Joe said:One regret you may have in future years is tying up all that cash in way more locos than you could ever possibly use on a small layout. In fact, clearing 60 locos out of the train room might give you more space for a layout -- ever think of that?
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Good point but a pit fall in today's limited run market ESPECIALLY if he bought the engines he needed to complete his roster and or locomotive that he liked..So in the end it *might* be a bad move.
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Now what could you do in the hobby with a grand? Is that more valuable than all those locos? Something to consider.
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Interesting thought..But,I would never sell limited run engines without just cause seeing I may never get to replace them if the need arises..Now when I did sell off some of my limited run engines I put the cash into the locomotives and other items I needed.
BTW folks those old BB kit engines are hard to come by..They're as scarce as some limited run locomotives.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
alco_fan wrote: By my calculations, you have more than one locomotive or car per square foot of available space already. Why in the world would it matter what new locos cost? (And, by the way, many are a lot less than $150.)
By my calculations, you have more than one locomotive or car per square foot of available space already. Why in the world would it matter what new locos cost? (And, by the way, many are a lot less than $150.)
It matters to me, because not only am I trieng to sustain my hobby. Im trying to recruit many other people into it. And I am blocked on many fronts just simply because the cost is to high. Then costs matter, because what if in two or three years, I want change prototypes (Again) and I fall completely off my rocker for something like the Arkansas and Missouri RR. For Starters Its an all Alco Road, and the only Alcos I have are a D&RGW PA/PB set that my freind Mike gave me after he had to move and his new layout was completly Narrow Gauge. (His old layout was Duel Gauge) So Right there I would have to buy a completely new roster of locomotives. At $150.00 a Pop.
Do you also only buy gas when you find it at 1995 prices? Good grief. . James, objectively speaking you already have locos and rolling stock in egregious excess, if what you have told us is true. If you sell some, you will more than finance the rest of your layout and lighten the storage burden as well. This constant hand wringing about costs when you already own much more than you can use (and more than most people on the forum happily make do with) seems rather absurd. Making adult choices and becoming self-sufficient a lot less dramatic than the "woe is me" refrain, but the fact is you already have it in your power to accomplish a lot more in the hobby than just complain endlessly.
Do you also only buy gas when you find it at 1995 prices? Good grief. .
James, objectively speaking you already have locos and rolling stock in egregious excess, if what you have told us is true. If you sell some, you will more than finance the rest of your layout and lighten the storage burden as well. This constant hand wringing about costs when you already own much more than you can use (and more than most people on the forum happily make do with) seems rather absurd.
Making adult choices and becoming self-sufficient a lot less dramatic than the "woe is me" refrain, but the fact is you already have it in your power to accomplish a lot more in the hobby than just complain endlessly.
No, Unfortunatly I do not buy gas when I only find it at 1995 prices. But I do take many measures to reduce my consumption of it by as much as possible.
Then I keep haranging on about the costs. Because It is killing the hobby. I have not been able to successfully recruit any new model railroaders (And its not for lack of trieing) because they aren't willing to spend $150.00 on a locomotive. Just on a lark I decided to check out what seems to be the dreaded arch nemisis of model rairloading, The video Game. I was given a Play Station 2 for Christmas several years back. So I had that investment already handled. But a person can go to Walmart, buy a PS-2 Consol, an extra Controller, and a DVD remote for $150.00 (Price of new locomotive) Granted they get you on the Memory cards for $30.00 a pop but you only need one of them for every 20 games. you keep "Saves" on. and chances are you will complete many games and can thus delete the "Saves" off the card before you fill the 20 game capacity of it. Then the Average price I see for the new PS-2 Games. $20-$30 each.
So for the price of just two locomotives at current prices, a person can buy a system a memory card and up to 6 games. For a model railroad you still need benchwork, track, scenery, structuresand rolling stock.. And assuming your only building a 4X8 with only 1 locomotive . a person is going to have $1200 tied up in it just to have a complete basic layout.
For those that want hard numbers,
According to the woodland Scenics Web Site The "Grand Valley" HO 4X8 layout with the optional Building and Track packages will cost $ $778.50
Now lets talley Up the rest of what he will need. For simplicities sake, lets use an Atlas TrainMan GP38-2 (Because its bare bones and No Frills) and Caboose. and Accurail Freight cars
GP38-2 $79.95
ACF Center Flow Hopper $12.98
50' Exterior Post Box Car $11.98
AAR 70 Ton Three Bay Hopper $11.98
40' Stock Car $ 11.98
50'AAR Double Door Box Car $11.98
Caboose $12.95
DC Power Pack (MRC Tech 4) $79.98
Or Digitrax Zephyr $199.99 and DCC Decoder (Digitrax) $19.99
So for a Complete Model Railroad. A new person just entering the hobby will spend between $1012.31 to $1152.31 Just to get startd. VS $300.00 for a new video game system with 6 games.
And then people wonder why prices get on my nerves.
And then I complain alot in general, because well It makes me feel better.
jfugate wrote:It occurs to me, James, that you could probably sell half your loco collection on e-bay and you'd probably be $1000 richer -- and still have 60 locos left, which is more than most of us.Now what could you do in the hobby with a grand? Is that more valuable than all those locos? Something to consider.
You are very right on that point. And truth be told. a very hard look at my roster, (I tend to dislike the term collection) is under way to determin which locomotives can be repainted and redetailed into Great Northern and to which locomotives I am to attached to get rid of. (There is a pair of Athearn SD45s painted for BN that are getting buried with me) It is my intent that the locomotives I can't get rid of will go into a "Train Museum" I eventually plan for my layout. (See my thread on NYC 4-6-4 to 4-8-4 for more details) However the proceeds of my sale of these locomotives, will probably go to reduce debt incurred from attending college, and the recent 8 months of unemployment I incurred. So then I have to ask my self, Since I can't spend it on stuff for fun, is it worth going through the hassle to sell?
One regret you may have in future years is tying up all that cash in way more locos than you could ever possibly use on a small layout. In fact, clearing 60 locos out of the train room might give you more space for a layout -- ever think of that?
That may be true. However there are many reasons for why I have as large of a locomotive roster as I do. But part of the reason I maintain it is I tend to plan very long term. For me a short term goal is something obtainable in 5 years. (Like me getting out of debt, purchasing house ect) Intermediat term goals are 10-20 years, and Long Term goals are 20+ years out.
My model rairload that I envision is a long term goal. This 6 and a half by 11 and a half foot T shaped "Branchline" that I am modeling now. Will be intigrated into what will hopefully be a model rairload of similar size to yours. (Though not multi level. Carpentry is a sever handicap of mine. It intimidates me and then power tools intimidate me more) I have it broken down into "Phases" with the portion I am working on now being "Phase I" Phase II will happen when I find out wheather me and my Girlfreind will end up getting married, and If Im going to have to move all my trains over to England. (I don't even want to think how much that will cost. And we will discuss why they would to to England privatly over e-mail if anyone has to know) So part of the reason I keep 120 is, Yeah my layout can only handle two locos at most right now. (The Branchline local engine and an RDC) But in the future Im going to need a lot more. It will be nice Not having to buy motive power. for th
Ok, here are some that i have fixed with my latest layout.
1. Do not skimp on the benchwork. Having a strong base is where everthing starts.
2. Fill and paint your backdrop before going any further. A least a nice sky blue color that can be modified later.
3. Think about lighting now, that way the dust involved does not come later onto finished scenery.
4. Live with your layout for a few months. I did this with my second one and realized i truly hated it. Tore it out and found the right design for my space. However it took a few months to do this.
5. If it looks sloppy or half assed now, then it will look worse later.
6. Treat each part of your layout as an individual model. If you create it as a series of smaller models, than it is easier to focus on the big picture.
Bill
crossracer wrote: Ok, here are some that i have fixed with my latest layout. 1. Do not skimp on the benchwork. Having a strong base is where everthing starts. 2. Fill and paint your backdrop before going any further. A least a nice sky blue color that can be modified later. 3. Think about lighting now, that way the dust involved does not come later onto finished scenery. 4. Live with your layout for a few months. I did this with my second one and realized i truly hated it. Tore it out and found the right design for my space. However it took a few months to do this. 5. If it looks sloppy or half assed now, then it will look worse later. 6. Treat each part of your layout as an individual model. If you create it as a series of smaller models, than it is easier to focus on the big picture. Bill
Bill and some VERY good points, I can relate to Item 2. Got a real pain to reach some backdrop for detailing.
selector wrote:What does anyone do with 60 locomotives, let alone 120?!
BRAKIE wrote:Now why does a person collect short line per diem boxcars? I dunno but,I have 188 short line box cars.
alco_fan wrote:By my calculations, you have more than one locomotive or car per square foot of available space already.