How Much have you spent???

[Anonymous]

Here is you chance to let us know how much you have spent so far (estimate how much) on your layouts. I am curious myself, i am a beginner, with 2 little boys of my own that i want to pass this on to. Feel free to show a picture of your layouts also. Again a round about dollor figure is fine. Thanks for your time, this is an awesome hobby and everyone has bragging rights here.[:)]

[pbuck]

well i guss ill be first to admit it 1 it is tooooooo much. but never enough i too love this hobby and spend aslot of my spare change on ut as sugested this is a guss,,,,,,,for my layout a three levell layout in a 11"3' by 9"9' room dcc control about 18 steem locos reemote switch control and just about ready to start sceanery i probly have spent close to 5500.00 collars maybe more good luck and have fun ps. worth every penny phil

[Darth Santa Fe]

$0. I don't have a layout. But I do have over 45 engines.[:D]

[mondotrains]

Well, let's tally it up!

About $300.00 for benchwork (layout is about 18' by 16'.
70 Tortoise switch machines at $11.00 each....$770.00
About $1,200 for turnouts.
Scenery supplies...about $400.00
70 engines averaging $60.00 each equals $4,200.00
Structures....I'd guess around $1,000.00
600 freight/passenger cars averaging $6.00 each....$3,600.00
So far, that adds up to a little over $11,000.00.

Now, it might seem a lot of money, but I've had a blast spending it at local train shows, hobby shops and Ebay over the past 12 years that I've been in the hobby. If I add in some various other items, then my total is probably more like $12,000.00 or $1,000.00 per year. That breaks down to about $20.00/week.

I don't smoke and don't drink. I know people that spend a lot more than $20.00 per week on cigarettes and/or beer. I think model railroading is a great fun way to spend money and my wife loves the fact that she "always knows where I am...in the train room".

Mondo

[claycts]

For our insurance company we added it all up. $25,000.00. But that is nothing compared to the cars we collect. The nice part is I enjoy the trains as much, if not more than $175,000.00 Ferrari. Trains are for life, cars are till the next auction.

[tstage]

Probably somewhere in the $1500-2000 range. It's amazing how quickly it adds up in $20 and $30 chunks...[:O]

Tom

[Anonymous]

I refuse to answer on the grounds that I may inciminate myself with the wife! [swg] [(-D] All kidding aside, I would almost be afraid to add it all up, but if I had to take a blind guess, I'd say at least $2,500. It's just like Tom said, $10 here, $30 there, and before you know it, you have a small fortune invested!

[joeyegarner]

Any time I am active in the hobby I can spend a thousand dollars over a 4 to 5 month period. I just sarted back about 2 months ago and I'm sure my cost is over $500 eaisly. Thats only engines and rollingstock, couplers and other misc items. I haven't even started the new layout yet. I expect it will take between $1500 to $2000. Ya know each Rail Road has to be better than the last you built so I don't plan on cutting corners this time like I did the last, although old my layout still operates very well......

[emdgp92]

I really have no idea. But, I'd estimate about $1,000 to $2,000.

[Rotorranch]

I don't even wanna know!!!

I know for at least three years in the mid 90's, I spent at least $100 a week at my favorite train store, Gandy Dnacer's in Chamblee, GA. Great folks, and great stuff!

And that doesn't count what I spent at the local train shows, including the NMRA show in Atlanta.

I'm guessing at least $25,000! I have more inventory at home than I do at my hobby shop! [:D]

BUT...kinda like claycts said, it pales in comparison to what I've spent over the years on my 1:1 scale race cars! [:0]

Rotor

[rolleiman]

Trains, Layouts, Accessories, Magazines, Structures, etc.... Well over $20,000.. A lot of it is being recycled now for newer stuff.. The current layout, bench, trackwork, electrical (DCC), Tortises, probably in the area of $2500.. Buildings, trains, etc are recycled from previous layouts..

http://www.rolleiman.com/trains/

Jeff
[:-,]

[BN U30C]

About $350, almost with it.

[accord1959]

I would guess conservatively $6000.00.

[Grubby]

wow, stuff must be cheap in the US... I have spent over $5000 in the first six months alone and I have still to even seriously start on scenery, signalling, control or building a small fleet.... I expect to continue to spend $200 per week for the next 12-18 months before the back of it is broken....

The real secret is taking the price tags off everything [:P]

[Anonymous]

I estimate that I have about $3500 so far on the current 4x8 I have. I anticipate my next layout will use about $2500 in track alone, it will be a two level 5x8.

[selector]

About Cdn$600 on materials and tools for the bench, $300 for scenic material, $70 for paints of all kinds, $200 for track of all kinds, $300 for structure kits, about $2200 for acquisition, shipping, and conversion to DCC of locos, $300 for rolling stock, $400 for an SEB, ...uh, I'm beginnning to sweat and my heart is pounding....I think I had better leave it there....[xx(]

[dgwinup]

A lot! Too much! Ohmigod!

Take your pick. I took my two grandsons to a train show last year and their dad came along. After wandering around for about an hour, he came up to me and said, " This stuff is EXPENSIVE!" I'm sure he was more worried about possibly needing to have TWO layouts, one for each son, to eliminate the fighting! My brother went with me to a hobby shop. He looked around a bit and said to me, "Does this guy have as much stuff as you do at home?" Smart-alec-ery runs rampant in our family!

Since June, I have spent nearly $700, mostly on steam engines and a small amount that wasn't for the layout. This could be considered excessive by some (like my wife!).

You don't have to go into debt up to your eyeballs for trains. Getting started is the biggest expense, but after that, you can pace yourself. Just be prepared if you take BOTH sons to the hobby shop at one time!

Darrell, broke and quiet...for now

[Tracklayer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by RockIsland Line

Here is you chance to let us know how much you have spent so far (estimate how much) on your layouts. I am curious myself, i am a beginner, with 2 little boys of my own that i want to pass this on to. Feel free to show a picture of your layouts also. Again a round about dollor figure is fine. Thanks for your time, this is an awesome hobby and everyone has bragging rights here.[:)]

Now RockIsland Line, why did you have to go and remind me of the money part of it ?!...
Now I'll start feeling guilty about it all - especially with my current financial situation.
But since asked... I would figure about roughly $900.00 in my layout, and about $2,000.00+ in my locos and rolling stock - and that's after selling off at least that much in the last year that I never should have bought in the first place. Oh well. Live and learn.

Tracklayer

[aussiesteve]

Loco's - 7 Austrains + 3 more on the way @ $220 ea & who knows how many more [:D]
7 Lima @ $110
2 Powerline @ $220
15 rtr coaches @ $30
20 rolling stock kits @ $30
DCC $500
Rail & track building supplies $750 and rising

[GMTRacing]

After a year I have about three thousand in the layout and rolling stock which makes my wife berserk. On the other hand it takes about the same amount of money each weekend that i go racing with my vintage car but that gets written off to the business. It's all a matter of priorities. I have a friend who spent 20k on curtains and throw pillows for his boat. Go figure. I read somewhere that the average semi-finished layout costs around 10k. It's just that a few of us can't walk past a train case without some of them following us home. [:D] J.R.

[Anonymous]

I am just a poor ol' country boy and I have only been doing this for a year so take that into account. Benchwork $35.00 (a slab of 3 inch foam and some hardware the rest of the materials recycled from other projects). Track and power pack $120 (I made a mistake with the cheap power pack) Locomotives $50 (E8, 0-6-0 and trolley all from eBay) Rolling stock $50 (eBay) Paint and scenicing material $150 This is not counting tools because of course they are all multi use and not JUST for the trains.

Please don't ask how much I have invested in books in the last 7 years.

[CNJ831]

Judging by my own running tally and those of others I'm acquainted with in the hobby, the figure typically grows by $15,000 to $20,000 per decade for most dedicated modelers with average-sized layouts. Perhaps not a shocking figure in this day and age of extravagant hobbies but still a lot more than most newbies ever imagine. Hard to believe? Just look at the layouts that appear in MR these days...most are probably in the $25,000 to $75,000 range and many of the larger ones far in excess of that amount. If you don't think so, ask any custom builder what they'll charge you to construct a mid-size layout nowadays!

CNJ831

[Piedsou]

I don't have the slightest idea. I could give you a figure and be $20,000 off or more.
I have been in HO since about 1958-9 and I had Marx sets before that.
Of course, my parents paid for those.
I would say at least $35,000, probably much more., maybe even twice that. But remember, that's spread out over 46-47 years.
I would have to include magazines and books, NMRA conventions, stays in motel rooms while railfanning and visiting other layouts, gasoline in the thousands of gallons, cameras, film, eating out while railroading, train trips, museums, etc. Add it all up and I'm sure it would surprise me.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNJ831

Judging by my own running tally and those of others I'm acquainted with in the hobby, the figure typically grows by $15,000 to $20,000 per decade for most dedicated modelers with average-sized layouts. Perhaps not a shocking figure in this day and age of extravagant hobbies but still a lot more than most newbies ever imagine. Hard to believe? Just look at the layouts that appear in MR these days...most are probably in the $25,000 to $75,000 range and many of the larger ones far in excess of that amount. If you don't think so, ask any custom builder what they'll charge you to construct a mid-size layout nowadays!

CNJ831

That sounds about right. Although the first decade is probably the most expensive, as you're still building benchwork, buying track and scenery items, accumulating tools, and have all those other "start-up" costs associated with beginning any new hobby.

[TomDiehl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kevnbety

I refuse to answer on the grounds that I may inciminate myself with the wife! [swg] [(-D]

What he said, and for the same reason.

[Pruitt]

Well, as the late great Calr Sagan would say, "Billions and Billions."

Not really, but it seems that way!

Over the years, probably $25k or so all-told.

[jag193]

Over 30 years of model railroading, I've probably spent about $30,000 or so but a lot of that has been sold to refinance a change in scale or change in era or change in electronics. I prefer to think of the cost in hobby-hours - that is, the expense for my escape/liesure time - as far as I can tell, that's a lot closer to about $5 an hour. I probably have around $7500 in my current On30 layout (in a two-car garage). The great thing about this hobby is that once the skills are developed and the innovation sets in (I still need to figure out how I can use dryer filter stuff on the layout), the costs go down and the enjoyment goes up!

[ARTHILL]

I built 3 layouts with almost no money: used stuff, friends and a few Christmas presents. I was poor and the hobby served me fine. Many hours of building after many hours of scrounging for stuff. Now I have a little money and I have spent it all. If I had $50,000, that is what I would spend. I still scrounge, got all the foam for both floor to ceiling mountains from dumpsters and roadside trash. At any price building a pike is cheap per hour. I suspect that collecting is MUCH more expensive.

[loathar]

Only about 2 grand so far.I'm figureing 15-20 thousand by the time the new layouts done.My trains are really the only thing I spend money on anymore and spend I will!
Art- Thanks for that foam scrounging idea. Their building a lot of homes around me.

[waltersrails]

about 1500$ over the past year and 3 mouths.