OK - What's that layout and really cost?

[IRONROOSTER]

The trick is to spend it in small chunks. A $1000 this month a $1000 next and so forth. That way after 20 years you don't notice that you've spent a quarter million dollars on your hobby.[:D][:D]

Seriously, I have never added it up, nor do I intend to. I spend what I can comfortably afford to after the bills are paid, food is on the table, my retirement contribution is maxed out, etc. Some years all I could do was renew magazine subscriptions, other years I bought 2 or 3 engines, couple dozen cars, a few buildings. track etc. Most years I'm in between. Frankly after 33 years in the hobby I have enough stuff to build layouts in three scales (HO, O, and S), but I keep on buying anyway as new products appeal to me. Sometimes I think my hobby is collecting. But it has always been fun.
Enjoy
Paul

[CP5415]

I don't want to tell my wife how much I've spent.
But I know I've spent close to $7000 in the past 3 years, most of it on locomotives & rolling stock. It's not much compared to others, but I'm really still getting my layout off the benchwork.

Gordon

[ClinchValleySD40]

Sore subject. A couple of months ago the wife was getting papers together for tax time. At dinner she asks me if I know how much I spent last year on model railroading. Of course I didn't, I really don't care. She gave me the figure. I looked at the ceiling for a minute, then looked at her and said "Yep, that's about right" and kept on eating. She got over it.

[orsonroy]

I really don't WANT to know how much I've spent over the years on this fool hobby. I just did a quick, rough, and definitely lowball estimate on everything, and it came out to be $25,000 over the past ten years or so! Now that I'm working on the switch to DCC, I'll have to add at LEAST $3000 to that number.

Of course, people regularly spend $28,000 on other hobbies. Golf, fishing, boating, and antique cars will get you to this number a LOT faster than model railroading! And $28,000 isn't even a good downpayment on a bus-sized RV.

[bcammack]

Starting from scratch in the hobby as I did in 2002 and building a 2x4 layout in N scale, I'd guess I'm into all of this for close to $600. This takes into consideration that I am intrinsically cheap and the only locos I have are Life-Likes of either trainset quality or are bargain-closeouts from ModelExpo. I figure about $100 total for two GP38-2s, an SW1200, and an FA/B-2 pair. The rolling stock is all undecorated stuff I bought from BLW. I've got another $30 in DPM structures. ($5,000 counting my labor. [:)])

[CNJ831]

Let's face it, if one fully duplicates any of MR's 4x8 layouts (except that awful $500 job recently!) , starting from scratch with a trip to the hobby shop and lumber outlet, assuming you purchase middle of the road materials and equipment, the very least you are likely to come up with is a price tag of around $1,500. Based on my own experience, a first rate, finished, small layout will probably run in the $5,000 range, while those basement-filling empires go for well over $25,000. Note also that the professional layout builders typically charge $50,000 to $100,000 for something impressive. The highest priced privately owned and custom-built layout I'm aware of went for $300,000+ to some pizza king in the mid-west!

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

I got into HO gauge in 1952. Back then, if you wanted something really nice you had to scratch build it. I still like to scratch build and it has kept my hobby expenditures under control more or less. My records show I have averaged spending $200 per year for 52 years, a total of $10,400. If I smoked 1 pack of cigarettes a day I would spend around $2,500 per year. If I purchased a hamburger for lunch every workday, I would spend approximately $2,000 per year in todays economy. The money I have spent on the hobby is a mere pitance when compared to the joy and satisfaction the hobby has returned to me.. I simply want to point out that there are options in this hobby that can reduce the amount of money you need to spend. On the other hand, if you have unlimited funds, then go for it and purchase all that neat ready to run stuff on the market, or even have your layout constructed for you. Just have fun along the way. After all, it is just a hobby.

Tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mrbornac

Starting from scratch now, with no lumber, track, buildings, locomotives, or rolling stock, it is a bit on the daunting side. I even need to buy some tools (don't have much in the way of power tools) for my benchwork.

I think I am going to buy a "cheapish" engine, about half a dozen cars, and then put up my benchwork and a small bit of track, just to get my electrical skills up and running and make sure I have my ideas together...

You can make a decent modular-type frame (sometimes called sectional or domino) with a "hand-powered" mitre box, and a drill/driver. If you use 1.5" - 2" foam in place of plywood for subroadbed, all you will need is a utility knife (boxcutter).

The answer to the cost question, like almost everything in model railroading, really depends. You can spend big bucks like the Museum, or few bucks, and invest a lot of your time to detail, upgrade, or otherwise improve on the "lower end" or mid-range models.

Andrew

[Anonymous]

I remember my first HO layout - a piece of 4 X 8 plywood, no grades, no scenery, just lots of track, much of it double-tracked. I had a transverse track that allowed me to change direction of the trains without having to touch anything.

Atlas Snap-switches all remotely controlled from the "cab", which was a small piece of 1/2" plywood on a couple of pieces of 1 X 1. I had a power-pack under the cab for the switch machines, and an MRC Tech II 1500 for the cab control. Was it prototypical? Hardly. Was it expensive? Not really, I had most of the tools available. Only cost was in material and rolling stock. Was it fun? Yepper! This was in the days before DCC was prevalent, so I had to wire everything up, taking into account polarity, etc.

Plywood, lumber, glue, and screws for model railroad: $100.00
Locomotives, cars, track, switches for model railroad: $250.00
Experience gained and fun realized on model railroad: Priceless.

I won't say I would do another one on the cheap, but if you're just starting out, hey, the main thing is to get your trains running. What you do after that is entirely up to you, and makes for a fascinating diversity of railroads, from the simple to the utterly extravagant.

Taking those first "baby steps" into the hobby I believed made it more attractive and more fun as I progressed in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Starting from scratch now, with no lumber, track, buildings, locomotives, or rolling stock, it is a bit on the daunting side. I even need to buy some tools (don't have much in the way of power tools) for my benchwork.

I think I am going to buy a "cheapish" engine, about half a dozen cars, and then put up my benchwork and a small bit of track, just to get my electrical skills up and running and make sure I have my ideas together...

[brothaslide]

Personally, that's why I think MR and other magazines never discuss the cost as I think it would discourage a lot of people before they ever got started.

However, I still would like to know what some of these "super" layouts cost.

Sean

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Jesus, Joseph and Mary!

Thats the LAST thing I want to know is "How Much Has My Layout Really Cost Me"?

My layout has only cost me $100, thats because thats all i can spend per month and thats all i ever tell myself I've spent so I dont go into shock with the "real costs".

What are you trying to do? Put me in the hospital?

I totally agree and to let your wife know what potential damage this could have on the family finances[:0]

What were you thinking!

If news as to the actual cost of some of the nickel and dime stuff got out the scandal would make our latest Liberal spending spree and gun registry FUBAR look like a mere pitance

NO[banghead]NO[banghead]NO[banghead]

[Eriediamond]

In short, more than me on mine!!!!!!!!

[brothaslide]

I paid 10 Billllllllllion Dollars for my layout.

Dr. Evil

[vsmith]

Jesus, Joseph and Mary!

Thats the LAST thing I want to know is "How Much Has My Layout Really Cost Me"?

My layout has only cost me $100, thats because thats all i can spend per month and thats all i ever tell myself I've spent so I dont go into shock with the "real costs".

What are you trying to do? Put me in the hospital?

[Anonymous]

MABruce - you are right, I should have included labour in my assumptions [:)].

Andrew

[MAbruce]

QUOTE: Originally posted by masonjar

Well, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry "The Great Train Story" layout covers 3,500 square feet, and cost $3.5 million. So that's $1,000/sq. foot. I assume, in the absence of any other info) that this must include all rolling stock, engines, and control systems.

Andrew

You have to be careful using that example as labor costs are sure to account for a good deal of that figure. Most of us do our own building, so our costs are for material only.

However, I would agree that the typical costs of these larger layouts can be rather staggering. This is not a cheap hobby.

Now to be fair, most of these costs are probably spread out over many years. But it’s still a tidy sum that probably reaches into the tens of thousands of dollars. Add brass to the mix and… [:O][:O][:O][:O]

[Anonymous]

Well, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry "The Great Train Story" layout covers 3,500 square feet, and cost $3.5 million. So that's $1,000/sq. foot. I assume, in the absence of any other info) that this must include all rolling stock, engines, and control systems.

Andrew

[brothaslide]

I was showing my wife the "Action at Nerska Tower" article from MRP 2004. I pointed out to her that the several engines shown in one of the photos could easily add up to over $300. There was another photo of an auto rack train and I told her that the train alone is probably worth over $500 or more[wow]. I also have the Allen Keller video of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Chillicothe Subdivision (where Nerska tower is located) and this layout is huge, highly detailed, and fully stocked with all kinds of cars and locos.

So here is the big question, how much money is spent to produce a layout like this? $50,000, $100,000 - I would like to hear some good guesses out there.

Sean