Resurrecting a 50 year old Memory


N

NFexec

New Member
Hi Folks,

I've been a forum member for a while, but have mostly been lurking and reading. When I was 11 (in 1961) my dad created a two-train HO setup on an L-shaped layout with two 4x8 plywood sheets. It was (for the day) pretty spectacular. Years later it was taken down to make room for a basement rec-room. I think my older brothers used it as a make-out room with their girlfriends (Yucky thought for a pre-teen). ;) I am now 63 and am thinking of creating my own HO model railroad. possibly a bit larger, with DCC, sounds, more realistic locomotives & cars, etc.

I've read a number of threads reviewing the "How Much Will a Model Railroad Cost" topic. I think I get the idea, but what I don't get is where can I find online catalogues showing actual prices? I need to create a budget, and want to do a really quality setup, but the costs will drive the size and complexity. So I need to get a better idea if I am talking a couple grand, or a multiple of that.

Anyone have links that show products with pricing?

Thanks, everyone.

Doug
 
Hey Doug,

Great to have you on here. Check out Model Train Stuff and Dallas Model Works; these are my favorites.

Others will have their own. If you feel lucky, try ebay. After years of avoiding it, now I find myself buying almost everything there.

lasm
 
I agree that Modeltrainstuff.com (MB Klein Hobby shop in Timonium, Maryland) http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/?gclid=CICTxtD3t7wCFaE7OgodrUcAag is a good place to shop with good prices, but for budgeting purposes, I would use the Walthers website http://www.walthers.com/exec/newproducts with its standard retail prices. If you plan for retail prices and can find product elsewhere for less then so much the better.
It might be worth it to just pick up a 2014 Walthers catalog for $12 or $15 and flip through it marking what you need or want and then go back and total it up. The printed Walthers catalog just for HO scale is about 1000 pages.
 
Good advice Jim. The Walthers catalog has been a mainstay of the hobby since the 1940's. I think around here somewhere I still have the first Walthers catalog I got when I was 10- 1962 or 1963. IIRC, the price was $0.75!

Welcome to the forum, Doug.
 
From long experience over the years [including many spectacular boo-boos!] yours truly now focuses on narrow shelf, branch line-type layout as my preference. It allows much longer r-o-w length for much more 'smileage', scenic displays. For me, narrow shelf greatly reduces cost [lumber, subroadbed, scenery material, paint, etc.]. If into Operation, it allows much more prototypical, satisfying switching turns, INcoming/OUTgoing interchanges for yours truly. A peninsula can be inserted anywhere along layout, even afterward and incorporated into existing trackplan. Everyone has their favorites in our Hobby and we must all search for them. Very Good Luck to you on your project! TTFN.....papasmurf
P.S. In my own case, local hobby dealers [with no store front], area train shows and internet are my sources-of-choice for anything model railroad [in my case, HO]. This has saved me a TON of $ over the years! And, selling surplus HO stuff at local train shows has generated much needed cash when my budget was tight.
 
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Welcome Doug. I bid you well in your endeavor. Walter's web site has most everything other than Athrean/roundhouse products and some small manufactors they don't distribute. So its a good reference but prices are all list. Model train stuff is great for selection prices and service. Local train shows and e-bay can get you good deals if you know enough to know when you see one, and stay away when you don't. You might be surprised how many items you had on that old memory of a layout you can still find today. I know, I'm just a few years younger than you.
 
Doug, you and I are the same age. I suppose I too am recreating old memories. Making new memories is less important I think. I was a model railroader from day one, I took time off for 20 odd years to raise my kids. Now I'm divorced, with a house in the desert, and a room begging for a railroad. I'm gonna do it, or rather I'm doing it. I had huge layouts in the past, built with nearly unlimited incomes and the strength of youth. Now, very little money, with time and a love of the hobby in abundance.

Lets be friends,

Jin
 
I have heard the cost per square foot is the same no matter what scale you use. N is cheaper than O, but you can put more into the space, as an example.
 
Hey Doug!

You already have great advice from all the heavy hitters on this forum so there is nothing for me to add except to say, welcome to the forum, glad to have you onboard!
 
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