Model Railway Hobby Costs

[Tdm]

My wife says I spend too much on my model railway – but putting everything into perspective – it costs a lot more to run and maintain a motor car these days.

I thought I was getting away with cheap motoring over here as I don't pay road tax on my Classic Car, and petrol is only about the equivalent of 70 pence a Litre, and to-date the car has required very little spending on it in the 11 years we have lived here.

However when I got a local Garage to inspect the underside recently, they found most of the bushes, bearings, and track rod ends were shot and needed replacing.

No problem getting new parts, but getting the old ones off (which have been on for 38 years) proved a bit of a nightmare and has taken nearly a month of cutting and hammering.

The overall bill for parts & labour came to nearly €1,200, but would have cost a lot more if the job had been done in the U.K. The "top" side of the car I am perfectly capable of fixing myself, and touch wood everything is in good working order as far as engine and transmission, etc., is concerned.   

Looking forward to driving the car again, as much as I look forward to running trains on my layout.

[MJKERR]

Almost every hobby takes up time and money
It really depends on what you like

Some people have numerous hobbies and interests, but spend very little on each one, but when you total them up it can be quite staggering

I like my computers, travel, photography, model trains, and driving
I have been saving for my model trains since 2009
Last year I spent serious money on a three month holiday and a new car
This year I am spending that money saved for model trains
Once the layout is completed next year I am not likely spend any more money, so the money gets diverted to other interests
Puts it all in perspective really

[joe cassidy]

Presumably the value of your Classic Car increases year by year by an amount greater than whatever you spend to maintain it ?

Best regards,


Joe

[Tdm]

Presumably the value of your Classic Car increases year by year by an amount greater than whatever you spend to maintain it ?
Best regards,
Joe

Good Triumph Stags are now commanding high prices at Auctions and with specialist retailers,
and I would say mine is now worth more than double what I paid for it some 21 years ago, especially as it is a MK2 and one of the last off the Production Line. 

I have no intention of selling it though as I love driving it. The mechanic who has just completed the necessary underside repairs, said that he had loads of people who came to his Garage wanting to know if it was for Sale and wanting to buy it.

Not in "concours" condition as it is a daily driver car (almost), but it still looks good and attracts lots of admiring glances.  A picture of it out & about in Tenerife appears below.
Note the bootrack which is highly suited for picking up a large packet of model railway purchases from "Hattons"!

[Papyrus]

A hobby costs as much as you want it to cost. You can 'play trains' quite cheaply if you buy second-hand stuff, recycle, and are modest in your ambitions. Or you can have a massive Gauge 1 live steam layout in your garden which probably costs about the same as a very smart car. Other hobbies can be just as expensive. My fiancée has about a dozen musical instruments (not even top of the range ones) one of which cost nearly three thousand pounds. Golf? I know nothing about it, but I would imagine a decent set of clubs would be several hundred pounds, not to mention the trolley, club membership etc. Cycling? You can pay 4 figures for a pushbike. My stepson and his wife have six. God knows why...

I'm sure your wife has interests of her own. If she thinks you are spending too much, work out how much you can afford to spend on hobbies each month and divide it between you. No argument then!

Happy modelling,

Chris

[d-a-n]

When I first got some N gauge, I envisaged a real 'train set' - an oval of track round the desk, a loco or two and a few items of rolling stock and that'd be that.
And now I've spent about £270 on track, approximately £600 on rolling stock and around £600 on locomotives. There's also about £500 extra to consider with all the gifts I've received. So in short, I'd say what I have has cost just shy of £1500 - not a bad cost over nearly 4 years. I reckon my BMW cost me that over my two years of ownership in all the new bits I bought for it, rear tyres I smoked and all the electronic bits which went wrong!
Like others have said, hobbies can be made as expensive as you like, regardless of 'entry' costs; you just need to make sure your spending doesn't outweigh the pleasure you're getting from them!

[JayM481]

I have cars, currently in storage, and audio equipment, currently in use, that far exceeds the cost of trains. Plus considering the age of my kids, trains are a hobby we can do together, while the other stuff is really just for me.

As already said, it's what you feel you can spend. If you start thinking you have to take out loans for your hobbies, you should probably re-think.

[D1042 Western Princess]

I have a Railway Modeller magazine in which then state of the art' Minitrix 'Warships' are being advertised at 100/- (£5.00 in the 'toy town' currency we use these days).
Today I can buy an (almost 'state of the art') 'Warship' for £100 and add things like sound chips (unthinkable in 1971) for around half as much again (say £150 in total).

BUT

Let's compare incomes. In 1971 I had just started work and my weekly pay (after stoppages) was £7.01.00 (£7.05) for a 40 hour week, rising at 18 to a full man's wage of £10.10.00 (£10.50). 
In other words I could, if I wanted, buy two Warships a week.
When I retired last year my weekly take home pay was just over £600 so I could have purchased six Warships (or four fitted with sound chips) had I a mind to.

In 'real terms' the cost of locomotives has actually gone down (relative to wages) but, having said that, in line with other members where we have discussed the matter £100 (approximately) is the 'cut off' point for buying locomotives. Beyond that it becomes very difficult to justify the money on a hobby.

[NeMo]

In 'real terms' the cost of locomotives has actually gone down (relative to wages) but, having said that, in line with other members where we have discussed the matter £100 (approximately) is the 'cut off' point for buying locomotives. Beyond that it becomes very difficult to justify the money on a hobby.

I agree with D1042.

On the one hand the modern 'Warship' is immeasurably better than the Minitrix one, and much more research and development was put into making the model look like the real thing. However good the basic mechanism inside the Minitrix model, any attempt at aesthetics was essentially limited to a broadly 'Warship'-like shape and an approximately similar livery using whatever paint and decals happened to be handy!

However, I do think the £100 barrier remains a real psychological one for all but the most affluent (or profligate) modellers. Below that number it's a pocket money toy no worse than a tank of petrol or the weekly grocery shop, but above £100 you start comparing your model train to the cost of a new fridge, servicing the car, or whatever other expenses you have that month. Of course you can prudently lay away £50 a month until you have enough for your £300 'Pendolino' or whatever, but if you're on a budget that's a lot easier said than done when other things need to be paid for.

The fact that inflation has been close to zero for a few years now exacerbates the situation, I think. It's a tough problem. Do manufacturers design to a price or to a standard? Both are compelling arguments that appeal to parts of the hobby.

The various kickstarter projects are probably the best way to gauge which way the hobby wants to go. Take the Country Rolling Stock 'Mermaid' ballast wagon. £18.75 for a single model (yes, I know there are discounts for multiple purchases). How many people will want to pay £18.75 for a single four-wheel wagon built to the highest modern standards? If the answer is "lots of people", then that's a good sign the hobby is going towards expensive but excellent models. If the answer is "not enough to get the project off the ground" then the answer may be that there aren't enough people in the hobby with overflowing bank balances.

Cheers, NeMo

[Webbo]

Model railways are a pretty cheap hobby in my opinion. I have approximately 40 locos and 250 freight cars. Sounds like a lot, but. Say the locos are worth $100 each to buy new and the freight cars are $20 each, the total comes to $9000. With track, building kits, scenery materials and electronic goodies we can add another $6000 making a grand total of about 15 grand invested in this hobby by me. Considering that this investment has occurred over 15 years that works out to $1000 per year. This is a fraction of what it costs to run a car with servicing, depreciation, insurance, and repairs not to mention the money spent on other essentials including housing, medical, and food.

Building a model railway is cheap at even half the price.

Webbo

[Sprintex]

I'm sure your wife has interests of her own. If she thinks you are spending too much, work out how much you can afford to spend on hobbies each month and divide it between you. No argument then!

This is exactly how things work here The rent comes out of Clare's account, so we have a little spreadsheet with all the regular bills on (leccy, gas, Sky, ccl tax, shared car costs, etc) and all the food-shopping for the previous month. At the bottom is the figure I transfer to her to pay my (adjusted) half. The way it works out is that we both have an equal amount left to spend on whatever we want


Paul

[NeMo]

Say the locos are worth $100 each to buy new

But they're not. British outline N-gauge locos are nearer the £100 mark ($216 Australian) and increasingly over that price.

If British N-gauge locos were $100 Australian, i.e., £46, then we wouldn't be having this discussion! We'd all be at the loco train shop buying new toys!

Cheers, NeMo

[D1042 Western Princess]

On the one hand the modern 'Warship' is immeasurably better than the Minitrix one, and much more research and development was put into making the model look like the real thing. However good the basic mechanism inside the Minitrix model, any attempt at aesthetics was essentially limited to a broadly 'Warship'-like shape and an approximately similar livery using whatever paint and decals happened to be handy!

Cheers, NeMo

No disagreement from me there NeMo, but we should also remember what things were like in 1971. Manufacturers no doubt did their best but by modern standards their best was very poor. Laser scanning, CAD and other modern developments were like 'science fiction' back then and if you had even hinted that something as small as an N gauge loco could not only have individual control, but make lifelike sounds and so on as it went along they'd have carted you away 'to lie down'  !
Going slightly off topic, but with good reason, (just for a minute) and given the massive improvements of the past 45 years it makes me wonder what developments will occur by the year 2060!
Best wishes,
Greg.

[Ben A]

Hello all,

I understand that with hobbies, as with cars, houses or holidays, not all of us can afford to spend the same amount.

But I have never understood why people refer to £100 for a loco as a "psychological barrier."  Is there a similar barrier with cars?  Or CD players?  Or golf clubs?

If I want a particular item I'll look at it and then balance up its my view of its quality against my desire to have it and the price it is.

Also, bear in mind the £300 Pendolino is, in effect, two locomotives plus seven coaches, of three different types.  So allowing £100 for each locomotive, this means the coaches are, in effect, just over £14 each, which represents super value in my view.  Or, if we value the coaches at £20 (less than new Mk1s at Hattons) then each loco is the equivalent of £80.  Still very good value.

cheers

Ben A.

[paulprice]

I agree with Ben A 

I admit sometimes I look at the price of new models and think, the prices are getting higher, but then I look at the quality and think wow (I know its a subject for another posting but the only thing that worries me is reliability sometimes:)).

I must admit I still love finding a bargain, but I apply the rule if your not happy with the price don't buy it, I think the problem most of us have is we probably accumulate too much stock. I mean I'm supposed to be an LMS fan, but I must have nearly 50 loco's from other companies. Then there is my habit of collecting PO wagons as if they are going out of fashion and tank wagons, and Pullmans (the older ones).

All I tend to do if asked by the Domestic Overlord about my trains is say they were cheap.........am I wrong?