had I attempted to count the amount of engines he had stored under his layout. I gave up after counting 390 brass steam engines under the one freight yard area. There isn't hardly a single spot under his full size basement layout that isn't filled with stacks and stacks of engines; steam and diesel, brass and plastic.
But like you said, he's not one to be found on the internet, let alone talking about how much he's invested over the years.
** The club layout is located in the entire top floor of an old apartment building. The main layout room has at some point been opened up from what could have been 3 or 4 decent sized apartments. The layout travels through an additional 6 or 7 smaller rooms that are roughly 20'x30' or so. It's been in operation I believe since the 70's or so. All one level. I've never seen any other layout that size, including many other club layouts. The only layout I can think of that might rival the size of the club layout would be the 5 deck PRR layout featured in MRR a few years back, and that would be if those 5 decks were all laid out to be one level.
As for myself; I've invested roughly $1k in the past year towards my own collection, but I've inherited and bought quite a bit over the years and have probably less than $2K total. No layout to speak of, and probably nothing "big" for the foreseeable future as I hope to not live where I currently do for more than another few years.
Got any pics of this huge layout?
johngriffey18ca1 How much money have you invested in model railroading and how long have you been doing it, also what scale do you model? I'll start off: Time in Model Railroading: 1 year Money spent (approximately): $15,000 Scale modeled: HO scale
How much money have you invested in model railroading and how long have you been doing it, also what scale do you model?
I'll start off:
Time in Model Railroading: 1 year
Money spent (approximately): $15,000
Scale modeled: HO scale
You, my friend, have a heckuva lot more moolah than I do!
I'm in my 49th year of model railroading. I haven't spent nearly as much money as I would have liked; if you were to ask my ex-wife she would respond with "More than he should have." I have been layoutless for the time my current wife and I have been married--six years--so haven't had occasion to make many material purchases; she does raise objections to the number of periodicals I either subscribe to or purchase on the newsstand but that's more because of the clutter they create.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Before 2000 back in my earlier days, I have no idea, probably not as much I would think. Been messing with this since childhood, back then dabled in O N HO then for a longer while focused on HOn30 but after about 1995 dropped out of all that completely until buying a house.
After 2000 in large scale? I dunno, maybe a couple to few hundred each year, learned to bash and build alot of my own stuff. I do know I got back about $2K since downsizing in the last year, nope wont use much of that for new stuff, already gone elsewhere.
Have fun with your trains
My CFO (wife) lets me get away with about $ 80.00 a month, but in anticipation of lean times, I tend to stock up on car kits and structure kits to tide me over and feed the railroad monkey when not able to spend on something new. On the other hand, we have quarterly flea markets locally that are great bargain opportunities and I get away with a bit more for a lot le$$ on those occasions.
Since it IS a hobby, I don't regret any dollar spent, as the satisfaction model railroading brings is priceless!
rrebellGot any pics of this huge layout?
Me personally, no. It's probably been 10 years since I've been to it. They used to have open houses all the time (Western Maryland days, Pennsy days etc) but haven't in recent years due to less active members and low member counts. My one uncle pretty much runs it as a one man show now as more of a personal layout than a club layout anymore. Kind of a shame given the size and history of the layout. They have random run nights however and there are some video's on youtube of some of the area's of the layout. Unfortunately there isn't any videos that show the size or total run time of the layout.
Video's can be seen under the name of trainalleycat. He's my cousin. Most are around the 1-2 minute mark long.
Here's one:
The GVMRRC host's the SP and Rio Grande
The club name is the Guernsey Valley Model Railroad Club located in Cambridge Ohio.
I've asked and offered to them to help make the layout more public via the internet (dedicated web page and all), but the offer was turned down due to the size and amount of maintenance required to keep the complete layout up to par. And with the lack of active members it's a tough challenge to host public run nights. They understand that more publicity could bring more paying members to help, but in recent years it became one or two members would actually do the work while the rest would stand around and talk.
I fret the day this layout ceases to operate :(
D94R I've asked and offered to them to help make the layout more public via the internet (dedicated web page and all), but the offer was turned down due to the size and amount of maintenance required to keep the complete layout up to par. And with the lack of active members it's a tough challenge to host public run nights. They understand that more publicity could bring more paying members to help, but in recent years it became one or two members would actually do the work while the rest would stand around and talk. I fret the day this layout ceases to operate :(
Oh man--that is when succession issues are needed to be dealt with---that is a treasure seen a lot of that set on youtube--amazing workmanship there--
Geared Steam Don't know, don't care, don't care to know.
Don't know, don't care, don't care to know.
My feelings EXACTLY. Yes it might not be the cheapest hobby, but is by far not the most expensive and when I think of the enjoyment that I get from my HO layout, I "Don't know, don't care, and don't care to know".
Frank
"If you need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."
Roughly over 35 years but took a long hiatus from the hobby but pulled most of my old stuff out of storage and will reuse a good 70% of it.
How much have I really spent or how much do I tell my wife I spent, but she's not stupid so she kinda knows what things cost and her usual comment is I think some times it would be cheaper if you had a girlfriend.
tatansI've been waiting for this question on this forum, and many replies are as expected: "way too much" seems to be the preferred answer, c'mon guys, how about the 2000 square foot layout with 3,000 cars and 400 brass locomotives, I don't think it could be built for $2,000. Are people ashamed or embarrassed to admit what they spend on the hobby?
I've been modeling for 47 years. I've enough stuff (except track) in storage to build a life-time layout. Most bought on sale or in bulk for volume discounts. Buy 6 really cheap sell 5 at normal street price and the one kept costs nothing.... So how much did I actually pay or how much is my stuff worth if I would sell it? Now I just need the time to design, build, and then the time to maintain such a layout. Do you count the cost of building housing the MR as money "invested" in model railroading? Of course the local model railroad museum's fuel bill for heating/air is something like $2000 a month. Getting the building for it was the cheap part. Until I can afford the monthly bill for climate control I'll be thinking twice before making the real plunge. Looking into the energy credits for wind and solar power.....
$15,000 seems like a lot in a single year even to me.
I would not worry about thieves much,you have to be a rather good one to find the inner information and then it has to be correct, in the early days of Internet retail their were some sites that wanted all your info (except payment) before they would give you a final quote, used to put in phony addresses in.
tatansI've been waiting for this question on this forum, and many replies are as expected: "way too much" seems to be the preferred answer, c'mon guys, how about the 2000 square foot layout with 3,000 cars and 400 brass locomotives, I don't think it could be built for $2,000. Are people ashamed or embarrassed to admit what they spend on the hobby? I'm waiting for the guy that spent $225,000 on his layout and where are the guys that have 550 brass locos, there are plenty of them out there, let's hear from them. I think I'm in the $600.00 range.
Could be that folks with that much invested don't want to advertise too conspicuously.
I've been in MRRing for 6 years now. What I've spent on this hobby so far is superfluous and, frankly, really none of anyone's business but my own.
Actually, I think a better and more interesting question might be:
How much money have you [learned in the time you've] invested in model railroading?
For some, I bet booklets could be written. (And a few would probably be worth reading, too. )
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
The St. Francis Consolidated Railroad of the Colorado Rockies
Denver, Colorado
jwhittentatansI've been waiting for this question on this forum, and many replies are as expected: "way too much" seems to be the preferred answer, c'mon guys, how about the 2000 square foot layout with 3,000 cars and 400 brass locomotives, I don't think it could be built for $2,000. Are people ashamed or embarrassed to admit what they spend on the hobby? I'm waiting for the guy that spent $225,000 on his layout and where are the guys that have 550 brass locos, there are plenty of them out there, let's hear from them. I think I'm in the $600.00 range. Could be that folks with that much invested don't want to advertise too conspicuously.
funny because when I first started I asked one of the online retailers how much a lot of the guys spend on average and they told me about twenty grand a year!!!
St Francis Consolidated RRwhen I first started I asked one of the online retailers how much a lot of the guys spend on average and they told me about twenty grand a year!!!
That would not surprise me a bit.
tstageHow much money have you [learned in the time you've] invested in model railroading?
Thanks. How much time have we invested? and what have we learned? would be a good line of thought. That's kind of where I was leaning.
Bought my first kit in High School - that was 1959!! There were actually 50¢ and $1 kits at that time!! Since then I have bought tons of BB kits and all sorts of other RR stuff!! I used to love to go to RR shows where people were actually selling there unwanted or inherited stuff - I bought a complete set of Lima (Italian maker) Union Pac old time passenger cars for 50¢ each!! Lately, I've gone DCC - now there's no 50¢ stuff in DCC!!!!!!!!! The most expensive unit is my Lionel Veranda Turbine - at about $500 (at least I've seen them on E-thing for more than double that!!! Total investment Total valuePRICELESS!!!!