Or hockey. I have friends and loved ones who play and even just playing local is expensive. If you play in tournaments and on travel teams, it's even more so. I also have a friend who did dressage competitions when she was younger and she didn't even own her own horses. Cars? I'm in that hobby as well as model trains and maaaan ain't nothin' cheap there.
Is this hobby still worth it?
- Thread starter homersimpsonlikestrains
- Start date
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Both our daughter and son played hockey. Different age groups for 10 years straight I don’t want to add up what we spent. Our grandson (daughter’s kid) plays hockey almost year round and also plays soccer. Just what they spend on hotel rooms each year is heart stopping. Sticks are anywhere from $125 to $300+ and they break.
Again expensive is relative to your circumstances. If you want into a hobby, any hobby, you will find a way
She's lucky that she's a cute 115# and a hell of a guard dog.
Pets have become a luxury.
I have a Working dog that knows its job and just wants to be left alone to do it. It took us a while to realize it wasn't stubbornness, it was genetics.
I was not until I found a local Train show and train store that I really could get into this. I feel that this is not talked about enough! I think if we encourage those who are interested that there are other ways of stating out with trains, besides starter sets, that it be worth it. Look for hobby shows. Make a drive to a model store. Ask around on forms like this one!
I think the problem is getting the young to realize that this is possible. I'm not going to lie, I didn't think I would ever be able to get anything.
I just dreamed on...Watching I LOVE TOY TRAINS....
And even now, I still have a hard time growing the collection!
Sorry, Marlin39, with your comment of eliminating 90% of the people in the hobby, that may be true and it is also one of the causes of prices being so high. People would rather have it built for them rather than buying "detail parts" and customizing a boxcar or locomotive themselves.
As far as manufacturers going out of business, this hobby has been around for decades, there will always be a company to take another's place. As for prices, maybe this is just what we need to get back to the pricing it once was and in doing so, people will start to kitbash, scratch build, customize what they have or get something second hand and "detail it up" to what they want.
That's what is great about this hobby, you CAN build your model railroad the way you want it. Be it buy everything to buy only details and build everything.
This hobby will never go completely away. We don't hear much about S scale (at least I don't see much of it) but that doesn't mean people don't model that scale anymore. That IS the scale for scratch building. As is On30 today.
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traiNscale
Well-Known Member
i mean just on the tech side.
so many small creators starting there own business out of modelrailroading thnx to 3D printing or Lasercutters for the "normal" people. More and more of that is showing up and its getting more and more excited. the big manufacturer now have to compete with small enthusiastic people that create awesome stuff. this hobby will not die, it will expand!
so many small creators starting there own business out of modelrailroading thnx to 3D printing or Lasercutters for the "normal" people. More and more of that is showing up and its getting more and more excited. the big manufacturer now have to compete with small enthusiastic people that create awesome stuff. this hobby will not die, it will expand!
TLOC
Well-Known Member
I can relate to this. The wife up until the end of 2024 has had horses since 1999. Never less than 3. Feed was the equivalent to 2-3 current priced sound diesels.
Both our daughter and son played hockey. Different age groups for 10 years straight I don’t want to add up what we spent. Our grandson (daughter’s kid) plays hockey almost year round and also plays soccer. Just what they spend on hotel rooms each year is heart stopping. Sticks are anywhere from $125 to $300+ and they break.
Again expensive is relative to your circumstances. If you want into a hobby, any hobby, you will find a way
Just like dogs. Pet food, Pet insurance (no way), and vet medicine are a money making racket. We spent about $15k last year just for 2 ACL surgeries. We're well into the mid 5 figure range for the last 6 years.(puppy day care, food, vet bills, etc)
She's lucky that she's a cute 115# and a hell of a guard dog.
Pets have become a luxury.
Gary B
The Fox Valley Railroad
The nice thing about model railroading is it a hobby that you can keep adding to. Friends see my layout and say, man that must have cost a lot. I tell them, a bit but I spent it over many years and now I have something greater for my efforts. I figure it's cheaper (and healthier) then sitting in a bar every night and having a few beers.
Gary B
The Fox Valley Railroad
We just had to put down our dog last week. Two previous leg surgeries had left her with muscle loss, she had gone blind and had doggy dementia. Sammy ended up costing a small fortune for a mut over the last 14 years, even to dispose of her remains. But she was our best friend and I guess we'll do it all again.
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
Gary.....Sorry for the loss of your dog.
Is having a dog or cat considered to be a "hobby"? Dogs seem to become family and cats, well they're cats but do become (in some cases) family. Having fish or maybe a hamster is more of a hobby thing to me when it comes to living creatures.
I usually think of a hobby as a non-living thing but more of something to do. Buts thats just me.
John
Is having a dog or cat considered to be a "hobby"? Dogs seem to become family and cats, well they're cats but do become (in some cases) family. Having fish or maybe a hamster is more of a hobby thing to me when it comes to living creatures.
I usually think of a hobby as a non-living thing but more of something to do. Buts thats just me.
John
boogietrain94
Well-Known Member
HECK try airsoft and or paintball that hobby is expensive both financially and physically
Gary B
The Fox Valley Railroad
John, I totally agree, a pet is much more than a hobby. I was responding to the previous post on comparing costs of various interests. I also was somewhat selfishly posting just in memory of my recently lost companion. That said, pets do offer some of the same benefits that hobbies do providing mental stimulation and support. They also competent for the same financial and time resources. I do know many people that pour as much time and energy and get as much enjoyment and satisfaction out of their pets as any of us do our hobbies.
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One advantage to a hobby is most GP40s don't need to be housebroken.
Canalligator
Well-Known Member
Worth it? When I needed a distraction from medical issues, model railroading did the trick. Worth every cent.
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
Lisl von Schlaf was family to me. My companion, protector, confidant, and friend.
Her training that we both worked on was the hobby.
Her training that we both worked on was the hobby.
You had a Working dog that needed and wanted to be worked.
I have a Working dog that knows its job and just wants to be left alone to do it. It took us a while to realize it wasn't stubbornness, it was genetics.
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TheXModelRailroader
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM FOUNDER
Or almost every guy hobby out there! I mean, just thinking of the other few I prefer, Radio controlled models, Model kits, slot cars, real cars, Airsoft, Real Guns, Legos (Yes, even Legos--https://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Technic-Volvo-Hybrid-Excavator/dp/B0DS2T8YWV?ref_=pb_hm_dp), they all have a expensive side!
TheXModelRailroader
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM FOUNDER
I can not predict the future, but this is something modeler have been saying for a long time as video games came out and young seemed less interested in trains. While less of the population may not take a likening to Model Trains that doesn't mean that there wont still be some who keep it going. I am part of the younger generation. I only just turned 20, and as I grew up many found it odd (And great) that I had gotten into model trains. But I have to say, for the longest, I could not get any actual model trains as they were expensive in most cases.
I was not until I found a local Train show and train store that I really could get into this. I feel that this is not talked about enough! I think if we encourage those who are interested that there are other ways of stating out with trains, besides starter sets, that it be worth it. Look for hobby shows. Make a drive to a model store. Ask around on forms like this one!
I think the problem is getting the young to realize that this is possible. I'm not going to lie, I didn't think I would ever be able to get anything.
I just dreamed on...Watching I LOVE TOY TRAINS....
And even now, I still have a hard time growing the collection!
Selector
Well-Known Member
The answer to this can only come from an internal reference point. I spent tons on the hobby starting in 2005 and have largely stopped. It's not like I can't afford to break an engine or drop a car and replace it; I have enough holdings to last a lifetime. Instead, over the past three years, I have been plugging away at astronomy with the purchase of several telescopes and a back yard observatory kit. I just wish I'd started even five years earlier, when my eyesight was better than it currently is. A good quality refractor telescope is about USD$2800, but the best can run to USD$25K. And that's just for the optical tube (tube, objective lens and its holding cell, and rear tube back and focuser...no finders, no eyepieces). Then, a decent quality mount and tripod, usually sold together, but not always, will run a person USD$2500 and on up. Including counterweights if the design needs them to counterbalance a heavy optical tube. That's at the prices for a C&O H-8 2-6-6-6 in brass by Division Point or something like that. Actually, they're less, but close enough.
Next, you need eyepieces to look through the scope. They focus the image coming from the objective lens cell down the tube and out to your eye. You need at least two, but most of us have several. The best run about USD$400 a pop, but some run out to USD$2000 (Zeiss, Pentax, Leica). Same prices for a BLI steamer or a brass one.
Hobbies are necessarily meant for discretionary income. Some have it, some don't. Life's like that.
Next, you need eyepieces to look through the scope. They focus the image coming from the objective lens cell down the tube and out to your eye. You need at least two, but most of us have several. The best run about USD$400 a pop, but some run out to USD$2000 (Zeiss, Pentax, Leica). Same prices for a BLI steamer or a brass one.
Hobbies are necessarily meant for discretionary income. Some have it, some don't. Life's like that.
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
I spent a ton of money on a Mead LX55 6" refractor back in 2001 and it wasn't even a scratch in the telescope world next to a Televue, or other high end optics like you have.
I gave it up as it was a PITA to get that optical tube and mount onto a 48" pier every time I wanted to observe. The bugs and the heat and cold didn't help either.
I gave it up as it was a PITA to get that optical tube and mount onto a 48" pier every time I wanted to observe. The bugs and the heat and cold didn't help either.
kgstakes
Well-Known Member
I agree with Trailrider, you can always scratch build, structures, railroad cars, even locomotives. We all basically scratch build scenery so all the other stuff can be achieved if you just try.
Sorry, Marlin39, with your comment of eliminating 90% of the people in the hobby, that may be true and it is also one of the causes of prices being so high. People would rather have it built for them rather than buying "detail parts" and customizing a boxcar or locomotive themselves.
As far as manufacturers going out of business, this hobby has been around for decades, there will always be a company to take another's place. As for prices, maybe this is just what we need to get back to the pricing it once was and in doing so, people will start to kitbash, scratch build, customize what they have or get something second hand and "detail it up" to what they want.
That's what is great about this hobby, you CAN build your model railroad the way you want it. Be it buy everything to buy only details and build everything.
This hobby will never go completely away. We don't hear much about S scale (at least I don't see much of it) but that doesn't mean people don't model that scale anymore. That IS the scale for scratch building. As is On30 today.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)