richhotrain PM Railfan Bet i could get it locked with one simple statement on the topic Betcha can't!
PM Railfan Bet i could get it locked with one simple statement on the topic
Bet i could get it locked with one simple statement on the topic
Betcha can't!
In before the lock, credit 1 post!
Terry
Inspired by Addiction
See more on my YouTube Channel
Ulrich One doesn't have to spend alot to enjoy the hobby. I'm at around $900.00..two plain jane Athearn engines, 15 cars, and some track. It is certainly no basement empire, but it is turning into quite a nice 4x8 module with a loop. Stay focussed.. don't buy stuff you don't need, and keep it small.
One doesn't have to spend alot to enjoy the hobby. I'm at around $900.00..two plain jane Athearn engines, 15 cars, and some track. It is certainly no basement empire, but it is turning into quite a nice 4x8 module with a loop. Stay focussed.. don't buy stuff you don't need, and keep it small.
Duth I be hearing thee sound of a perverbial gauntlet smashing uponst the floor?
Alton Junction
WOW, this thread is still open? Tom and Steve on vacation er something? Bet i could get it locked with one simple statement on the topic - and no salty words added either.
PMR
Thanks for sharing one of your life experiences mel. Many years ago but still goes without saying that was rather sad and unfortunate about your friend.
On the positive side of things, sounds like you got a nice head start on some good structure at an early age working hard towards a good foundation for your future
TF
TFIn 1950 a buddy a few doors up the street from me contracted Shingles and died, his Mother ask me to take over his paper route for him.I did as she ask and it became my source for model railroading. I wouldn’t have ever looked into a paper route if she hadn’t ask. Her asking me really helped me, at 13 having a job was a good start to life. Even pennies that were mine to do with what I wanted was great.I ended up working 50 years in electronics, never unemployed for 50 years with her help getting me started as a teen. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 last July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
I remember that one of yours from before Mel. She's a Gem. I may have it confused with another story but I think I remember you bought it with your lawn mower route money or something like that.
I’m very proud to say I have my first HO locomotive and it still runs great. Fresh out of the shops for new paint
2013
That cost $6.85 back in 1951 which was a fortune for me at the time.I like it so much I bought a second one in 2013, new in the box kit, a bit more $$$ . . . $47.50 Plus S&H.It came out great too.I even found a Vandy tender to go with it.Both run great on DC or DCC including fabulous sound. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 last July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
Evening
I'd have to say I have another case of auction remorse. Another hard to find locamotive I've had an eye open for passed me by yesterday. Rare to find in N scale, $220.00 and 15.00 shipping was one of the more affordable ones I've seen in a while.
Only one bidder and he got it. It was an Intermountain which actually has finer detail but I'm after Kato. Hard to find at train shows as well and unfortunately I just missed one of the better shows this spring due to certain circumstances.
The next pair of those F units I find, I may just have to pay the piper if I want a set bad enough. That's just the way it is when your tastes crave a specific flavor at times.
I guess, just as it has Always been, the hobby can be as expensive or inexpensive as you make it. Which is largely controlled by what you want to buy. Is it brand new stuff, the latest and greatest with all the bells and whistles. Or is it vintage or older second hand models and kits? Case in point, a booth at a local antique mall has been selling off lots of NKP road name HO and N scale trains, with some brass mixed in lately. I have gotten a pair of Overland Models brass S2 Berkshires for under $320 for the pair($177 & $125 paid on each). These would be $500 each going by prices of sold models at a brass retailer's website. Now they are not painted, both needed fully serviced as neither ran out of the box. But they have been "sleeping" since 1982 as neither looked to have been run. I also got a brass NKP Dynometer car that is painted for under $30 in its original box. Deals are out there and for me the "hunt" is all part of the fun. I have seen great deals on older HO, both plastic and brass, at shows this past winter here locally. There is soooo much coming on the market from estates that if your willing to hunt, the deals are out there. No hobby is cheap, go price smoking or drinking at a bar lately. Race cars, motorcycles and other adult past times have all gotten very expensive in more ways than one. Model trains have always been an expensive items. Go price the typical Lionel train set in the pre and post WWII years. Most sets, even the cheapest, were a weeks wages at that time if not much more. While those early brass ad prices might look cheap by today's prices, one has to look at the typical wages at that time. They were expensive back then to.
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Folks, there are approx. eleventy billion cheap trains on eBay every second of every day. If the kids want cheap trains, there's plenty of them available: Rivarossi, Con-Cor, IHC, Athearn, etc. If you can't afford a new Ferrarri, buy a used Ford instead.When I was a young model railroader in the 1980s (I was 14 or younger), I had to wait until a local train show was scheduled, or beg a ride to a hobby shop from my parents. And then I had to buy from the very limited stock that was available at the show or shop. The hobby shop could special order out of the Walthers catalog (if the item was available) but it took 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. I could also send in a mail order using a magazine ad, but (believe it or not), the road name was picked by the dealer! And it took 6 to 8 weeks to get it. Back then, the hobby was one of patience.Today, a kid with a cell phone and a credit card can get to choose from a vast assortment of trains and have it in just a couple days. There's so much available compared to pre-1990, it's positively amazing that anyone complains about it.IMHO, the deal here is that people want today's stuff at yesterday's prices. That's unrealistic. If you can't afford the latest and greatest, buy some older cheap stuff. It won't be as good, but that's the compromise you make, and this hobby is all about compromises and the choices we make. I bought my first brass steam engine when I was still in high school (I had a job and saved up for it). I didn't buy any other hobby items for months before. I made the decision that I wanted a single, high-quality brass steam engine vs. the 10 Atlas diesels I could have bought with the same money. I still have that steamer 30+ years later, BTW.
BEAUSABRE Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds
Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds
Rich
Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds (obviously I put my shot into the rough). Speaking of which, I live pretty close to USGA Golf Museum and Library aka Golf House, if you are a serious golfer, or even a fan, it's worth a visit.
Visit the Museum (usga.org)
BEAUSABRE My dad was a very good golfer. So good, he did not have a handicap (If you shoot an average of 80 shots on a par 72 course, you would have a handicap of 8.
My dad was a very good golfer. So good, he did not have a handicap (If you shoot an average of 80 shots on a par 72 course, you would have a handicap of 8.
It's not quite that simple. The handicap is based on the course rating, not par. My home course has a par of 72 just like Augusta National but it isn't nearly as difficult and it's course rating reflects that. Shooting 80 on my course would not yield the same handicap as shooting 80 at Augusta National.
Also handicaps are not based on your average score. They are based on the 10 best of your last 20 scores. The scores are also adjusted to eliminate score of triple bogey or worse and even limits the number of double bogeys you can post for handicap purposes. After adjusting your scores, your handicap is 90% of the difference between your adjusted score and the course ratings. Your handicap is intended to reflect what you are capable of, not what your average is.
A guy can spend $1000 on a golf club if he can afford it and wants to. Fine. And all the other examples. I am more worried about the kids. A guy in the hobby can go find sweet deals on things, but some 12 year old kid isn't that savvy. That kid can care about the nuances and details later, he needs to get involved first. You never buy a $1000 golf club if you never had a cheap hand me down set to start with.
NorthsideChi Cost and space are the two challenges to the hobby. Anyone that I know who has interest in trains in my age group (30's) we're all living in apartment and condo buildings in major cities across the US with little extra room. I've pointed at my temporary layout and said "That's the price of a new MacBook pro going in circles there." I don't think people are calling stuff overpriced. Gosh, stuff it so beautifully crafted since I got back into the hobby a few years ago. But it has a high entry price because people do want to be serious about the hobby, yet they don't want to buy a toy The response I hear is always the same. "Maybe when I have a house with a basement someday and more money saved up"
Cost and space are the two challenges to the hobby. Anyone that I know who has interest in trains in my age group (30's) we're all living in apartment and condo buildings in major cities across the US with little extra room. I've pointed at my temporary layout and said "That's the price of a new MacBook pro going in circles there."
I don't think people are calling stuff overpriced. Gosh, stuff it so beautifully crafted since I got back into the hobby a few years ago. But it has a high entry price because people do want to be serious about the hobby, yet they don't want to buy a toy
The response I hear is always the same. "Maybe when I have a house with a basement someday and more money saved up"
As NorthsideChi says, "Cost and space are the two challenges to the hobby". What it all comes down to for the young and old is whether they can afford to do what they really want to do in the hobby and whether they have the space to do it.
A lot of the replies offered here talk about compromises with cost and space, plus quality. From that perspective, anyone young or old can set up a 4x8 layout, buy some used motive power and rolling stock and have some fun. But can everyone who models railroads do what they really want to do based upon cost and space, or do they have to settle for what they can afford and for what space allows.
Back to the passenger car issue. I'm old, I can afford to do what I want to do, and I have the available space to do it. But, like the OP, my typical passenger train is two locomotives and five or six 85' passenger cars. As new passenger cars are rolled out by Walthers and Rapido, $90 to $120 per car is the norm. That could add up to anywhere from $600 to $1,000. If you want to run a passenger train in and out of a passenger train station, you are gonna need 8 to 12 feet of track length for a 2-loco, 6 car passenger train.
Yeah, I know, first world problems. But, you cannot deny the fact that you need the space and a big fat hobby budget to do what you want to do instead of just dreaming about it.
When I started four years ago, my scenery was several building kits.
As I built them, I thought I could build the same thing from scratch.
Buying the plastic strips, the sheets, the windows, etc., I found that I actually spent more on the scratch-building supplies than on the kit.
That doesn't matter, though. I have enjoyed scratch-building much more than putting together the kits, so I have no problem with the money spent. It's part of the cost of enjoying the hobby.
My wife's hobby is bird watching and feeding the birds. She spends much more on bird food each month than I do on trains.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
BEAUSABRE If you shoot an average of 80 shots on a par 72 course, you would have a handicap of 8.
If you shoot an average of 80 shots on a par 72 course, you would have a handicap of 8.
Two points to bring up. Some good quality engines are dirt cheap, picked up two Bachmann S4 DCC and sound for under $70 each a few years ago from a retailer to boot brand new. Point being there are real bargins out there. Second item is that people live the lives they want but you have to pay the dues to do so. I have had many people ask me how to get to where I am and every one who asked has said the same thing said, "I don't want to work that hard". Worked with a guy who went on vacation every year and spent $2000 when he only made around $20,000 a year, I mean it was his choise but I reinvested mine and retired at 52. Retired once before at 29 before wife and kids, put in some 70hr+ work weeks and 20 hour days instead of going out and partying, weird thing about that time is I remember being shocked that everyone else had to work, it never occured to me that most people work most of their lives and I started with nothing as far as money, like not a dime.
My dad was a very good golfer. So good, he did not have a handicap (If you shoot an average of 80 shots on a par 72 course, you would have a handicap of 8. That way, golfers of all levels of ability can compete against each other in tournaments). So it came to the point when he was doing his annual clinic with the club pro, the pro told Dad that he was technically proficient and to improve Dad's game he would recommend custom made clubs - with shafts made to match his height and arm length and appropriate swing weights (The clubs sold off the rack are made to suit the mythical "average" player - plenty good enough for maybe 95 percent of all golfers (like me)). So dad went and invested several thousand dollars in custom clubs. I don't know what they did for his game, but he seemed pleased with his investment. Point is, any hobby can be as expensive or economical as you want it to be. I wouldn't pay what he paid for his clubs and he wouldn't pay what I've been willing to pay for a locomotive.
gmpullman Steven Otte No matter how many threads there already are on the topic of how expensive the hobby is, people always want to start a new one, so here's what we're going to do. https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/245773.aspx Cheers, Ed
Steven Otte No matter how many threads there already are on the topic of how expensive the hobby is, people always want to start a new one, so here's what we're going to do.
https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/245773.aspx
Cheers, Ed
Looks like that thread got locked. No posts since November 2017.
I didn't need "the best". A 1959 Les Paul guitar can be worth over a quarter millions dollars, yet my cheap knock-off Les Paul style copy cost me a hundred bucks and plays and sounds just fine. 60-65 years ago I used to drool over the Pacific Fast Mail brass locos on the back cover of Model Railroadeer, and marvelled at the nice engines with turned flywheels and fancy motors and GEARs, Gears I tell you. But I was happy as a clam with my rubber band drive Athearn locos. Sure, they stopped with a wiggle, but that was OK. And I had some B unit dummys, I don't see those anymore
Later in life I bought some Fine Scale Miniatures kits, but when I was starting out, I had my cheap Revell Engine house, and station, and Crossing shanty. They were a small step up from the Plasticville structires I had 70 years ago. But I liked them. And I got me one of the Ambroid "One of 5000" car kits later on, but my selection of blue box cheap cars was fine for me.
Without blue box cars, Revell and Plasticville buildings, and rubber band locos, I likely would have put my time and energy into short wave radio, my other hobby at the time.
1. Hobbies aren't a right. They're from discretionary income unless you're immature and irresponsible enough to fund your pastimes using money you shouldn't, or that you simply don't have (but I repeat myself...);
2. People into fishing will spend $1000 each year just on new lures, a replacement reel or rod, new line, gas if they drive;
3. Kayakers and paddle boarders will spend $3000 on a new hull/board, $400 on the 'best' carbon fiber paddle, gas money if they have to drive any distance;
4. Motor cycle enthusiasts, whether enduro, motocross, or road racing,...well, I hesitate to guess, but it must be thousands each year, and that's after the initial purchases of helmet, license and testing, spiffy upgrades, say to a collector exhaust and racing bars, how much for a helmet these days, more if it's a go-fast kind...; (same for snow machines)
4. What would the 'best' and coolest crossbow cost...maybe $3000 for one custom made? Then there are the arrows, wrist savers, etc...;
5. A decent violin, even second hand? $800, really well used, rather tired. A 'good' bow is several thousands new; and
6. painting, probably fairl cheap these days. An easle, maybe $100 second hand. Paints of any kind and quality, probably set you back about $200. Brushes, decent again, about $130, give or take. Oils might be a bit more, dunno....I don't paint. I put my money in trains.
Model Railroad “stuff” has always been a bit high for equal time spent hobby “stuff”. When I started out in HO gauge (1951) there wasn’t any prefab track. It was 3 for a dime 36” rails and a roll of Atlas Tie Fiber Strip at $1.25 for 25’, a sack of scale spikes for another dime.My first HO locomotive (MDC 0-6-0) cost me $6.85, I was earning my hobby money from a paper route at 45₵ per month.When I got my first car gas was 17₵ per gallon.I’ve never bitched about the cost of my hobby and that includes today’s prices. A good Model Railroader will find a way to play with his trains.The only thing that made me think cost recently is the price of electronics from China, prices have almost tripled in the last few months. Sure glad I don’t need any more electronic goodies. I just love the DC to DC Buck Converters. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 last July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
(inflation!!)
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I bought a few passenger coaches a while back. They are fairly decent but not spectacular Rivarossi models. They were about $30 each. I found some Walthers lighting kits for these models. I took them apart and installed the lighting kits and replacement trucks and wheels. While everything was spread out on the workbench, I painted the rudimentary interior and added unpainted figures I got cheap after brush painting those.
These cost me about $40 per car. Plus, I got all the "play value" out of producing my custom coaches.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I don't think there are two more countries on Earth than the United States and Canada where it is easier to go out and obtain the standard of living you want. Barring health problems, you have a choice as to the amount of effort you put into your life. If you don't like something about your situation, fix it.
I have had the good fortune of being able to travel the world and have shared meals with people living in mud huts or grass shacks surviving on $2.00 a day. If you want to be healthy and fit, do what the healthy and fit people do. If you want to be in a good place financially do what those people do. Every hour spent in front of the idiot box or on the front porch drinking beer is time that could have been spent cracking a book and learning how to improve your situation.
I don't tolerate whiners well, in case you haven't guessed. I wonder what someone living on $2.00 a day would think about us spending $100.00 on a toy train car?
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."