leighant Got this neat vinyl plastic warped indetrminate-scale log cabin toy with no roof for ten cents at a garage sale. Made roof from used tinfoil. It was warped out of shape so I stuck popsickle sticks inside it, corner to corner, to square it up. It is fun turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.
Got this neat vinyl plastic warped indetrminate-scale log cabin toy with no roof for ten cents at a garage sale. Made roof from used tinfoil.
It was warped out of shape so I stuck popsickle sticks inside it, corner to corner, to square it up.
It is fun turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.
that's actually a fascinating little structure. Like how it is aged so well....
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/
This depot was made entirely from houshold castoffs (cereal box walls, masking tape roof). The internet and yout printer are your friend when going cheap - the brick is a texture I found online, copied over several times onthe computer, and printed out. It's adhered to the cardboard walls with spray adhesive.
A large percentage of my undecorated rolling stock (which I enjoy painting & decaling) was bought in bulk from an online seller for under $5 per car. And the hobby's all about enjoymnt, right?
Home-made trees, using ground foam & polyfiber stretched over dead blooms from a shrub in the front yard
My cost per tree? Oh, somewhere around a penny, I'd wager.
Doing stuff on the cheap is actually a facet of the hobby that I rather enjoy.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Hi
Well my layout if I was following the prototype would only have one loco and a few cars.
The tip on rail shows is a good one, I have seen some very silly Ebay prices that really is a know your product place.
Tyco when it was available over here was considered cheap rubbish its amazing how many model railroaders would not admit to having it and re wheeling and paint shop overhaul.
So getting so called cheap rubbish cars and paint shopping them and new wheels if need be can be a way to cut cost.
Making what you can from scratch can cut costs unfortunately the books that would help those that have never done any seem very thin on the ground these days I picked mine up for 50c off a club library disposal shelf.
Its all keeping your eyes open for the right bargain and making what you can, these two alone can save a fortune.
Oh! and the kits are always cheaper than the same brand plonk and play structures.
Plonk and play is just to common and I hate the store that won't carry the corresponding kit.
regards John
NP2626 I'm having fun with the hobby the way I want it; but, feel it certainly could be better and more affordable and I really don't need to listen to a bunch of wet behind the ear one- worlders-super-kinder! If I can't express my opinion on a Forum, than I feel that forum isn't worth much, so the powers that be, can ban me from here if that's how they want to play it!
I'm having fun with the hobby the way I want it; but, feel it certainly could be better and more affordable and I really don't need to listen to a bunch of wet behind the ear one- worlders-super-kinder!
If I can't express my opinion on a Forum, than I feel that forum isn't worth much, so the powers that be, can ban me from here if that's how they want to play it!
Gidday, I'm pleased that you're having fun with the hobby the way you want it, to my mind that's the whole point in having a hobby.
Don't quite know why you think your opinions are so controversial to deserve banning from the forum,
My disappointment is that you haven't had the courtesy to offer anything positive to this thread, yet I known that you did a great job scratchbuilding your trestle !!
Please excuse me while I go and dry behind my ears,
The Bear, (in La La Land.)
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Andre, the printed magazine simply reflects the reality that very few people in the UK have room for anything large. An attic layout, or a garden shed converted for the hobby is about as big a space as anyone has. There are very few basements, and even if there were, the sq footage would be much smaller. Train-shows tend to be populated by small modular point to point layouts with highly detailed scenic areas and hidden fiddle yards on one end or both. Through necessity folks tend to model branch-lines as it is hard to do justice to a mainline passenger terminus like Kings Cross or Paddington on a small board. Not to say that budget is not a constraint in the UK, but the greatest constraint by far is space.
True, but rather irrelevant and it doesn't explain the rather robust market for larger (by British standards) locomotives (e.g. BR Standard 9F 2-10-0). As a matter of fact, it doesn't explain the British market by any means, espectially in its incredible variety, which is downright phenomenal considering that we Yanks outnumber Brits by a factor of 5 to 1 and yet they have no fewer than 5 general interest model railway publications (Railway Modeler, Continental Modeler, Hornby Magazine, Model Railway Journal and British Raiway Modelling). BTW, I've been to a number of British model railway exhibitions and have seen a wide variety of layouts. This year was the first time I didn't go to one because our youngest granddaugther and her parents joined us this time and there were other priorities (like taking my grandaughter here http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/ for her 8th birthday)
In any case, the topic of the original post by Barry was about doing the hobby on a reasonable budget. It doesn't matter where you live. If you insist that you're not happy unless you're modeling Sherman Hill or Horseshoe Curve, it's going to cost big time money. The same applies if you've got access to a large warehouse in London (or Vienna, or Munich or Zurich) and just have to model Clapham Junction, Wien Westbahnhof, Munich Hauptbahnhof or the Gotthard Line. It's going to cost big time regardless of where the layout is built because you need an enormous roster of equipment just to operate the things.
All the threads that start with a wailing and gnashing to teeth bemoan the unit cost of model railroad items and nobody seems to stop and ask themselves what they're trying to accomplish and what they actually need to accomplish their goals. They're also not asking themselves if the goals are really realistic given time, space and budget constraints. Yeah, OK, you want to model the UP in the 50's? How about the Park City Branch in Utah? You need a lot less equipment than modeling the mainline traffic through Weber Canyon. A Mike and a Consol ought toi suffice for that and think of all the money you'll save not buying Big Boys, Challengers and FEF's.
One (to me at least) blindingly obvious way to save money in the hobby is to avoid big time mainline railroading. That doesn't necessarily mean that the railroad must, of necessity, be small. Jared Harper is modeling a Santa Branch line in a fairly sizeable room. IIRC, his motive power roster consists of a single 1050 class 2-6-2 and a gas-electric. He can afford to build a large, albeit rather simple layout because he's not spending an arm and a leg on a fleet of 4-8-4's, 2-10-2's and 2-10-4's and the rolling stock to go with them.
You could model the Sierra Railroad in the 1960's with a couple of Baldwin S-12's, a couple of ex-SP cabooses and relatively modest assortment of rolling stock. Go a few miles north to the Amador Central and you'd only need a single S-12. Model the SP interchange with the AC at Ione and you'd need a GP9 or two and a couple of cabooses for variety. You could probably do Ione in a relatively small space with with portable staging.
Andre
leighant Here is a FREE N scale building for you-- free in price and inexpensive in space. Hope you enjoy this on your layout.
Here is a FREE N scale building for you-- free in price and inexpensive in space.
Hope you enjoy this on your layout.
Thankyou
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Love the thread! I have no more enjoyment out of 3 dozen locos and hundreds of cars than I did years ago with 2-3 locos and a dozen cars. Those who don't know about Carl Arendt www.carendt.com should look this up. The model press will always be skewed towards the benefits of the newest, biggest, best (read:most expensive and not available used). A teacher once said to me "I'm not interested in what you won't do, I want to know what you WILL do."
MS
Well...on my so-called layout the idea was to model the way a shortline would have been set up if CN/CP just let the branchlines they abandoned out west go in the 1970's...in that case...single line traffic through small centers that had elevators and seed cleaning business plus the usual grainger stuff.
In this case...Atlas RS2, 3 and some 11's...plus a couple of RDC2's for passenger service....the use of cereal boxes provided a fair bit of warehousing and such in the larger communities as well...TP rolls act as good shells for elevators and the like..
Very good topic gentlement. I would like to see if we could take the discussion in a different but STILL RELEVANT direction...
Aside from "shoestring", the key word in the topic is "BUDGET". I'm curious as to how people budget for their model railroading.
I personally get enjoyment out of having a seperate budget for model railroading so that it doesn't interfere with my daily household budget (it's part of it but fortunately I'm not "robbing Peter to pay Paul").
"Funding" for my model railroad comes from a number of different sources:
1) Annual appropriation from Tax return (a portion of the tax return goes to the hobby)
2) Wells Fargo Way2Save account (For every purchase you make with your card, a dollar is transfered to a savings account). It's almost a way of taxing yourself a dollar for every purchase you make. That's how taxes work anyway right? You don't get more prototypical than that :)
3) Selling of old equipment
4) Saving coins
5) My main budget (I usually keep this to a minimum and usually I tap into that for odds and ends)
I then take the total funds and create a "wishlist" of things that I need/want and begin appropriating money towards those things. Many things will be partially or fully funded depending on costs and priorities.
Discipline plays a huge part in this being successful. The good thing is that this strategy doesn't interfere with any of the strategies mentioned prior to my post.
~Kyle
The Mary Lindsay Railroad - Featuring Amtrak Model Trains Your HO Rail Journey Starts Here.........
www.marylindsayrr.vze.com (Last Update: 5/31/12)
Some interesting threads that could be utilized ...
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/162879.aspx....signs and more signs...
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/190349.aspx...backdrop buildings...
This is a great thread. Model railroading can provide hours of enjoyment without spending too much money.
The old Milwaukee Road's slogan was "America's Resourceful Railroad" .... That is a goo motto for model railroaders.
Remember, fun comes from what you make more than what you own. An earlier post mentioned how one modeler budgets his hobby. I think each of us should have a procedure to budget. Prototype railroads have budget departments, and so should modelers.
Making model buildings and so on from discarded household items is a good way to save. You can buy old freight cars for nearly no money and fix them up.
I suggest trying to stay focused on modeling certain things instead of trying to collect too much stuff.
Think quality ahead of quantity for locomotives. It is better to have one good locomotive than a fleet of broken ones. The exception is the skilled model railroader who can repair "basket case" locomotives for good models.
Quality does not have to be expensive. You can find some really good deals on some high quality models if you shop around.
Have fun.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Hello I made this silo out of a tp roll, drinking straw,a plastic spur, brown string, small part of a plastic easter egg,ladder from the junk box. The field to the right is made from a pizza box covered with real drit from my yard. Both were under a buck to make.
Try to make what yuo can its fun and will save a few bucks. If you dont like it when its done you can make a new one and change what you dont like. Have a nice day Frank
ksax73 Very good topic gentlement. I would like to see if we could take the discussion in a different but STILL RELEVANT direction... Aside from "shoestring", the key word in the topic is "BUDGET". I'm curious as to how people budget for their model railroading. I personally get enjoyment out of having a seperate budget for model railroading so that it doesn't interfere with my daily household budget (it's part of it but fortunately I'm not "robbing Peter to pay Paul"). snip
snip
Once upon a time the LION actually *did* have a job and earned an income. I got paid every two weeks. I got a ledger book and made titles "Rent" "Food" "Subway" "Utilities"... and the last column is where leftover money went. I divided my expenses by 2 and put that amount in each column every payday. But in two months each year there were THREE paydays, and the third one was not required by the budget, and that could be spent for whatever I liked.
Now the LION no longer works. Him lives in a monastery and has no money. I have taken over an abandoned classroom to house my layout, lumber, fiberboard, foam, wire and all stuff like that were acquired from buildings that we have torn down over the years. Some of my equipment is what I brought with me when I entered the monastery, other has been acquired over the past 30 years. If I need money for a hobby expense, I ask for it. As long as it is not outrageous and rather infrequent I have never been refused. Some equipment was received as gifts, others were purchased while on vacation and out of vacation money that I was allowed.
As the nurse at the Abbey, I found some antique glass urinals, and I toss all of my loose change into these at the end of the day. At the end of the year I might (or might not) have some money for something for the railroad. Mostly I must build things from scratch as I find them.
A train station consists of nothing more than strip of stuff with some painted cardboard on it. The finished station has some painted dowels as supports, a bit of foam carved to span the station and a bit of foam for the roof. LEDs provide lighting in the station, the back wall was printed on card-stock with a computer and color laser printer. Tracks are Model Power flex track, the third rail consists of some beads purchased at Walmart and a 3/16 x 3/16 strip of dimensional wood painted brown on top to represent the protection board, and black on the sides to represent the shadow under the board. Ballast was also purchased at Walmart in a 25 pound bag, albeit it has a picture of a cat on the bag, and I had to sift out the big chunks, I was still left with a large bucket of ballast, and the cats could not tell the difference.
Point is, You can build on the cheap, and you do not need to worry too much about your modeling skills or lack thereof. ENJOY!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
TA462 NP2626: High prices of decent Locomotives High prices of decent Locomotives The High prices of decent Locomotives. Wow! Give an opinion that some people disagree with and I'm accused of drive-by flame wars! What a load of GARBAGE! I'm 62, been involved in the modeling hobbies longer than most of you have been alive! Simply put, I want the hobby to be the way I want it to be and I see absolutely nothing wrong with having that opinion, even though that might be considered controversial here in La La Land! I'm having fun with the hobby the way I want it; but, feel it certainly could be better and more affordable and I really don't need to listen to a bunch of wet behind the ear one- worlders-super-kinder! If I can't express my opinion on a Forum, than I feel that forum isn't worth much, so the powers that be, can ban me from here if that's how they want to play it! A lot of times the moderator pulls the trigger on a thread I believe for no reason either. Some are kind of trigger happy.
NP2626: High prices of decent Locomotives High prices of decent Locomotives The High prices of decent Locomotives. Wow! Give an opinion that some people disagree with and I'm accused of drive-by flame wars! What a load of GARBAGE! I'm 62, been involved in the modeling hobbies longer than most of you have been alive! Simply put, I want the hobby to be the way I want it to be and I see absolutely nothing wrong with having that opinion, even though that might be considered controversial here in La La Land! I'm having fun with the hobby the way I want it; but, feel it certainly could be better and more affordable and I really don't need to listen to a bunch of wet behind the ear one- worlders-super-kinder! If I can't express my opinion on a Forum, than I feel that forum isn't worth much, so the powers that be, can ban me from here if that's how they want to play it!
Wow! Give an opinion that some people disagree with and I'm accused of drive-by flame wars! What a load of GARBAGE! I'm 62, been involved in the modeling hobbies longer than most of you have been alive! Simply put, I want the hobby to be the way I want it to be and I see absolutely nothing wrong with having that opinion, even though that might be considered controversial here in La La Land!
A lot of times the moderator pulls the trigger on a thread I believe for no reason either. Some are kind of trigger happy.
I agree with TA462. There has been a recent trend to lock threads prematurely and unnecessarily.
I can see locking a thread in which name calling and flaming occur. But, to lock a thread because "it's time to move on" seems inappropriate. If forum members are responding to a thread and the dialog remains civil, why lock it, even if it is a repetitive topic?
Rich
Alton Junction
As I see it, some approaches are:
1. HO - HO has several economy lines, is often discounted heavily, and has lots of used and not used stuff in the resell market at low prices.
2. Scratchbuild where it counts. For example, making turnouts will save a lot. But handlaying the rest of the track won't - you can save some if you glue it, but can spend more if you use 4 spikes and 2 tieplates for every tie.
3. Freelance - every good deal fits your prototype.
4. Think of your layout as a painting where you capture the essence, not as a photograph where you have to include every tiny detail.
5. Remember, it's a hobby, have fun. I started with Tyco trains, Atlas track, Atlas buildings, Atlas electrical components, and train set power packs. I had a lot of fun with those. Later, I added some MDC/Roundhouse kits, Bowser, LaBelle, Central Valley, scratchbuilt and so forth. And still had fun with all of it on the layout together.
Enjoy
Paul
I used a $4 old "Yellow Box" kit of a modern train station & turned it into a Route 66 style Cafe-Gas Station.
The green building next to the cafe is a block of wood with a cover made from corrugated paper I found at "Micheals" craft store. The link below will give a start to finish of the cafe.
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?112467-Cafe-Gas-Station-made-from-Train-Staion&highlight=skelly
In George Selios Book on the F&SM he mentioned not detailing that which can't be seen and I'm a firm believer in that. I have buildings made from kits which only have two sides, as the other two sides can't be seen. This makes the building kit go twice as far and allows it to be twice as big, if I want. These buildings are reinforced to make it strong enough to stand with out sagging. Some of the areas are boxed in with some interior detailing that will show when a light is turned on at night.
I got an old Heljan roundhouse for free from a friend that I cut up and turned from a 6 stall to a 10 stall. The walls that aren't visible form outside the building are turned "bricks in" so that portion of the interior that is visible within has more detail. I won't even waste paint on walls that are not visible!
So pay attention to what isn't visible and don't waste good parts that can't be seen on a building, I have a large sheet of .030 thick plastic that I use to make walls that aren't visible and those portions from the kit that I replace with these walls get thrown into a scrap box and eventually get used elsewhere!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Another project that was not quite free, but free of "incremental cost." My wife had already wasted the money on a sponge mop gadget with a replaceable head that didn't quite work right for her. So she threw away the replacements.
They looked to me a little bit like a barrel vault roof, with ridges that might be some kind of structural thing.
The end ridge could be cut off one half to splice them together...
Disguise the long attachment screws with discarded syringe caps that "might" be part of a ventilation stack.
The "roof" had a bunch of mold release rings which I tried to disguise with thumb tacks, masquerading as small ventilator covers.
I am not satisifed with the thumb tacks, but I can reuse them as.... thumb tacks. The screw cap that holds the attachment to the mop became part of the larger ventilator top. The mop thingy roof just spans 23 staging tracks which will be hidden in dockside transfer sheds. Ships will be background cutoffs visible over the roof of the tranafer sheds. This is mocked up in place.
I have another mop thing roof to extend this particular transfer shed...
as a Shoestring Budget Modeler here's a few things I noticed.
Sales! - I don't live in an area with a lot of train shows, but I have been able to take advantage of sales. (even if the only hobby store in town is a HobbytownUSA) I've gotten lot of good deals from there. as they sell stuff that's been on shelf a while for half-off. I once got an Atlas Trainman 52' Gondola for $7.50, and a $30 Atlas ACF Centerflow for $15.
Also, one odd thing i've discovered is, If you need a sandy tan colored wash for your plastered rocks, paint them with coffee.
I love topics like this!!!!!!!!! It helps because even if you can afford it, sometimes you can't find it. I have done this more in the 1-1 world than models though.
I was going thru an old machine here at the house and looked at the train bookmarks that were on it. I found one that I had forgot about. www.igshansa.de Find the download section and it has card stock shipping containers. At first they look a little cheesy but after putting one together it wasn't half bad.
RMax
I agree that the cries of "this hobby is too expensive" are largely just arm waiving.
Personally, I put $50 a month in a separate savings account for my hobby expenses. If I need to buy something, I have to wait until I have the money in the account, and even then, I ALWAYS wait for a sale before buying something. Several of my steam locomotives were IHC Command XXV models that I got dirt cheap like $60 for a $150 MSRP loco) when they went out of business. They were under-detailed and in the wrong road names, but about $20 in superdetailing parts and some paint and decals fixed that. Now, I will admit that the steam dome on one is too far back, and someday I will fix that, but for now, only purist notices.
Another thing I'm always on the lookout for is natural materials. Sure, I can pay $7 to Woodland Scenics for "deadfall", but I can also get the same thing out of my back yard for free. Similarly with tree armatures: with a little work, sedum flowers from my garden make good tree armatures, and the price can't be beat.
Often, staying away from the "name" hobby brands is a good idea. We can make our own adhesives by diluting bulk glues, or use plaster cloth from education or medical supply companies. Returned paints at home improvement centers and factory seconds or discontinued items can also be great sources of raw materials (the brown felt that I used to make a field was purchased for $0.50 per yard because it had an imperfection along one edge).
Similarly, you don't need to make an entire forest out of JTT Trees. A few high quality trees at the edges with a lot of puffball trees filling in the center is a great way to make a forest.
The possibilities are endless, and it only takes a little thought, or a question to the fine folks here, and you can save a lot of money on this hobby.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
I've been modeling on a show string budget. I scour Kijiji, eBay etc looking for items.
My TrueTrain ( aka P1K ) CPR RS18 is a prime example. Right place, right time. Paid $20 for the complete train set.
I always hit up suppliers for deals or freebies on stuff. I have several rolls of 16 gauge automotive wire, a whack of electrical connectors, Isopropanol alcohol. Free.
A friend down the street was selling off a buddies of his HO stuff. I got first pick on a few shipments, got rarely used BB rolling stock complete with KD's for between $3-$5 each.
We got a shipment of glass display cabinets in a few months ago. The protective wood shipping crates were made from laminated pressboard. Using that to make my DC control panel. Along with the shipping crates, were a dozen small sheets of 1/4" fiber board. Using that for the top of the control panel. Again, Free!
I had a half sheet of 3/4" plywood left over from something I built in the old house. Used the wood to build a "conductors" step to use in the train room for when I need something stable to stand on when working towards the back of the layout. Found that idea in an old MR magazine I've had for a while.
Paints! Acrylic craft paint - dollar store! Raw sienna, burnt umber etc.
I started thinking a while ago if i see something, how is it usable? My control panel will be a prime example.
Fortunately, the hobby doesn't have to be expensive. Sometimes, you just need to be creative like a lot of other people have stated in their posts.
Gordon
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way
From the public library’s withdrawn-and-discarded book shelf, I bought a little volume for 25 cents. Old House Dictionary: An Illustrated Guide to American Domestic Architecture 1600 to 1940. Written and illustrated by Steven J. Philips. Lakewood, Colorado: American Source Books, 1989. Original list price $16.95 Now available used for about $20 from an Amazon seller.
Rather than showing the book, I will show some of the structure models that the book helps me to describe.
This is Bachmann’s out-of-production Sears catalog house, kitbashed into a 1 story house.
It has a Pyramidal hipped roof, described on p.129 of the Old House Dictionary.
The window on the front roof over the front porch is a Shed dormer window p.65 because it has a sloping flat roof.
The dormer windows facing the sides are different. They are NOT the frequently seen “gable” dormer. The gable dormer has a vertical triangular wall section on its face just below the roof. P.85. The roof over the dormer is hipped. (The book does not directly give this name...) The basement has what appear to be casement windows p.45.
The colonnaded porch p.127 has simple columns—but the columns have the three major divisions, base, shaft and capital, p.51 and 15.
The nit picker’s union hall (with every basic frame stucture element that a nit-picker could ask for) demonstrates balloon framing. P.23.
Floor joists p.102 are visible from the sides because I neglected to use a header. P.95.
Roof trusses somewhat similar to W-type truss p.173.
Double-hung windows on the side and back p.65, and horizontal panel door (4 panel) p.118 on the side.
The shingles p.142 are individually-applied pieces of paper-thin cedar.
Johnston High School illustrates brick quoins p.131, visible on the far end corner and either side of the front entrance. Made up with an extra thickness of brick paper.
Finally, a beach house on piling foundation p.122.
Good investment of 25 cents.