Thanks Carl, -- I completely forgot about my Precision scale cabooses -- 5 of them at an average cost of $100.00 ea, Wolf
If I remember correctly I paid around $130(MSRP was $150?) for my Kato Gunderson Maxi-I well car set consisting of 5 wells and 10 containers.
The most I paid was $17.95 for Bowser PRR cabin cars. I bought three and had a hard time getting over the fact that I spent over $50 for three cars. I am glad that I am not just starting out in this hobby. There is no way I could have the amount of stuff I have and still afford it. I went through the accumulation phase wherein I would buy lots and lots of cars and locomotives. That was back in the '80's and 90's when rolling stock was a couple of bucks and no threat to the monthly mortgage payment. Then came the MT coupler bulk packs to convert all those Rapido's. But they were cheap too, less than $30.00 for a bulk pack. I am passed that phase now and most of the new stuff produced today simply doesn't interest me. Too new or too expensive or both. There was a time when one could go to a train show and reasonably expect to find a couple of good deals. It made the price of admission worthwhile. Today that is rare. Same is true with Ebay. I see more and more items listed as 'Buy It Now' and fewer auctions. The asking price is usually more than what one could buy from an online retailer. So I am pretty much set with what I got but if Atlas comes out with the LifeLike/Walthers DCC ready SW9's I would be severely tempted.
I started in HO as well and very fondly remember the Athearn blue "shake the box" kits. Some things form 'the good ole days' really were as good as we remember them to be. As for the comments about the hobby dying, that's for another thread BUT since you brought it up, I think that ALL hobbies are...'downsizing'. People (millennials especially) want instant gratification. They don't want to practice or learn multiple skills in order to do things (they just want the participation trophy). This seems to be holding true for most sports, hobbies, music, and extracurricular activities. Add to that where, instead of modeling trains, you can operate a simulated train on your game system or 'play' an instrument, or 'race' a high performance car, or 'fly' a plane, or defeat an army or dragon or deer or just about anything. I got into model railroading BECAUSE it required multiple skills (ADD leads to a short attention span so I needed lots of different things to keep my interest) but in a world where people don't even know how to check the oil in their car, let alone change it or do any kind of repair or modification, learning isn't considered 'important' any more. Just set the difficulty level to 'easy' and be a 'god' in your own (simulated, pretend) world.
Hi Rick, your story is similar to mine, except there are a few years difference in our ages. I worked part time at a ice creme stand for my spending money. Yes, I was without any hobby money income 4 months out of the year I fondly remember saving my paycheck for that once a month visit to the well stocked hobby shop that was about a half hour drive from our home. I think I have a few of those $1.98 Athearn Blue Box freight car boxes in the attic. I remember one such trip I wanted the new Athearn U30B, but did not have enough money for the powered version, so I came home that day with the dummy version. It was going to be run with my powered SD45 on my 4' x 8' layout, so being a dummy was not a real deal breaker. Fast forward to today, I've switch from HO scale to N scale and from time to time I get sticker shocked from the prices on these new models. That is when I look at my inflation calculator website to see if today's price is in line with what I remember in the late 1960's through the 1970's. One such example is my $34.99 Conrail Transfer caboose from Bluford Shops. According to my inflation calculator, that caboose would have cost $7.24 in 1975. Yes, that's $3.24 more than I paid for my Athearn Blue Box NYC / P&LE bay window caboose in 1975, but remember that Athearn Blue Box was a kit, sure it was a shake the box kit, but it was a kit none the less. The Blueford Shops model is fully assembled and the detail between the two cars is night and day. I am glad I grew up as a model railroader with my journey beginning in the late 1960's. I enjoyed every minute of working on my 4' x 8' layout and running my trains, but at the same time today is also a great time to be in the hobby. The model selections we have today with exact road name specific details is light years above what was available in the late 60's and 1970's. I am also looking forward to my next two caboose from Bluford shops, so much so that I preordered them last year. Why, the model being offered along with the paint scheme being offered has never been released in N scale. The price is within reason and Bluford shops has been producing rolling stock for lesser known Eastern railroads, so I'd like to support them in their efforts to bring models to the market, that we might not otherwise see from other manufacturers.
Boy, those $1.50 Atlas cars, in the late sixties, really hit the pocketbook. Actually, considering the time and my resources, they did. Doug
I have a few Trix (Minitrix) German Lbgjs 598 flat cars with load that I paid 37.81 Euro for last year (about $43.50 at the time), plus shipping. I have a few other, mostly flat car, wagons from Germany that were 30+ Euros each (sometimes in sets with two for 60 + Euro). I like the Japanese (at least KATO and Tomix) freight cars. They are $5-$10 in most cases still. Euro ones are all $30-$50 or more.
Well for an individual car I paid about $28 for the BLMA Tank cars I think, or it maybe the Trainwors Auto Bax cars. I hate to think about the prices of sets, but because there was a reasonable savings I would normally by that way like 25 car set of FVM coal cars etc....
As far as plastic, I paid $130 for a Micro Train eclipse boxcar, from eBay. Otherwise, for a single car, was $425 for the Overland Models Westinghouse Schnabel car. And between $500 and $600 for very limited OMI runs of the DRGW SD70 ACe heritage locomotive(22 of 30) and the Cotton Belt bicentennial SD45T-2(25of 78). And close to $1500 for a few MTH 3 rail locomotives.
I paid $23 for an MT Overnight boxcar (after shipping). Felt terrible to pay that much for something sold for under $10 new.
Yup, I still keep my original 5 or 10 or so in their original cases with the Rapido couplers still on them. I remember I wanted the orange Shell tanker for the unusual reason that I thought it looked like the same color as orange Christmas tree bulbs. Weird, huh. Doug
I almost bought a Lehigh valley box car and southern gondola just for that reason... but I’d have no use for them.
Don't you just hate the braggers! Gosh Darn.... If you got it flaunt it, I say. Wishing I could. My biggest problem is finding replacement parts for the locomotives I purchased in the late 70's through to the 90's. Rich S., Good to hear there are still some of us out there. Those were actually difficult times. The 60's seemed to be a time for slot car racing and many a toy train manufacturer switched to making them...in all scales and in RC. The RC part benefited the model railroaders as eventually the technology pored over into animating cranes and other things we like to see move on our layouts. RC eventually became DCC and is now looking like it to will become RC/DCC. Now that I'd go for. The "Dead Track" technology. "Those were the times", "Archy! I think you know where the quote came from. Did you know before the show he was a Hollywood stunt man and made a safety movie for UP, I think. If BarstowRick.com was up I'd refer you to some posts in there by some astute model railroaders. It isn't and it's likely it won't come back. Had something to do with censorship on behalf of someone that worked for the server. Didn't like what I said, apparently. Hi jacked! Wish I could do that with the daily news media. Interesting times.
You do know I was kidding about the braggers. This is the place to share what you bought and I have no problem with what you spent. I may not be able to keep up with you but that's just par for the course. Not your fault. So, my purchases aren't frugal, they are cheap. Sigh!
And I had railroad club friends giving me grief! Because I spent $400+ on an Overland car, but wouldn’t drop $35 for the then new MT bi-level open auto racks.
My answer is simply I don't want to know. I don't keep track of this because Ii don't want to descend into uncontrollable depression.
I don’t feel bad about spending a little on a freight car. For as much as I’ve bought them for, I’ve sold them for even more.
