Do you guys ever tally up total cost of your layout?


Pete V said:
Michael you are in such deep trouble, particularly with Caboose Hobbies just down the road. If you ever get to Albuquerque, look up Trains West on Candelaria. They have great stuff and a super selection.

Comparing what you've spent has to be viewed in the current inflationary market for trains. I would say that $9,000.00 is the equivalent of $314.00 in 1986 money. Things have really gone up.
Click to expand...

You're not kidding Pete. I go to Caboose Hobbies at least once a week! It kills me every time I go in there, because they have way too much cool stuff. I go nuts!
 
I havnt kept track so far, but I would venture a guess of about $2500 so far for my 16' x 2' yard and the other 15' of double track mainline
 
Well I've been working on the current and previous layouts (parts still in use) since about 1983. It started as a Christmas gift for my son. Him and his younger brother both added to it and now that they have moved out I guess one day they'll come looking for there stuff! (I'll have a few holes but they are welcome to it.) I know I'm cheap and got a lot of stuff cheaply but I'm sure it adds up to a tidy sum. But it's given me years of pleasure and many more to come, with less $$ needed all the time.
I kept tropical fish for 20 years and don't have a thing to show for it. My wife buys DVDs watches them once and puts them in the closet. (That's OK, she can't complain when I do spend some $$ on myself)
I think as long as you don't spend what you don't have, this hobby can be a rather inexpensive way of entertaining yourself.
 
I think we have to remember that this is a hobby, hobbies are not meant to be recorded as far as costs go. Some have a budget as to what they can spend over a certain time, some just save (when they can) for something they need/want but no matter how we acquire things for this great hobby we should not be an accounting house counting every penny we spend on our hobby but just enjoy each segment that we enjoy.

A hobby is supposed to be relaxing and a way to get rid of the pressures of every day life so let's look at it this way and not worry what we spend on it or we may have a heart attack know what was spent.
 
I second that! Well put!! I think we all know that this is an expensive hobby, but doing it as time and funds permit, then it can be a very enjoyable one...
 
I only know the exact figure because I put every single expense I have into budgeting software. I was a bit surprised at the money I had spent, but I get a great amount of enjoyment out of it and that's what counts. I've also bought enough that I could probably not buy any more engines or rolling stock ever* and still have enough for a satisfying layout once I can get the damned benchwork sorted.

*Not a guarantee :p
 
joed2323 said:
Like the title states, if a person is trying to start from nowhere, as in just getting into the hobby it could be rather expensive to do it right.

Do you guys ever keep track of what you have into your layout as in how much it costed to lay all your track and rd bed.

I guess you could put the contruction of the bench work infront of this, but if a person has alot of scrap wood laying around then this may not cost much at all to build the bench work.

Then you have all your locos and cars to make the layout what it is, i know some have a huge collection of cars they never use, so guess a person could add that up to if need be.

You also have every structure/ scenery added to your layout costs.

Then you have the source of powering your layout either dc or dcc.

Most ppl probably have been collecting for years so the cost doesnt seem alot perhaps.

Nobody ever said hobbies are cheap but wow, its never ending on what a person could spend on a layout if need be. I could easily see were it wouldnt take long to easily go over 1000 bucks easy.

I gotta start from scratch and i can easily see myself dropping 500 bucks on one visit to the hobby shop or online this week
Click to expand...

I only know the amount of the total of my brass locos and roughly the hours I put into making my structures; kits and scratch built.

When I was with a lower income or in between jobs, I found it very cheap and rewarding to build structures from scratch with cardboard, basswood, paper and details made by Tichi and Grandt Line. If you like to see some, just let me know.

I don't smoke, don't like booze and I don't have a car so that gives me a lot to spend on my hobby and travelling.
 
I've never added up my investment in model trains, monetary or otherwise. A friend once told me never to add up my receipts cuz id be upset with what I spent. That's been very true in the start of my project car, 2004 mustang gt. Any hobby it seems is expensive. Even smoking cigars which I like to do occasionally can be quite costly. Ive found it's best to enjoy the hobby and to try not to keep track of costs haha


Sent from the past
 
This costs nothing compared to keeping horses. If you have a 12 year old daughter and she falls for horses, do her future husband a favor and support her passion. She will most likely get over it and move on to boys.

If however this passion goes unrequited and that woman happens to be your sweetie and she turns 45 and discovers horses, she will spend every dime you every thought was in that joint checking and savings on hayburners.

Before I left New Mexico, I had just finished personally welding a one mile long 2 inch pipe fence with six foot no- climb wire. Then we came here where we built a new barn and I personally installed over 4800 running feet of 2x6 hemlock fencing in this rocky rocky ground. There was also a one mile long trail through the forest done with Cat 320. Every fall we load 750 bales of hay into the barn for winter feed.

The enormous advantage to this is that if I decide to buy train supplies, their cost is but a tiny blemish on the landscape. This is operating under the radar. I smile and nod a lot.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't believe I have replied to this. A friend asked the same question a few years ago, so I decided to try to figure it out. It got scary real fast. I thought I would start with track. After counting over 100 switches several of which are double slip I started to miscount trying to get lower numbers. Anyway I think I came up with 50 + locomotives. They are from $20 blue boxes to $500 BLI and Walthers / Riverossi. 300 + cars from $3 to $50. Structures, Control system, and the list goes on. After 16 years of modeling. I have no Idea. And don't really care to know
 
I just got back in the hobby after many years away. Starting from scratch in HO. I've hit it hard over the last 3 months, and have trains running on a 5x15' layout. So I have a current up close and personal view of this question. :)

I think that if you count everything, and it's decent quality, you're going to spend a minimum of about $50 a square foot, more likely double that, and quadruple that is probably not unusual. At the upper end the sky's the limit. I mean, some guys build custom buildings to house their layout.

That's very rough, but would give a newbie an idea of what they're signing up for.
 
You guys are not joking.... Just got back from my local hobby store. Ended up spending 400 dollars in one visit on flex track and probably 15-20 turnouts. Holy cow im glad i only brought 500 cuz i could have dropped a grand easily, lol im scared, what did i get myself into. haha
 
Selector said:
I am up to $1100 for my new layout, but that includes the purchase of a new elecrical jigsaw and a twin cordless driver set, one of them being an impact driver.
Click to expand...
I don't think you can count those cool tools because they are useful far beyond the scope of a model railroad.
 
Unfettered said:
$550 for the complete Empire Builder (13 cars + 2 engines) .....
Click to expand...
Is that the Mid-century Builder with two E units on the front? Or is that the 1955 version with domes? I got the Walthers cars to create a complete 1955 version with 18 cars and ABBA F7s on the point. They are the Proto-2000s and I've been most disapointed that I can only get them up to 70 smph. I've been thinking about regearing them to get closer to the 92 mph the Prototype was designed for, but just one more project on my list. I also got a set of the Big Sky Blue to do a 1968 train. Unfortunately I can't find anything to pull it with. It needs a couple of SD45s or SD40Ps.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"Do you guys ever tally up total cost of your layout?"
Nope! However, I know it's far more elbow grease than money and far less money than fishing! So, not jeopardizing the retirement account; or, the placement of food on the table, why worry!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top