dknelson Fair point, and I buy used stuff too. But it is almost inconceivable that I could get, used and in acceptable condition, a replacement for everything I currently own, some of which is a number of years old but nonetheless new in the box. And used track and turnouts? Dave Nelson
Fair point, and I buy used stuff too. But it is almost inconceivable that I could get, used and in acceptable condition, a replacement for everything I currently own, some of which is a number of years old but nonetheless new in the box. And used track and turnouts?
Dave Nelson
Dave,It may be impossible to replace every car and locomotive I own with used or old stock I'm confident I could replace 90% of it by going to train shows and on e-Bay.
As far as used track..I have bought use switches and track before and saved tons of money.
walk run away from used track that still has tons of ballast on it since ballast free used track can be found by the ton at train shows.
.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
The loss question is interesting. I choose not to insure besides what my homeowner's policy already provides for a couple of reasons:
1) It's a hobby, not a necessity. A total loss of all my trains, while it would be very painful, would not be a life tragedy. Others may feel differently.
2) The most likely cause of a loss of all my trains would be significant fire or storm damage to the house. Again, I would have much bigger issues to deal with than the loss of my trains.
3) The second most likely loss of my trains would be through theft. This would probably be only loss of my relatively few high-value pieces, or stuff in the display cabinet. Unless the thief was knowledgeable about model railroading (a model railroader himself), I would expect my wife's jewelry and other valuables would be of more interest. At the very least, the thief would take other things along with my trains. Again, I would have issues of more importance than loss of my trains.
Regardless of the extent of the loss and the amount of any insurance reimbursement, I would not buy exactly what I had before the loss. Nor would I replace the house with exactly the same house. In my wife's and I three total losses of cars in 40 years, we have never replaced with exactly the same car (or even close). Perhaps I have changed more than most as I move through life, but I have realized that I do change, and that my desires and wants change over time.
This is true of my model railroading, too - which is a good reason for not building a big layout or fleet or roster. I have gone from 1920s era Oregon short line in HO to a long stay in O tinplate while the kids were growing to my current interest in 1900-era interest in HOn3 and HO. I have gone from table layouts to shelf layouts to my current interest in Free-mo modular layouts.
my thoughts and experiences, your choices
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it's always 1900....
fwright The loss question is interesting. I choose not to insure besides what my homeowner's policy already provides for a couple of reasons: 1) It's a hobby, not a necessity. A total loss of all my trains, while it would be very painful, would not be a life tragedy. Others may feel differently. 2) The most likely cause of a loss of all my trains would be significant fire or storm damage to the house. Again, I would have much bigger issues to deal with than the loss of my trains. 3) The second most likely loss of my trains would be through theft. This would probably be only loss of my relatively few high-value pieces, or stuff in the display cabinet. Unless the thief was knowledgeable about model railroading (a model railroader himself), I would expect my wife's jewelry and other valuables would be of more interest. At the very least, the thief would take other things along with my trains. Again, I would have issues of more importance than loss of my trains. Regardless of the extent of the loss and the amount of any insurance reimbursement, I would not buy exactly what I had before the loss. Nor would I replace the house with exactly the same house. In my wife's and I three total losses of cars in 40 years, we have never replaced with exactly the same car (or even close). Perhaps I have changed more than most as I move through life, but I have realized that I do change, and that my desires and wants change over time. This is true of my model railroading, too - which is a good reason for not building a big layout or fleet or roster. I have gone from 1920s era Oregon short line in HO to a long stay in O tinplate while the kids were growing to my current interest in 1900-era interest in HOn3 and HO. I have gone from table layouts to shelf layouts to my current interest in Free-mo modular layouts. my thoughts and experiences, your choices Fred W ....modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it's always 1900....
Fred,
As usual, excellent points, and on this question of insurance loss I agree with you completely, for the nearly the same reasons, dispite the fact that I am exactly the opposite when it comes to change. On the few occasions when cars had to be replaced by insurance because of loss, the replacement was very similar.
Our 1901 Queen Anne home is insured for replacement - I would rebuild it basicly the same.
And in 40 plus years in this hobby, my core modeling interests have not changed much in the last 30 of those years. And I suspect they will not change much from here on out.
But again, I agree, it is just a hobby, and I would simply start over, not necessarily NEEDING to have the exact same stuff.
As for theft, I don't worry about that one for the same reasons as you - and when I'm home the trains and all else are insured by Beretta, Ruger and few of their other friends.
Sheldon