Chris,

Bear in mind, that the £99 meal provided enjoyment for four persons, not just for you. An equivalent $200 for a decent meal in Australia for four sounds quite alright to me.

I'm happy to hear from both Chris and Roy that there is seemingly nothing to worry about regarding the fortunes of Peco. Thank you  .

Webbo

Quote from: Webbo on March 22, 2026, 05:09:03 AMScott

At least you have the benefit of a strongish US$. Our Oz$ is worth only 70 cents of yours.

EtchedPixels telling us that Peco is a bit wobbly is cause for concern for future track and rolling stock availability.

Model railways can be as cheap as you want it to be, or the opposite.

Webbo

I think there was a click bait element to EtchedPixels video headline. In the end he said he thought Peco were OK. Yes Peco have made a loss the last couple of years and they have closed Pecorama for this year because it was making a loss. We don't know  but its quite probable that the rest of the business is good. Incidentally the Beer Heights Light Railway is still doing experience days and the management at Peco have stated the hope to be able to re-open Pecorama in 2027 albeit in a different format. When you look at the Peco accounts they have cash and cash equivalents of over £4 million and no ongoing debt which means they certainly aren't "wobbly".

Back to the hobby being expensive. It is more expensive than we would like but then isn't everything? I took my sister and her hubby out to lunch at a pleasant but not luxurious restaurant earlier this week and it cost me £99 for the four of us. That's not far off the cost of a Rapido 45 for something that only lasts a few hours. Also I'm taking grandchildren to Statfold Country Park for Thomas Day which has cost the price of another Rapido 45. In comparison to many things in life today our hobby doesn't seem so expensive.

Quote from: EtchedPixels on March 21, 2026, 12:30:37 PM

Quote from: maridunian on March 21, 2026, 08:52:20 AMI agree that prices of new locos and rolling stock are utterly staggering.

I am lucky, in that I probably could afford to buy new wagons for 2-3 hours' minimum wage or locos for 15-20, but I refuse to.

The vast majority of my collection is (at least) second hand, and I enjoy customising it all the more because it's old, worn and cheap (like me!)

Mike

In the past five years I think I've bought 4 half price coaches, one 33% off coach and a 47 with sound on special offer. It's simply too expensive a hobby at this point, and I am certainly not in the lower wealth bracket either.

People ask me why all the kids play train sims or model stuff in them instead, or in minecraft and stuff. There's a really simple pair of answers - cost and space.

I don't see some of the vendors surviving much longer if there is a big downturn. Peco are looking very wobbly, Hornby have problems but are at least trying to get a handle on them.

What evidence do you have to suggest Peco as being "very wobbly" I have heard no such thing, they are and always have been a very well managed business? The closure of Pecorama was a business decision based on the fact it made losses for many months of the year that the core business could no longer justify absorbing. That reflects issues in the leisure industry not their core business and it is a sign of a well run business to recognise the issue and act to mitigate not the other way round. Personally I don't think it is at all helpful making such statements unless there is hard evidence to back it up.

Scott

At least you have the benefit of a strongish US$. Our Oz$ is worth only 70 cents of yours.

EtchedPixels telling us that Peco is a bit wobbly is cause for concern for future track and rolling stock availability.

Model railways can be as cheap as you want it to be, or the opposite.

Webbo 

Quote from: njee20 on March 21, 2026, 11:58:01 PMI would say model railways are actually a cheap hobby. Yes you need to buy some trains and build a layout as an enter cost. But that's it. The ongoing costs are negligible; maintenance costs are very low, and you don't need to buy more trains. If you decide to sell up then you have very strong residuals.

I used to cycle competitively. A top mountain bike was about £6000 (you can easily spend double that now), you could reckon on spending probably £500–£1000 annually on consumables, just to keep the thing going! Then after a year it was worth £3000.

This is a good point. "Start up" costs can be high(ish) but once you're up and running it does/can level off.

I would say model railways are actually a cheap hobby. Yes you need to buy some trains and build a layout as an enter cost. But that's it. The ongoing costs are negligible; maintenance costs are very low, and you don't need to buy more trains. If you decide to sell up then you have very strong residuals.

I used to cycle competitively. A top mountain bike was about £6000 (you can easily spend double that now), you could reckon on spending probably £500–£1000 annually on consumables, just to keep the thing going! Then after a year it was worth £3000.

N gauge toy trains an investment? I don't think so!

Quote from: ntpntpntp on March 21, 2026, 08:35:57 PMnot an investment for the future.

That's never crossed my mind and I reckon it would be even foolish to think of model trains as an investment.

Weathering de-values models in my opinion, but it's of no consequence as the models are to be used on a layout - not an investment for the future.

i'm in the fortunate position in that i can afford to buy any brand new models i might want...but simply because i WONT buy them at the prices they are.

Even 2nd ( or tenth) hand stuff is often listed at laughable prices--because these del boy type dealers think they can rip off enough  innocent punters who dont know the real worth of what they are buying.

Like several others have mentioned--i get most pleasure in buying and bashing cheap models into something not available to buy off the shelf.