Cost of N Gauge Models in Context

[Bealman]

This has been on top of this bookcase for 7 years (at least) 

[Chris Morris]

Strange thread.
One thing about trains is you don't expect them to crash from a height and be re-kitted, well at least I don't. 

It's happened to me on a few occasions. Back when I was a lad and we had a layout in the loft a loco left the track and went through the loft hatch bouncing on the steps right down to the landing. The body was a mess but the chassis ran better than ever afterwards. More recently I've inadvertently driven a battery RC g scale loco straight through the buffer at the end of the line and from there it did a spectacular dive into the greenery below. My grandson has also driven a loco off the other end of my garden railway. Perhaps it's in the genes!

[Newportnobby]

This has been on top of this bookcase for 7 years (at least) 

Wot? The dog?

[tutenkhamunsleeping]

Wot? The dog?

No, you fool, the line-dancing trophy

[exmouthcraig]

Wot? The dog?

No, you fool, the line-dancing trophy

I thought George was an award winning Schuhplattler dancer 

[Newportnobby]

Wot? The dog?

No, you fool, the line-dancing trophy

Small escape of wee, there

[railsquid]

This has been on top of this bookcase for 7 years (at least) 

Funnily enough I have something similar gathering dust on top of a bookcase. Mrs. Railsquid bought it for me, in the pre-N gauge era, bless her. Was kind of fun for a few times but not really my cup of tea, then the hassle of charging it up, taking it outside and trying to fly it without damage (I suspect I failed in that) meant it ended up there, subsequently with the vague idea of salvaging it for N-gauge relevant parts (!).

[MatP]

Dear All,

Having not posted anything to any N gauge fora for many years, I felt strangely compelled to add my four penn'orth to this discussion...

I find it interesting that in the late 90's a newly-released 57xx Farish pannier cost about 10 times what you'd pay for a Farish vent van, now with a 64xx it's more like 5-6 times (based on the cost of brand new stuff). I guess that reflects labour costs apart from anything else.

Price and value no doubt depends in part on whether you're buying a single model to add to a collection or trying to stock a layout completely from scratch (assuming anybody is still doing the latter, I hope they are!).

I've tried to upload a couple of photos: if they come out, I hope they will be rather more interesting than any of the above. They're both of repaints I've done recently.

The 37 was bought as a green-liveried scrapper off eBay about two years ago. I repainted it as a lockdown project. It probably cost about £35 including paint, transfers and three replacement gears. It could do with some snowploughs (but not nameplates, as it's in mid-1987 condition, when it had lost its name to a 37/4). A Farish 37/0 in large logo livery sold for £155 on eBay the other day (a limited edition "Loch Eil", admittedly a better body shape than mine, nose doors excepting, I'm not bothered about lights or DCC). Anyway, I am happy with my cheap version. I made the Scottish-style extra headlight out of a piece of translucent plastic (nylon?) from the end of one of those plastic tags you get on new clothes.

I do hope these photos come out, otherwise all this will be a bit of a damp squib!

The other picture is of a wagon I bought off eBay and repainted (before lockdown, as it now lives in Wales and I don't). It was very rusty but in full working order and cost 300 euros (about £260). I admit it needed a bit more paint than the 37 and the p&p was rather higher as it came from Germany, but the basic cost was about the same as a brand new Farish 37 and three-four new Mk1's. It still needs a bit of welding on the top strut (I have a piece of old pressed-steel sleeper to patch it with, as soon as the Welsh border is open for non-essential travel).

Or in other words, whatever "melts your butter"...!

Best Wishes,
Mat

[Bealman]

Wot? The dog?

No, you fool, the line-dancing trophy

Watch it, you lot. I'll have you know that dog is solid brass and has a pup, unfortunately lying on it's back out of sight. The line dancing trophy says:

"In appreciation Mr G. Green, Coach, Dapto Soccer Premiers 1978" 

[Bealman]

Oh, and G'day from Australia, Mat, and welcome to the NGF! 

[emjaybee]

Wot? The dog?

No, you fool, the line-dancing trophy

Watch it, you lot. I'll have you know that dog is solid brass and has a pup, unfortunately lying on it's back out of sight. The line dancing trophy says:

"In appreciation Mr G. Green, Coach, Dapto Soccer Premiers 1978" 

Odd name for a dancing club...

...maybe it's an Antipodean thing.

[emjaybee]

Dear All,

Having not posted anything to any N gauge fora for many years, I felt strangely compelled to add my four penn'orth to this discussion...

I find it interesting that in the late 90's a newly-released 57xx Farish pannier cost about 10 times what you'd pay for a Farish vent van, now with a 64xx it's more like 5-6 times (based on the cost of brand new stuff). I guess that reflects labour costs apart from anything else.

Price and value no doubt depends in part on whether you're buying a single model to add to a collection or trying to stock a layout completely from scratch (assuming anybody is still doing the latter, I hope they are!).

I've tried to upload a couple of photos: if they come out, I hope they will be rather more interesting than any of the above. They're both of repaints I've done recently.

The 37 was bought as a green-liveried scrapper off eBay about two years ago. I repainted it as a lockdown project. It probably cost about £35 including paint, transfers and three replacement gears. It could do with some snowploughs (but not nameplates, as it's in mid-1987 condition, when it had lost its name to a 37/4). A Farish 37/0 in large logo livery sold for £155 on eBay the other day (a limited edition "Loch Eil", admittedly a better body shape than mine, nose doors excepting, I'm not bothered about lights or DCC). Anyway, I am happy with my cheap version. I made the Scottish-style extra headlight out of a piece of translucent plastic (nylon?) from the end of one of those plastic tags you get on new clothes.

I do hope these photos come out, otherwise all this will be a bit of a damp squib!

The other picture is of a wagon I bought off eBay and repainted (before lockdown, as it now lives in Wales and I don't). It was very rusty but in full working order and cost 300 euros (about £260). I admit it needed a bit more paint than the 37 and the p&p was rather higher as it came from Germany, but the basic cost was about the same as a brand new Farish 37 and three-four new Mk1's. It still needs a bit of welding on the top strut (I have a piece of old pressed-steel sleeper to patch it with, as soon as the Welsh border is open for non-essential travel).

Or in other words, whatever "melts your butter"...!

Best Wishes,
Mat

Welcome!

We need to know more, much more, about the metal wagon. Location, gauge, motive power, your involvement etc., etc.

[Newportnobby]

Hello Mat, and welcome aboard.
The thing is, in the 2000s the Chinese government decreed wages in China should rise by 20% each year for a 5 year period so, basically, the good times were over. That being said the models we get nowadays are far superior in looks to the older models

[MatP]

Hi all,

I have no problem with workers being paid a fair wage, none whatsoever, but I do have a bit of a problem with supply not meeting demand, which I think is a real problem in our hobby (the reasons for it, good and bad, having been rehearsed many times in these pages).

I do find modern models a bit over-specified for my own needs, and difficult / intimidating to tinker with (I recently had to deal with an overheating capacitor in a Dapol 26, that was a world of not-fun, and the lights didn't take kindly to being unplugged). I prefer older stuff that I can mess about with - but demand / supply issues also push second hand prices up, particularly since the lockdown and particularly on eBay (something else that has no doubt been discussed to death on modelling fora).

All that said, I have recently fitted a 37418 bodyshell (from Bob at BR Lines / Farish spares) to a 2008-ish vintage  Farish 37 chassis and it was an absolute doddle (the loco looks fantastic, the high-intensity headlight works even though the donor loco didn't have one and the whole thing cost way less than buying a new 37418 off eBay).

The model of 37407 that surreptitiously crept into the back of my photo was painted by a contact of the proprietor of the Lichfield Train Shop. I bought it in about 1990 while doing my GCSE's - it took me a whole year to save up for it. The chap who painted it also rebuilt it with <Hallelujah Chorus> white gears. It still runs fine - so a good investment there.

I volunteer at the Bala Lake Railway (where the photo of Tippy the Tipper Wagon was taken) and have recently (re-)built a Dinorwic Quarry slate wagon in my garage for them using original ironwork (some of it pre-WW1) and all-new timber. That gave me a hankering for buying something of my own but I had to look abroad as I couldn't find any NG rolling stock for sale in the UK at a decent price. I did however want to avoid a wagon that might have been used on a Nazi forced-labour site in WW2.

Tippy was built in the early 1950's by LKM (Karl Marx Locomotive Works) at their plant in Rostock (or possibly at their main factory in Leipzig). He's 60 cm gauge, weighs about 350kg (empty) and is a Communist knock-off copy of the Orenstein-Koppel-Nazi-era version of the Decauville late WW1 / Maginot Line works railway tipper wagon original design. I painted his wheel rims red as a nod to his Communist ancestry. He carries Bala Lake Railway no.83 and "Eiddo MP" (which is Welsh for "Property of MP") on one of the chassis cross-members.

I now also own an original Decauville chassis to go with "Tippy" (cost me £50!!! and was exported to the UK before WW2 so no provenance issues). It needs structural welding, which I have arranged to get done at the North Norfolk Railway (where I also volunteer). I hired a van to swap the wagons over, only for Mr. Johnson to announce the lockdown on the evening before I was due to drive to Wales. But the needs of one railway enthusiast don't amount to a hill of beans in the present situation, of course.

I am thinking of using this chassis to build a micro-sleeper coach to stay in when I am in Wales At 6' x 3' there might even be room for an N gauge layout (so back on topic!).

Best Wishes,
Mat

[Rabbitaway]

I am glad to see the thread is now becoming less serious as intended

Interesting points about the use of hobby related things. The helicopter was bought to fly with my daughter so gets used, I have just ordered another so we can fly one each (choice or two transmitter bands on these). Get about 8 minutes flying time. They may end up on a shelf in a few months but we will have had our fun

I have specific items of n gauge stock that gets a lot less use and three motorcycles, V8 muscle car, now are all these worth keeping, that is another question