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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
Remember, you don't have to jump into the deep end right away. You can always buy a little at a time to spread the cost out. Some items can be bought used at train fairs or even here from fellow board members. You have to realize that most of the layouts you've seen have been the result of many months and in most cases, years of effort acquiring and building.
If it were the case that we had to buy everything in a short amount of time, there would be far, far fewer of us in the hobby. Oftentimes, some of the best times are those spent drooling, I mean anticipating, a new purchase. Remember the old saying, good things come to those that wait.
I'd have to say that a typical, quality, layout, say with dimensions of 10x15, when finished will likely have eaten up anywhere from $8k to $15k, sometimes more. Those seen in the magazines are pretty much $25k and up...often waaay up!
I've heard of a number of private layouts that have run to $250k, so indeed this can be a very expensive hobby...today more than at any time in the past since so much of what is being bought is expensive RTR, rather than being built by the hobbyist.
I started in September 2011 and am over 3k, half of which was a tax refund. This has included 10 locos + decoders, NCE PowerCab, 10 turnouts, a decent amount of sectional and flex track, 29 freight cars, a California Zephyr set, and various tools + some wood. Everything was bought new. My layout isn't even off the ground yet because I need more wood but rely on my brother with a car to cart it around and he's a lazy SOB. You could easily get started for far less, my spending just kind of snowballed!
I'll probably be $400 - $500 into this switching layout when it's done. I still have to buy all the track, I have one of the structures so far, and scenery items.. oh can't forget the lumber!
Since we started the construction of our new layout, my gf had a good idea to save all of the receipts for everything we bought. It is actually really interesting to see the cost, also takes the wind out of you lol. In benchwork alone we are approaching $400
Yes, The very first Youth In Model Railroading Module that we did from scratch for my son we kept track of every penny. I even tried to deduct useful leftovers. For a fully sceniced 2x4 module with two straight through tracks it cost $197.28. That would be the one on the right in the photo below. It was all nature scenery, a city module with buildings and vehicles could run much higher. On the other hand had we been able to shop around and pick up the things on sale or 2nd hand I am certain we could have brought it in for less than half that.
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
Hmmm I sneezed and spent $200 at the swap meet last week. I cannot pass up a bargin. I got a pile of decoder equipped Proto-2000 locomotives for $20 each.
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. I will need some more track and about three more turnouts, maybe four. And, I will need another $120 in scenery and terrain materials. Otherwise, I will salvage a bunch of stuff from my current layout. So, I expect the total by 'completion' next September or so to be in the range of $1400-$1500. I sold a telescope for $800 to help pay for it.
Do you remember that big digital readout board that shows the national debt mounting by the second?.....
This is like the mechanical aspect of building a house. If you think about the whole house at once it will make you crazy. First you have to think about how you want the view. Then is the drainage going to work? Then you shoot some levels, set stakes and start to dig. This goes on and on and is not an overnight project. We always celebrated getting out of the ground which I absolutely hate. At that point you knew you were still six months out minimum before trying to extend the contractors short term loan..
With my trains, I began to collect things but had no real time for them in 1986. I would go to Albuquerque and get things that were simply pretty to me. I bought and stored stuff and did that for almost 25 years. My tortoise machines have price tags on them starting at $12.95 from the early days and the most recent are $19.00. I have the very earliest Digitrax DCC and a bunch of regular DC controllers as well. I did set up some simple modules just to get a contact high but not a layout. Then we moved and it was all packed away deep in the 100's of boxes on those 53 ft trailers.
When 2008 hit, I had thought I was going to retire. We had moved to the tree farm and were watching our little financial world collapse in to nothing. There were some presents for the kids but it was really bad. My sweetie of 37 years said to me "Let's open up the basement and set up all those trains" and so we did. Christmas was box after box of unopened jewels. Kits that have long since been discontinued. Lichen that was so dry it just crumbled away. Engine after engine in DC. Boxes of unopened cork and 100 flex track. Athearn kits unopened. Tons of turnouts. It was all there waiting.
My boy is fearless in electronics and he began to wire in decoders that I had hoarded. Since I have this tree farm, Lumber for benchwork was not a problem but getting it from the storage sheds to the basement in mid New Hampshire winter was. We lugged it up the hill on snowshoes. The two of us assembled the bones of it over Christmas break two years back and this Christmas had the continuous dog bone loop of the first section , about 17 x24 joined to where I could actually run a train while I worked on other stuff.
It is probably $25,000 at this point spread out over 20 years, maybe, probably more. If I knew I'd feel really guilty. I'm sure I have gotten off cheap. What I have learned is to do what I love and let that be enough. That has turned out to be scratch building which I could be a lot better at but I get better every day. It's a lifetime involvement if you're really lucky.
Well since I started with completely nothing just a little over 2 years ago. My spending is out of wack compared to the rest of you guys who have been collecting/building for more than 10 years.
I would guess for my 20' x 15' layout. Everything from benchwork, scenery, to locomotives and rolling stock.
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.
Oh Jeepers, I dont have enough appendages to count over 21!
Seriously?
Last year when we moved in, all the engines were cataloged ,DCC addresses recorded along with photos (insurace reasons) along with a value. That alone came to over $9,000. Not to mention around 400 freight and passenger cars. Cases of unbuilt structure kits and 36 feet of completed modular layout. Plus a NCE PHP with radio throttles.
I'm lucky this took me many years to get all this. If I'd have done it in 1 fell swoop or even over 5 years, I'm afraid I'd be on that Divorce Court TV show!
