Model Railway Hobby Costs

[paulprice]

[

But I'm supposed to be an LMS fan, just looking at rough prices I'm looking at £50 for points alone

Couldn't you do an LMS branch on the border of GWR territory then?

Possibly but I'm really looking for an excuse to run my GWR stock, at least I don't have to buy anymore, though a Union Mills Dean Goods would be handy

[railsquid]

How about creating a fantasy company to combine the two? You could call it the London, Northern and Western Railway. 

[steve836]

When I used to model in that other gauge (which I won't name as this is a family forum) I modelled the GER section of  BR(E) but to run other regions stock I included a bit of the North London line which connected to all regions and served as an interchange route. Another ploy might be, and I'm talking from ignorance here, weren't there any common routes with the Western on similar lines to the M&GN route to East Anglia or the running rights that GER and L&Y enjoyed over each others metals?

[railsquid]

How about the Shrewsbury and Wellington Joint Railway?

[D1042 Western Princess]

Have you seen the list price for Bachmann's new OO autocoach - £68.95!!! I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come.

Interestingly I have seen a review in one of the model railway magazines (Modelrail, I think) and it doesn't rate too highly, only in the high 80s per cent (88% if memory serves).
For nearly £70 I'd have expected high 98 plus, and I can't think I'm alone.

[JasonBz]

As just one of these and a 14xx (or 64xx) makes a whole train I do suspect Bachmann have priced it higher than a normal coach would be.

Most times yes, but on busy services such as seaside lines in summer, or even commuter routes, it was not unknown for a tank engine to be sandwiched between two autocoaches.

You can have up to two at each end, The (pre Tamar Bridge) Plymouth- Saltash shuttles were routinely two autocoaches.
I was trying to point out that in Bachmann land it is possible to have a full train with just the one - So potentially a slight extra mark up opportunity

[DELETED]

Whilst on the subject of money - the other day my 40 year car radio/cassette player in my Stag gave up the ghost, and I only kept my old cassette tape collection for use in the car.

I decided I would replace it with a more modern car stereo system into which I could plug my MP3 player as it is on that I keep copies of most of my music, and I can now throw away the cassettes as I already have copies of the ones I like on CD and the MP3 player.

After taking measurements I asked in our local TV/Radio/Phone/etc electrical shop if they had just a simple basic model that would fit in the car. I came away with an AEG Stereo Car Radio with USB & Card Reader (model AR 4027 USB/CR) which cost me €49.90 (aprox £36 Sterling) and am currently making an adaptor plate so that it will fit in Stag's dash as the existing one is unique to the Blaupunct model it used to house.

Out of curiosity is the above model sold in the U.K., and if it is how much does it cost?
When I looked at places like Argos a similar type of device in the U.K. seemed a lot more expensive.

Lots of options in the UK (I lost count of how many stereos I've fitted over the years), your AEG one fits firmly in budget / unbranded or Chinese category -lots the spec a plenty.  If it were me with a classic I's fit a modern retro look radio -but it's all down to cost etc.  One thing for sure on forums is if you find a cheap option, someone will come along with  cheaper / better one.  If you get something for free, the next man got paid for it so yo will never win and what you pay is what you pay...

(I sympathise -spent last week looking for a new car for my my Mum as her '06 Clio blew a head gasket.  Car sorted, since,  the radio failed in my 09 Ibiza 2 days ago so I have to start ripping the dash and head lining apart also to troubleshoot).  Cars, I love them but GRRR sometimes...

[D1042 Western Princess]

Moving into the larger 'family sized' boxes a 'bumper box' of fireworks costs about the same as a locomotive (£80 - £100).
The point being, of course, that the fireworks last just one night but, used with care, the rolling stock might last many years.

Compared to the costs of the fireworks the models are really cheap and I know where I'd sooner spend my £100. Where did I leave my Hatton's catalogue?

And if the worst comes to the worst you can always sell the locomotive or whatever. That's what I tell myself each time I buy something. 

Well, in theory you could also sell the used fireworks too....

 

I know,      

[D1042 Western Princess]

You can have up to two at each end, The (pre Tamar Bridge) Plymouth- Saltash shuttles were routinely two autocoaches.
I was trying to point out that in Bachmann land it is possible to have a full train with just the one - So potentially a slight extra mark up opportunity

I did get your point Jason but still wonder why the model of a coach is priced at nearly as much as a locomotive?

[JasonBz]

You can have up to two at each end, The (pre Tamar Bridge) Plymouth- Saltash shuttles were routinely two autocoaches.
I was trying to point out that in Bachmann land it is possible to have a full train with just the one - So potentially a slight extra mark up opportunity

I did get your point Jason but still wonder why the model of a coach is priced at nearly as much as a locomotive?

I think the only answer to that "Is because they can.."
on the subject of Fireworks - you can at least use the used Rocket sticks for something useful on the old train set

[Graham Walters]

[

But I'm supposed to be an LMS fan, just looking at rough prices I'm looking at £50 for points alone

Couldn't you do an LMS branch on the border of GWR territory then?

This is exactly what our club are building at the moment, a layout  called High Offley, it's a scenario based on an LNER line joining a GWR line, the set up is quite complicated and invvoles a number of points and two double slips.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/77373-high-offley-formerly-exchange-sidings/