cheaper than a shoe string budget

[Anonymous]

does anyone have any suggestions for building an HO layout on a $25-50 a month budget ?[:(][:(][:(!][:0][V][8D][:p][}:)][;)][alien][alien][banghead][%-)][%-)][D)][|(][|(][|(][|(][sigh][sigh][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][:)][:)][:)][:)]

[Anonymous]

Well let's see. $25.00-$50.00 a month. Hmmm, well, that'll buy you some track, and some road bed. I'd say, seeing as how big your layout is, it wouldn't take long to get enough track to make your layout operational (even less if you already have track). Once you have that down, invest yourself in Athearn Blue Box kits. Then if you save for 2 months or more you might get ahold of another locomotive. Last you can start buying some scenery and structures. There are also plenty of books on shoestring budget model railroads. An even better way to find info that'll help would be to join the TAMR, which features a "Layout on a Shoestring Budget" section in their monthly news letter, the Hotbox.

[Anonymous]

Dear OK Train Nut,
25 to 50 dollars should be enough money to keep you occupied for a month. Just remember to take it one step at a time you are not going to finish it all in one month trust me I know[%-)]
it only leads to mass confusion. I don't know how far you are on your layout but 50$ should get you easily started on benchwork.[:D]

[Hawks05]

thats my budger right now. actually less because i have to factor in a car. like gas and what not. and i think i'm going to have to have it looked at because its making some goofy noises, has been for awhile just don't have any money to get it looked at.

once i start working again though i'll be able to spend more and more.

i'd say start buying kits and some track here and there. then maybe save for 2 months and buy a nice locomotive, Kato or Atlas. then save for another 2 months and buy a building or something.

[Anonymous]

Depending on the size of your layout this will be about a good price range. Depending on what you plan to model you can get switchers, which are much cheaper than road locomotives. A sd90mac would look kinda silly and out of placing pulling 5 cars on a switching layout. While a sw1500 would look right at home on that layout.

A shoestring budget might also help you out. From your info I see your in the 7th grade and I'm assuming pretty new to the hobby. With a smaller budget you buy less stuff at one time. So instead of buying everything at once and being overwhelmed you can build your benchwork and take your time on it and make it nice. Then move onto trackwork and ect.. It will help you learn more if you really learn about what your doing and not just ru***hrough it so you can see your trains run. It may take longer but when you do get your train running it will worth it.

When your buying cars i would look at Athearn blue boxes or MDC cars. I would also look in MRR mag for trains shows that are around you. A lot of my cars have come from shows. You can ussually find slightly used cars for really cheap. There's a post on the first tpage right now discussing the great american train, a lot of useful tips have been posted about shopping at train shows. There will also most likely be a working layout which you can admire and gain ideas from but remember you don't have to build a club size layout just one big enough for your budget and enjoyment. So to finish up yes I can be done and keep us updated on how it's coming along.
Andrew

[Anonymous]

Well, this idea probably won't be for everybody. In fact, it probably isn't for anybody but I'll tell it anyway. It combines the idea of thriftyness with the thread on forced vertical perspective. It came to me last evening as I was ripping white polyester fiber from an old pillow into tree-sized puffs to cover with ground foam in an attempt to model the 6 million acre Adirondack Park.

As the white puffs filled the bottom of the tray, they took on the look of clouds when viewed from above as when in a plane. My thought was to stretch some chicken wire across much of the train room a foot or two higher than the small diorama that represents the start of the layout. Covering the wire with the white polyester puffs would do a fine job of cloud modeling, with a break in the clouds strategically placed above the finished diorama.

One could completely cover a huge unbuilt "layout" with cumulus scenery for next to nothing. An old pillow is probably hiding in the corner of closet and the chicken wire probably is collapsed on that garden you've been neglecting since you've discovered model railroading. As your ground-level scenery expands, simply let the sun shine in as required.

Serious? Well, it is "cheaper than a shoe string budget." [:D]

Wayne

[Anonymous]

exaclty what was said above. i have built my layout (yet unfinished) for a lot less than 25 bucks a month. it was made mostaly from plywood and 2 by 4s that were thown out. we had to got to the hard ware store and to get one more sheet and a few more 2 by 4s. the 2 by 4s were all ripped into 2 by 2s and used for the bench work and legs of the layout. all that cost less than $20 for us. now you may wanna be building something a lil smaller (ours is in a 12 by 8 space and is 66 swaure feet). but yeah to start off with get some wood at your local hard wood store and build your slef a table. that should take ya long enough. it took me, my brother and dad a few weekends to get ours fully set up.

next month maybe start on track. depending on how much track ya want it may take up some of the next months buget... and then ya can keep going on like that. if you run outa money then ya wait till ya have some to go get new stuff. in the mean time you can try to make some free things for your layout. an easy one that comes to mind for me is water tanks made of tape rollscenters (you know the plastic thing in the middle of a scotch tape roll). i got the idea outa some book, sad to say i dont remeber which one, but what you can do is glue several ( i like 4) tape rolls centers together, one on top of another. then you cut a flat peic of styrine for the roof. you can then run latters wires for pipes down to make them look good. you then spray paint them and ya got a nice little building that was very cheep if not free.

so yeah thats the kinda things i like to do since im on a buget. there are plenty of little things you can do for no or very little cost.

another low cost subsitute is to make a modual. im planing on makeing an HO scale modual this year when i am living in my appartment at college just so i have some where to display my trains and hopefuly find some one else to run it with =P but thats a much lower cost alternitive, and if you build it to NMRA standers at least there will be some one else out there that has a simular modual it can connect with.

so yeah, good luck =)

[AntonioFP45]

Oklahoma Train Nut,

Just a friendly "2 cents" suggestion:
You are on a tight budget however, be cautious about purchasing "lower quality" track products as you may be tempted (happened to me in my teen years). For instance:

AVOID BRASS track which now is incredibly cheap. You will spend a lot of time cleaning it if you want smooth electrical pickup.

Avoid the traditional Atlas Snap Switches (turnouts). The throw rails are cheaply stamped and could give you problems later.

Get Nickel Silver track and consider using Code 83. Flex Track is better to use for mainline stretches and curves. For turnouts Atlas does have a higher quality model, but check with you LHS on this. I prefer Peco turnouts myself though they are more expensive.

Are you using plywood, foam, or a combination for the construction? You can save money here by checking with local schools in your area. If they're going through renovations or have "wood/carpentry" classes you can often get these materials for free or very cheap. The school where I work at "constantly" throws out perfectly good material. Needless to say, I'm the biggest scavenger there!

Hope this helps!

[BRAKIE]

Yes,It can be done.You have received some very good advice..I will add this..Look for good use equipment at your local hobby shop or train shows.A used blue box Athearn should run between $7.00-12.00..15.00 tops for the 6 axle units.Use Athearn,MDC and Accurail cars can be had for $2.00-4.00.Look for good use switches..Good Luck! [:D]

[relucas]

My wife would would be beside herself if thats all I spent . [(-D][(-D][(-D]

[Anonymous]

You are not alone. [:D][:D][:D]

Luckaly, the railroad I want to model is a small short line with a three track yard two sidings, with a mainline up the middle. That is at the area I want to model, thank goodness. They have three medium/small yards alnog the line, but I want to model this station.

I will have to paint the locos for the road and I will have to paint locos bought from other ralroads that are still lettered, 4 A GP30, A GP 18, a B unit, and another gp 18. The line has eleven known engines, but the conductor told me they have more.

Nicholas Parker (Age 13)

[Noah Hofrichter]

for engines you may want to try E-bay. Always make sure it says it's been test run and that they'll take returns though. And always remember to include shipping in your considerations too. I've gotten 2 good engines off of e-bay, Athearn Blue box, and one that's alittle rough but okay, it still runs fairly well.

Noah

[EL PARRo]

You want cheap? I'll give you cheap. 99% of the wiring on my layout was done with wire that I found in a dumpster. You can't get any cheaper than that.

The moral of the story is that if someone builds a brand new building, go check the dumpster just after they're done with it, and preferably before any business/residents move in. You can find all kinds of building materials. If you can get some thick wire, you can also strip it and take it to you're local recycling center and they'll give you money for it. I knew a guy who found a whole bunch and got a couple hundred bucks for it. They don't give anything for thin wire, though, even if it is stripped. Trust me. I've tried.

[krump]

see my comments on the other shoestring also.
I've been working with a limited hobby budget of about $20-30 per month at present.
still having lots of fun

[Jetrock]

Scrounging is a wonderful way to save money on model railroading supplies--not stealing, of course, but keeping your eyes open for discarded or unused materials that would make good layout items. Of course, every piece of cardboard is possibly up for grabs, clear plastic packaging often has potential for making windows, and drinking straws can form everything from barrels (cut to appropriate length and capped off with the "holes" that result from a three-hole punch) to small smokestacks.

Latex house paint, mixed to the appropriate color, costs about as much per quart as two bottles of Polly S. Use latex for your scenery base, paint it straight onto your Styrofoam scenery and apply ground foam and other scenic materials directly on it.

[Anonymous]

you said it was a HO layout, so I assume you know about what you want. Do you have a trackplan? While this is not absolutely necessary, it will give you a bill of materials where you know what to spend your money on. Information is your greatest allie. Surf the internet for info on what interests you. Photos and ideas you run across can be invaluable assets and these are absolutely FREE! If you are going to model a certain RR or time frame your purchases need to be directed towards that goal. If you model modern times then there's no need to buy that super-discounted 0-4-0 shifter steam locomotive. It's your railroad though and there is no set rule about what you do. Research now will save you money later. Hope this helps and please ask any questions, some one will answer.

[Anonymous]

Several of the above responses are very good sources. With the remodeling going on in my neighborhood, all kinds of wood building materials are available. Just ask it you can go through the trash pile of Dumpster. Much of my equiptment has been bought at Swap Meets, just know what the retail pricing is before hand. ( I always have a Walthers Catalog with me to check first ) Several of my local Railroad Hobby Shops have a continous "Discount" or Close out table, where RR item can be brought fairly cheap. And most of all buy quality Engines,
Bob DeMoss, Santa Fe Southern "C" RR ,Long Beach, Calif.

[Anonymous]

I'm building an "N" scale outfit on a budget of $10 a week. I too have scrounged dumpsters and building sites, most of my benchhwork came from that. One area I didn't see mentioned is to check your local Penny saver weekly newspaper or classified ads. Also put up a free ad in the local grocery store if they do that in your location. I got tremendous buys from people who are either getting out of the hobby or changing scale. Check out Yard sales. I will second what was said about don't buy the cheapest track and do invest in a quality engine. It is much better to have one reliable engine than 2-3 cheap ones. One last thing with many people going DCC It is easy to get a high quality MRC DC power pack from Ebay or used at your local hobby shop for under $20.00. I have 2 MRC power packs that I paid Under $15 for and a great Bachman Spectrum Power pack that cost me $10 Let us know how you make out. Dave

[theghan]

scratch build and swap meets are the go

[Anonymous]

For buildings , go to your local picture framing store and they will give you left over masking material. This is great for structures.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Oklahoma Train Nut

does anyone have any suggestions for building an HO layout on a $25-50 a month budget ?[:(][:(][:(!][:0][V][8D][:p][}:)][;)][alien][alien][banghead][%-)][%-)][D)][|(][|(][|(][|(][sigh][sigh][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][:)][:)][:)][:)]

[Anonymous]

Everybody has great ideas and that should you give you some encouragement. If you take your time $25-50 a month is plenty. Think about it. You can buy plywood, foam, etc one month, 10 cars another month, 2 engines another month (Ebay for that), 100 pieces of track, another month, some buildings another month, and some landscape material after that. In six months you could have a great layout. Then start specializing on all the extras which cost more money.
Scrounging is a great idea, but you need to know how to put it to use, so I would suggest readin either articles from magazines on how others have taken materials and built stuff, or read the articles in trains.com.
You can also get back copies of magazines at train shows for about $1.00 a copy. Engines are great to buy from Ebay, but individual cars may be tooexpensive from Ebay because of the shipping. Save up and look on Ebay for 'cars' or 'lot' and 'car' and that way you will may be able to find listings where people are selling 5 or 10 cars in a lot.
You're doing the right thing by doing your reasearch first, and then always read and learn from others expreriments and ideas. They're some pretty creative people out there.
Best of Luck

[Anonymous]

After you spent your money and you have afew days before your next spending spree, you can get out your old Wather's catalog, cut out the pictures of buildings and glue them on wallboard starting with the smaller ones first and alittle high, then next size bigger in front of the others with just the tops showing. Keep doing this until the bottom and you have a nice city to put behind that switching yard

[Anonymous]

[8D][8D]
I'm rebuilding my layout for the third time. However, I have enlisted the assistance of two other modelers. My wife talked to each of them before we started and told them that she did not want to spend a lot of money on it. So we inventoried all of the equipment (i.e. locomotives, cars, track, switches, bridges and other accessories), developed a layout plan for the room, and then began to meet on a weekly basis to reconstruct the new layout. So far we have spent about 300 dollars in two months. That is about what you were looking at. The room size is 10X20 so you can see it is a fairly good size layout.

[e-mail]

[doneldon]

There are lots of good ideas here but let me add one: Get something operating early in the process so it doesn't seem like a bunch of work for nothing. Check your track plan to see if you can build enough to get trains moving while you work on the rest. Maybe you can build all or part of your mainline now, with switches in place, and finish sidings, extensions and branches later as the money shows up. With a little planning, you'll be running some trains in no time without wasting time or effort. And seeing those trains moving down the track is the best way I know to get motivated to keep working.

[simon1966]

We had our house built 4 years ago. When the roof trusses were delivered for the garage, they had made a mistake and they were about 6" too short. The look on the crane drivers face when they went straight down between the walls was great! Anyway, they just dumped all the trusses in a heap and had them re-manufactured. I took my circular saw to the site and scavenged enough lumber to build shelving for the garage and basement and my layout benchwork. The foam board off cuts have built most of my scenery as well. Befriend a local small general contractor and you can get all the lumber and foamboard you need. Of course having a house built and waiting for mistakes will exceed your budget[:D]

[railfanespee4449]

hey Alex, is that you from the bachmann message board? if it is you, post a reply

[Anonymous]

yeah it's me

[vw-bug]

Time...taking things slowly will not only help insure a lower budget but also better quality of things.
Two months you should have your bench work paid off...2 or 3 more the tack and road bed...etc.

The more things you can make for your self the cheaper it tends to be. Switches are a great examlpe, to buy a good switch costs about$12-15. to scratch build one const about $5.

Wiring? do you have afriend who is an electrician..talk to him about gettin gsome extra.

Always try to think out how things are done now Then think how else they could be done to lower the cost? Innovatoin is the best trait you can have in this hobby.

[CJBeard]

In all the advise you have been given it appears one thinh is missing. Check your local area for a nearby railroad club to join. Nearly all will accept junior members. If you can find a club your money will go much further. You can be running trains almost immediately and also get good advise on what to buy. Sometimes clubs get discounts as well.

[TrainFreak409]

Visit train shows, and constantly check with your LHS.

I recently made it to a train show, and purchased two used locomotives. One was a Seaboard Coast Line FM C-Liner. I bought it for a mere $6.00, two dollars less than what it was priced. It is a fine runner, has quite a bit of weight to it, and only needed lubrication.
The second locomotive was a Bachmann DD40X Centennial diesel. I bought it for $20, when the dealer had $30 on the sticker. It is practically in mint condition, with a blinking warning light. It can manage 18" curves but looks really weird doing so. It's an okay runner, and kind of a light weight. But, a locomotive like this can make a small railroad look like it is in big business.
You never know what you can find at a train show. And, you can get some nice equipment for cheap.

When ever you visit a hobby shop, ask the owner, or an employee about any used equipment. I work at a train store, so I have seen what comes through. Mr. Purkey, the owner of the store I work at, has bought whole collections of used trains. Some of it is really nice. I know, I bought some of it. And, don't be afraid to ask for advice.
Another thing, if you become really good friends with an employee of a hobby shop, you might get discounts. About 5 years ago, I became really good friends with a man at a hobby shop in Eldersburg, Maryland, and he would give me free Lionel Catologs, when they were being sold for $2.00.

Finally, KEEP READING AND RESEARCHING. You never know what you might find in an older issue of MR.

GOOD LUCK!



[8]TrainFreak409[8]