Don't be afraid to buy good tools, they will last you decades and you will use them on your next 5 layouts. Same with a power pack.
Have you considered NOT buying the Fast Tracks stuff and trying handlaying the switches yourself? (as people have done for the last 70 or 80 years)
I can buy 33 sticks of 36" rail for about 50 bucks at my local hobby shop, so buying the 18" sticks doesn't look like much of a bargain.
Rather than spend $60 on a rail bender (which I have never seen anyone use in 30 years of handlaying track) buy a good multimeter (even a cheap multi-meter). You will use it way more than a railbender.
You can make your own tie jig with a 1x4 and some stripwood. You can get 500 switch ties for $17 or so rather than buy the switch tie sticks.
Any comfortable pair of pliers will work for driving spikes, you don't need the $50 variety.
If you lose the jigs, etc and handlay the track straight up, you can save $396 (almost 25%)
If you are really concerned about costs go cheaper with flex track and Atlas switches, code 100 or code 83. If you decide to go with the Fast Track jigs to ease the learning curve then relize you are PAYING to remove the curve. You are trading money for time. If its worth $400 to be able to build switches in a day, then great. You you are willing to invest the time to build them without the jigs then you don't need to spend the money.
Since this is going to take you months to complete, you can spread the spending out over those months. You don't need the track materials until you have benchwork. You don't need the engine or powerpack until you have some track. You don't need ballast until you have track and have it operating.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
If you WANT a Ferrari, you have to PAY for a Ferrari. Sheesh! I'd like a Ferrari too, but you dont see me griping about the fact thats it's 4X my yearly income.
I dont have too much sympathy, you want high end top of the line materials then complain about how much they cost? Are you absolutely positive you have to use those materials? are there other options? Hmm?
Either lower your standards, use flextrack and regular switches like the rest of us poor schmucks, or man up and pay for what you really want and dont whine about it. I'm pi$$ poor hobby wise, but have managed over the last 5 years to amass a fleet of engines, track and rolling stock by buying slowly and carefully. We all do this.
If cash flow is a problem, set up a monthly (bi-monthly, quarterly) budget and purchase whatever your budget allows in that time frame and build as you go. No one I have ever met in this hobby, has ever purchased the whole shi-bang in a one-time only purchase, they've all (including me, $50 a month) built their layout over a span of years, some decades.
Patience is a virtue in this hobby.
Have fun with your trains
loathar wrote:Why waist $700 on Glock when a $99 Hi Point 9mm would work just fine at that close a range??
Why waist $700 on Glock when a $99 Hi Point 9mm would work just fine at that close a range??
My wife has one of those, and loves it!
Glocks have a nasty tendancy to jam at the worst moments.
I'll recommend a Springfield 1911.
However, why do you have to have all $1500 worth of materials at once? After figuring up the cost of the Stonycreek Valley (O scale, 7X16, several locos, over 200 cars, power supply etc) I'm "guessing" I have over $10K invested. And it's not even close to finished!
Trust me, I DID NOT tell the Better Half this figure! She has a shotgun, and knows how to use it!
A hobby is ment to be for relaxation, fun, and escapisim. Ever priced old gun collecting? A "bad" example of, say, a WWI Luger can ger very pricy indeed. Ditto for my other hobby, bike racing. A Cannondale CAAD 9.5 with the latest racing components is shooting at the $2500 range.
Don't sweat the treasure issue. Get a few items at a time, stash 'em away, and let the layout build itself over time. Spread out the "fun" factor so to speak.
Since you are just starting out, may I suggest a shelf layout in O scale 2 rail can be fun, and as an added bonus, when you get to a certain age, O scale gets easier to see...
If you go with the Central Valley products you won't need expensive tools.I figured $100/sq.ft. for my layout.(roughly 100 sq. ft.)
Waxon,
As I mentioned in your other post, for now you could buy the Fast Track #6 turnouts off eBay. They already come fully assembled, painted, and wired. That would save you $160 because you wouldn't need the following:
You could then spend the extra on rolling stock kits, a couple of good non-sound switchers, or one good switcher with sound.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
WaxonWaxov wrote: I'm figuring this 2x8 shelf is going to surpass $1500 easy.Or I could spend about half that on a GLOC 9mm and one bullet .....
I'm figuring this 2x8 shelf is going to surpass $1500 easy.
Or I could spend about half that on a GLOC 9mm and one bullet .....
You are not calculating correctly. Funerals can cost anywhere from $5000 on up, unless they are just going to put you out at the curb for the Thursday pickup. So what you need to do is spend the $1500 and tell everyone else that your new railroad saved you at least $3500.
Waxon--
I'd cross the last item off of your list if I were you.
However, if you're bound and determined to hand-lay your track (which I admire, BTW), then it is going to get into a relatively expensive proposition. But the end result with care, time and patience, will probably be worth every penny.
I admire your plans--a lot of us (especially me) in planning a 'first' layout would go the easier way out, grab some Code 83 (or 100) pre-fab track, get it down as quickly as possible and start running trains. Which is not a Bad Thing, understand. My late cousin, who was a fine model railroader, preferred to hand-lay his own track, and the results were absolutely stunning. Myself, I don't have that kind of talent (or patience), but that doesn't mean that I can't admire the heck out of someone who does.
So look on the bright side--you can really say that you did it ALL!
Best of luck.
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Well, since you are going with the high end Micro Eng. and Fast track, that is going to cost you a bundle, more than double what you would pay for Atlas Flex and turnouts. And I admire your ambition for going with the craftsman type track laying.
But, hey, if you want the best of the best of the best, you will have to pay for it heh!
I have not even come close to having the skills necessary to lay my own track. Heck, I just did repair a Walther's #6 left hand turnout this weekend and that was a major surgery technique for me to fix the out of gauge area that was de-railing all my cars.
Your $1,500 figure is a great start though!
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
The best way to go about it is a little at a time...there are few of us who can afford to go out and get everything in one shot. Being in sort of the same "boat", I'm starting over sort of myself.
That's why they call it a hobby.
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)
So I have this whole plan of building a 2x8 shelf layout that would someday grow into the railraod I have in my head. This shelf layout would have 10 turn-outs in a smallish town with a few industries. All that I currently own for this project is the wood working tools needed.
Here is the preliminary list of what I figure I'll need....
Now yes, most of that is "non consumable" meaning I can use the items over and over as the layout grows.
BUT there's a lot still not on that list... rolling stock beyond the loco, roadbed, all scenic materials beyond ballast, glue, wire, a soldering iron, etc.etc.etc.
Or I could spend about half that on a GLOC 9mm and one bullet to blow my brains out.