Just a general question. As one just starting out, what kind of budget do you consider reasonable for the hobby? What kind of budget (or have you ever considered it) do you figure on per year? Roger
Do as I did. Get a part time job at the local hobby shop. There are several advantages to this: A 20% discount, immediate access to new products, conversing with other modelers, and the layaway plan. My definition of budget is "SPENDING AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, WITHOUT ATTRACTING THE WIFE'S ATTENTION".
Budget? What's a budget? I have been working for thirty-five years to get to the point where I don't have to...what's that word...budget...when it comes to model railroading. Now I can SPEND! [ 12 October 2001: Message edited by: upguy ]</p>
First thing is try to decide on which railroad(s) and what era you want to model. Being new to the hobby 3 years ago, I bought everything in Santa Fe (along with a few others) that I could find. As I learned more about the various railroads, the types of cars and locomotives they used, the eras when they ran, etc., I was able to concentrate my energies and money. I decided to sell off/trade away pieces I wasn't eventually going to run. Believe me, once you've decided, you no longer really think about a budget. You tend to buy what you 'need' for your world, and almost don't even notice the rest. Typically, locomotive releases I'm interested in come out 3 or 4 times a year. But you always know well in advance, and can budget for those 'heavy' peiods. Rolling stock is released more regularly, and depending on your wants and needs, you can purchase it as you go along. Most rolling stock can be found months later if you cannot afford it right away. Keep in mind that you'll also want to buy track, electronics, buildings, and other scenery items, but you can do this at a slower pace as well. Most of all, remember it's your hobby. Spend what you're comfortable with, and you'll be happy.
I guess I should elaborate. Track, turnouts, controllers, and power is a big hump to get over that I haven't even started on. 120 pieces of flex-track alone is a big expense. I figure I'll spend $800-$1000 just getting the layout up and running...with one engine. It's not that $1000 will set me back, I'm just trying to figure out after this initial hump, what do you generally spend annually on rolling equipment.... rog [ 12 October 2001: Message edited by: RogerDodger ]</p>
Hi Roger, I'll share with you my experience I started back into N scale in 1964. I had nothing to start with but have purchased 35 locomotives and approx 300 pieces of rollingstock and also built my layout. The budget depends on how fast and large you want to get into the hobby. Suprisingly the layout costs was far less than purchasing equipment. I'd say $1000US will build you quite some layout with minimal purchasing of equipment, lets face it all you need is one locomotive and some rollingstock and you are up and running. These days I buy the odd piece of rollingstock but mainly concentrate on scenery items for my layout, the expenditure and decreased greatly since I am limiting locomotive purchasing to neccessary items. My estimate today would be that i have spent approx $3500 US over the past 5 years but dont forget I'm in australia and pay slightly more for items here.
I switched to N from HO, and started my N layout from square one- no track, no rolling stock, nada. In my case, I took part of a payout bonus I got from my job and bought stuff. I found a Frisco E8 I liked, and put it on layaway- it's now on my layout, awaiting passenger cars to pull. Layaway may be an option to get what you want- if you have a hobby shop that has this policy, you're in luck. I would also keep an eye out on bargains- Caboose Hobbies in Denver, for example, has a 40% off sale on Model Die Casting N scale rolling stock.Caboose Hobbies- click here. Bottom line, you don't have to get it all at once. If it takes a while, so be it. You'll get it built. [ 13 October 2001: Message edited by: friscobob ]</p>
I agree with Herman and UPGUY. This hobby is like a drug addiction for me. I'd rather starve or skip a lunch or two to go buy more stuff If you have a shop nearby, go there during lunch and get to know the folks. After a while you will "be welcomed" into their group and you will start asking "favors" such as reserving 3 KATO SD90s for a couple of months without putting a downpayment or getting a "courtesy" upgrade on a decoder (from A Lenz to A Digitrax) for the same price. When it comes to TRAINS, THERE IS NO BUDGET! Rob
I have to say that you can start a model railroad on a modest budget. Things take time, maybe even years to accomplish, but it can be done. I've been at for about 6 years in N-scale. I have never had more than about $25-50 a month to spend on the hobby. Yet, I have gotten 2 SD-35's from Atlas with Decoders. (saved several months for each) It frustrates me to hear guys complain that they can only afford 3 or 4 of the new releases, and then complain that they only have 60 or so locomotives. My rolling stock stable consists of a total of 5 locomotives and about 30 cars. Like was said earlier, set a time frame for your layout, then buy what fits the time frame. I don't have steam or SD 70's on my layout, since it's set in the mid 1980's. I would love to spend a bunch, but don't have it, but that doesn't stop my from enjoying my layout. Jeff Augsburg & Concord R.R. (a fictional shortline in Central Illinois) http://www.geocities.com/revnjeff/index.html
I'm in a season of life with two small children and a wife contemplating becoming a stay-at-home mom. So there's not much $ for my hobby. I started in N scale a few years ago. Christmas and birthdays help. I started by getting a LifeLike train set for Xmas - a CRI&P GP18, a few cars and an oval of track. I sold most items from 'former' hobbies to get a bit of a nest egg - about $300. With that money, I purchased a MRC transformer, wire, flex track, and a few turnouts, and cobbled together a 3 x 5 foot layout built on fiber board on a cheap wooden frame and folding table legs. For a birthday, I got a Woodland Scenics landscaping and tree kits (for about 30 bucks each) and with some old paint as 'glue' experimented with scenicking. I purchased a whole mess of cardstock buildings for about $20 from an outfit called EZStructures which I gradually colored and glued together over the period of a year or so. I purchased a Bachmann Old Time train set and a few other items on Ebay -and even at garage sales - they were cheap. And I've experimented with things I have around the house too. Lately, I've become enamoured with Tomix' Thomas the Tank engine line and have picked them up over the past year or so. With my young son's interest in mind, we mix and match eras, buildings and rolling stock. I guess I spend about $50-60 bucks a quarter on the hobby.
A Budget for the layout?!? You mean that there could actually be a limit on what I spend on the layout? NEVER! Next you will be trying to tell me that need to have stuff in the house to eat also. I like beans and Kool-Aid, now you want me to send the wife to the grocery with CASH to buy something else? I am saying the layout is only half finished, I need a lot of supplies to complete it. I guess I should feel very lucky, in the fact that I don't have a budget at all. If I need something I will go buy it. I have made my hobby almost self-supporting, by selling and trading items that are excess to my needs. My wife has seen that I don't just go out and buy stuff just to buy stuff. I will hold off buying to make sure that I really need items. I hope to get going on EBAY shortly to maybe a little extra $ It also helps to have a wife, who understands and likes my hobby.
Might I warn you about Ebay...once you learn how simple it is to get stuff, how large of a selection, and how incredibly cheap you can get most of it, you will find yourself with two addictions...BE CAreful!!! Well, at least this second addiction wears off after a while...after I built a fleet of steamers and stock, using Ebay and my local hobbystores(they like me), I have slowed done quite a bit...and I think I might have spent about $750, hat extra wad I have had saved up for something special. Luckily, I do not yet have a house or any great open spaces...for if I did, I might never get my degree finished! So school first, trains second after whatever else comes after school and my layout. Which in most cases will also be the person who can put themselves between my and my future children...so I say, a little disgression, common sense, and a good idea of how checkbook is doing are all sensible guidelines to budgeting for this hobby.
RogerDoger, when I was a young guy starting out, my dad gave me some advice, like HermanzGerman hit on: "Get a job for a car dealer when I want a car, work in a repair shop to learn how to work on them, a paint shop to learn body and paint, and by working like 'that' I will get valuable experience in whatever I want to do as well as the inside dope." It was good advice, and I followed it, now I'm retired, and my portfolios are full of many fond memories, (some that are mighty rough on the Taliban right now!) I bought one good tool out of each paycheck, and ended up with three roll-a-ways full. That was my "budget" until I got married, then I only got stuff as we needed it. A true budget would be hard to set up. I have one layout that eventually cost $6,000.00, and would sell it for $2,500.00 or scrap it out for parts on my new layout (maybe), and other layouts have cost practically nothing. If you spend your original $1,000.00 as you say, then only buy something as you need it, you will not feel the need for a budget. It doesn't hurt when you spread the cost out over a period of time. For a little over fifteen years I gave up having a layout to raise my children and go to school. During that time, I got the family and friends to give me train gifts for Birthdays etc, and would buy myself an engine occasionally. It never hurt our living budget. Now that I am retired, I have spent the money for the benchwork for my last layout I'm building, and I have everything else on hand I will need except for a couple of cans of paint. I did a lot of planning, and kept notes in a loose leaf binder during those years, so my interest was active, and now I can march right along. Don't worry so much about a "budget", just use common sense and don't go over-board, and you and your wife will enjoy it more. See?
