Budget Railroading

Hello Edstrains.........

 

We survived by NOT using credit cards period. The trains we buy are NOS and LOT cheaper than the VL Big Boy.  We have more fun with lower cost trains. Best way is to STAY out of debt if you can. We were in 178,000 dollars in debt so we sold our house in 2004 and paid off all the debtors and now debt free since !!! Now that's what we called "FREEDOM".  NOTHING is worth owing money to.  When you owe money, you are a slave to the lender (banks, credit card companies, others).

 

Tiffany

Ed

regardless of the FUNDS situation, there is always room for that extra train you got will bargain hunting. The last few hours of the last day always yield some motivated sellers.

 

On the other hand when funds get tight this is always a good tome to use and appreciate what you already have instead of focusing on the Next Train.

You are right.  

 

Although I use credit cards alot - can't buy online without them and I shop a lot online.  But I don't use the credit, just the card, part - pay them off each month.  

 

I agree debt-free is great - a goal to get to as quickly as you can and then stay there.  But I really think that when you are in debt, the proper way to look at it is that your are not a slave to the banks and credit-card companies, as much as to yourself.  

Just setting up an around the room layout. I had a dual guage layout in our family room that I took down to remodel. I determined to only use track and switches from old layout. Also used all scrap lumber from the old layout. Trains? I have more than I can operate at one time now. So I'm not looking for more. I also purchased all I have before retirement. No credit purchases for hobbies has always been a golden rule for me also. I have thought that having parents who came through the depression had a rub off on us as well. They had to make do with what they had. Today kids need the latest and best and want t now. The media drives that.

Budget and model railroading are often very far apart. While I have expressed my opinion many times on keeping costs reasonable; if I look at my collection in the basement, it seems to say otherwise. I have always been completely debt free but a buy here and a buy little there over a period of many years equals an immense collection of trains.  I am convinced that model railroaders become slaves to the hobby..... but you have to have some fun in your leisure time at home. Now its off to the great Trainstock event.

I've never purchased something that I couldn't pay for immediately. I do use credit cards, but the balance is paid in full each month, when I receive my statement.

 

As for the trains themselves, most of my trains came from local trains wanted ads, flea markets, garage/estate sales, and local train shows (where most of the table holders were fellow enthusiasts, not dealers).
There was a period when I would pick out a few things from the Lionel catalog, and preorder them. But the items were always on the lower end of the Lionel price sale.

As I am coming to learn, there is a lot more to model railroading than the trains themselves. Modeling buildings and landscapes requires a good bit of skill development and can usually involve materials and supplies you already have around the house. 

#1 Rule for Trains on a Budget:  

 

Have at least one O-31 switch that EVERY train must negotiate.  

 

It's amazing how that alone keeps the cost down!

 

Jon  

I agree. Although I have one 072 switch due to the need for a curved switch on a high speed main, it's all 022 switches otherwise. Can't figure out how a couple of $1000+ engines that fit 022"s snuck in.  

Low budget O-gauge railroading is what I've been doing for several years now. I rarely take more than $50 to a train show (often times less), yet by buying used (often well used!) and willing to fix fixer-uppers I have managed to acquire a nice little collection of postwar (and a few prewar) O-27 trains. Mostly those of the Marx persuasion.

A 36" x 80" hollow core door for about $20 is the basis of my layout where I have two loops of track and can run two trains at the same time. No Grand Central Stations or Big Boys, but I have trains than run and seldom break down.

I actually have a second, smaller O-gauge layout that fits in the trunk of my car that I take to church occasionally to entertain the kids.

O-gauge is fun, no matter how much or how little you spend on it!

I try to find items on sale or clearance items, even Williams, also try to buy what has already been made or used items too.

I use a debit card on-line as I don't have a credit card right now, just got out of bankruptcy. At train shows I try to pay cash for my purchases as most people don't have credit card devices with them to accept any type of card, also usually no ATM machine in the building.

 

Lee Fritz 

Exactly so.  And I always save up for my hobby purchases before buying them.  Never any strain on the budget.  If it weren't that I have to buy everything over the internet (I don't have a "LHS"), I wouldn't use credit cards at all.

 

 

"I have thought that having parents who came through the depression had a rub off on us as well. They had to make do with what they had. Today kids need the latest and best and want t now. The media drives that."

 

Yeah, it's called "thankfulness" and I'm glad I experienced that too... it's still with me. BUT today, it's not just the media driving it. Many parents don't want to be parents and use all the latest stuff as electronic babysitters. In my thinking, all this wonderful technology is a bit like heroin... you become addicted to it before you know what has happened, and then it's too late.

 

As far as trains, if you need to see a miniature engineer figure waving at you from the cab window, or you need your trains to make every single sound perfectly that a real train makes, you are probably not going to be doing this hobby on a budget.

 

If you are capable of imagining a engineer waving at you, or using your memory to hear those wonderful sounds coming out of your train, then you can participate in the hobby, spending far less money.

 

Thinking before you spend is probably a good idea too. I can't count the times I've seen some train item for sale where the seller states it's hardly been run, or it's still new in the box. Why anyone would spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for a train, then not run it, and then sell it at a big loss - well... I can't explain that. Live and learn.

 

As I said in another thread, it's all what you expect out of your trains. The general rule of thumb, the more you expect, the more you'd better expect to pay.

 

My grandfather once said, junk is something you paid too much for, that doesn't work the way you were told it would work. By that definition, I don't have ANY single train that is junk - even though that term gets tossed around here frequently to describe any train that isn't scale, prototypical and feature loaded.

 

 

Sorry no O-31 switches for me. They are too BIG!  LOL

I'm strictly O-27, which keeps costs down even further! 

I forgot to mentioned that we use a bank card and if we find something online for like 200 dollars, we go to the bank and put in 220 dollars on the card and use it to make a purchase and that item is fully paid for.  It works well for us, no bank fees, don't owe anything to the lender.  If the item costs more then we save the money then put it in the card to make a purchase.

 

Tiffany

For the last couple of years I have been buying mostly Williams trains. Been taking advantage of some of the deals Trainworld has had on them.

Edstrains,

I am also on a very tight budget when it comes to trains.  At train shows, I ONLY buy with cash and always ask nicely if the seller can do better for cash. Usually they will. Last week that approach got me an item displayed at $150 + tax for $125 including sales tax (in CA that's at least 7.5%). Oh, original MSRP was $399.95. 

 

Fixing up Lionel PW is really fun for me and I just purchased a couple of basket case small steamers.  I will get them running and either enjoy them or sell them to finance something I really want (like a 2343 Santa Fe set or S-2 turbine steamer).  Also picked up two PW pickle vat cars and will combine them to make one good one and I'll create something for the leftover parts. This is probably my favorite part of the hobby besides actually running the trains!

 

My train budget for the year is usually <$500.  This year looks to be about that number and I've already spent $200, so I'm in the process of thinning the herd to finance a few other purchases to start a permanent layout.  

 

Another key concept for me has been patience.  During the middle 2000's I was buying the Lionel Looney Tunes Themed trains.  My holy grail was the Looney Tunes Set 6-21936.  It kept selling in the $300 to $400 range new on the auction site.  I waited 2 years tracking those sets and was able to buy one still sealed but with a small dent in the outer box for about $140 plus shipping. I still own and run it today. 

 

Brianl027,

 

You expressed my feelings about this perfectly.  While I enjoy seeing and knowing about the highest end of this hobby, I don't NEED to own or have it to derive serious enjoyment and satisfaction. 

 

Since when does

DOLLARS SPENT = ENJOYMENT EXPERIENCED?

 

I'm a stepfather of 3 and a father of a 12 year old.  My wife and I both believe that the unbridled consumerism and materialism that has crept into our society is not good for our kids.  We teach them otherwise.  

 

In my experience spending big bucks is not necessary to have fun in this hobby.  For those that choose to spend big, GREAT!  I applaud you.  For those who choose to spend small, GREAT!  I applaud you.  There needs to be room in our hobby for all approaches and philosophies.  Only that way will we continue to see the manufacturers offer products across all price ranges.  After all, today's high end engines may become next years big bargains!

Happy spending to all whether it's for <$100 or >$1000!

Jon

       
       

I've been doing the same thing as you. I just got a pair of C&O freight F7s. To remind me of growing up in VA.

Two ways I keep the costs down:

 

Patience. When there is something I want, I research it, then wait until one comes up at a price I'm willing to pay. Recently I purchased a MTH h-9 for under $300.00. It took 3 years, but I have one now.

 

Kits. Almost everything I purchase now is in kit form, even rolling stock. I've got two Intermountain hoppers that I paid $12.00 apiece for, as an example. Wood kits can be found cheap as well. The benefit of the kit is that it takes me a long time to build one, so I don't need another one for quite awhile.

I do several things which help keep costs down:

- Whenever possible I buy used items.  Especially track, buildings, accessories and scenic items.  

- I limit myself to only RR which were headquartered in Pa.  Keeps me from buying anything and everything.

- I run scale rolling stock but run Railking Imperial steamers.  40' rolling stock looks right at home behind them and they are a fraction of the cost of their scale sized cousins.

- Even though you may have a large space, design your layout to be built in phases.  This will allow you to get a good looking railroad up and running relatively quickly without the cost of building the whole thing right away.

- Join a club.  No expense for a layout that way.

--Greg

I just got the same ones too along with a Santa Fe SD45

This should be titled 'Budget O Gauge Railroading" because it is truly amazing what you can do in N gauge for the price of one Vision Line or Premier engine.  Even with DCC, you can put together a pretty nice layout with Kato Unitrack and still keep it under a grand.  Of course, it depends on what you want to model;  it's easy to go over a grand with name train passenger car sets and such.  

 

I actually hooked a buddy into model railroading this way - got him started low budget in N-scale (loaned him some gear as well...) and let the process evolve from there.  

 

As far as O gauge on a budget... don't ask me... I can't seem to stay on one 

I think all of my single locomotive purchases have been under $150. I think the most I've spent are those Williams F7s for $139 (I got the Amtrak one). I don't have bigboys, scale sized GG1s, cabforwards, etc. but I think especially after having gotten back into the hobby after a decade or so away, I've gotten some pretty nice things, including some nice PW steam like the #221, other 2-6-4 and small Hudson, and also have taken advantage of the Trainworld sales. I think it depends on what you want to run/collect. If you just simply want to run a 3rail train, I've seen some 1960s era starter sets (complete) go for $40 at train shows, and I've seen newer (90s era) ones go for around $100+/- on Ebay. Kline/RMT are great. I'd recommend regularly checking ebay, go to train shows if you can (I live in MA, and I've found the ones around here to be great), sign up for Trainworld's email newsletters, and just keep checking other dealers.

Looks like we have some very savvy folks in this group. O27 is nice because the new high end stuff will not take the curves...I can't get into any real trouble. I just purchased three car set of the Pullman 2400 type cars and they will fit out my one operational passenger train, pulled by my refurbished 2055, just fine...

I think any hobby can put temptations in front of you to "move up" or make changes that will end up costing you more than your budget, whatever it is.  I'm thinking in particular of boating, which seems to do it more effectively than most: I have so many friends who gradually moved up to bigger and bigger boats until they didn't like it anymore.  

 

But model trains offer more than enough temptations to "push the budget."  Even with O-27, you can still spend a lot if you do not exercise care and self-discipline.  O-72 and 84 costs a bit more (after all, the track and layout will have to be bigger), but they don't cost that much more unless you jump in to premium locos and rolling stock with both feet.  I think it really boils down to determining what you can afford and sticking with it.

 

.  

You're so right Lee.  That's why my approach to boating and this hobby are the same.  Instead of going out to buy the new Legacy LionMaster PRR T-1 for $800, I took my old one and up-graded it to puffing smoke.  So instead of paying $800, I spent $150.

 

Same deal with boating.  I see folks down at the club with their penchant to go big or go home.  Eventually they go so big they need partners to keep the boat up.  That leads to disagreements, and the need for crew just to go sailing.

 

I choose to stick with my little sailboat designed in 1914.  It is 15'10" from stem to stern, but is as roomy and comfortable as many 40 footers.  And I can enjoy it with family and friends, or all by myself!

 

Jon

 

 

Lee you are absolutely right. There will always be those with more or less. The secret is to stay within your means not another's. When I planned for retirement I had to determine what Type of lifestyle I planned and could afford. Some go to Europe and travel the world but I go to the Cape for a couple weeks. Keeping up with the Jones is not good financial planning. Another thing I try to do is share what I have. I gave my conventional engines to someone interested in trains but I knew was very limited in resources. We can spread the hobby that way as well. Good thread.

i was in an antique store once and i saw the 9" bonanza characters on horses for $250.  told my wife for 1000 i could get my childhood back.  she said go for it.  i had the marx johnnie west "action figures" as a kid so that's what i went after.  soon my buffet table was filled with multiple cowboys and indians on horses.  i looked at them and thought there's $500 sitting there (back when i needed the $500).  so, i started buying in lots and reselling "sets" to go along with each character.  i believe that i made enough to keep the 3 i have at no cost.  free beer always tastes better.  i guess what i'm saying is that if money is an issue, buy the fixer uppers and resell them.  set that money a side to buy something you want or to expand your layout.   doesn't matter what you spend on trains, they all go in the same circle and are the same amount of fun.  i don't collect.  i get a notion, i buy the lower end of what fills the bill and then when i change my mind, sell them.  i don't make any money, but i don't loose much nor have a burden of crap that i have to walk around.  some of the people on this site have as marley says "a ponderous chain" of crap.