How much do you have to pay before you won't run a train for fear of damage?

Anything I buy I would run.  And if it didn't run, I'd get it up and running.  For truly "rare" or "scarce" items, they're still as rare after a run around the track as they are if sidetracked or shelved.

If it's too expensive to operate,it's more money than I'm interested in spending on a train. I run everything I have and if it doesn't run the way I want it to, I fix it or get rid of it. A model train that you don't run is a piece of decorative art - and I've got far more of that than I have room to display it anyway. 

If I couldn't run it, or at least have the expectation of being able to run it after having repaired it, then I wouldn't buy it.

I dunno, I can hardly wait to run my 3rd Rail Jawn Henry.... FWIW, I wouldn't own a firearm I didn't shoot or a car I didn't drive. In the grand scheme of things, my trains are typically less expensive.

 

Gilly

$395,019.99.  However, there's absolutely no chance whatsoever that I could ever get such an item.  Therefore, everything bought is intended for running. 

You have asked the question.....I will get to the answer in a minute, first I must ask you this question This is a hobby that we all enjoy ( the running of trains) so why even pose the question? The answer to your question is of course I would spend only the amount of money I felt comfortable with spending on the train.

 

I don't need any more shelf queens! They become dust magnets! I would spend, if I enjoyed the look of it, any amount of money within reason but probably not more than  $5000.00. Irregardless of the damage I would or wouldn't do.

 

It would be different if this was strictly a model train display club, then your question would make more sense! IMHO!

 

Mike

 

No,  If I cannot run it, I will not buy it.  I want to run all my trains. 

My intention is to run what I have bought. Sometimes in a hobby you like something so much it you're afraid to use it, want to keep it as original as possible. This comes down to a financial decision: you are putting money into something that is trying to maintain its value or possibly appreciate. Generally it may become a poor investment strategy. Feel good about what you want to do with your purchase, have no regrets, its yours and you finally got it.

 

quote:

For truly "rare" or "scarce" items, they're still as rare after a run around the track as they are if sidetracked or shelved.

 

Sometimes it's the items condition that makes it rare or scarce.

 

For me, there is no relationship between what I pay for something, and whether it gets run or not.
Some items get purchased to run, other items get purchased to collect.

When I think about a train I really really want, I picture it running around my layout. I don't see it in a case. I would run it and enjoy every ding, bump or scratch I put on it. I think it builds the charachter of a train as it gets worn a bit. I run everything I have as often as I can. 

I put 3000.00 on the floor at least once. oh, that was a drop of 48 inches onto 5000psi concrete. both engines bounced, but they still run!

Hot Water:

 

President Truman - good choice!  

I have a couple of engines that I won't put on my layout (yet). There is still a lot of open benchwork and disaster potential, as well as ongoing construction. When those conditions are behind me, the high buck steamers can come out to play.

What is a Randall?  And what does it cut? 

As a direct answer to your question, $500.  Anything over that, would be too stressful, and for the reasons you stated and a couple others that come to mind.

∏

I have some of the rarest Post War items and they all get their track time.  Much to the horror of some of my friends.

 

Paul Edgar

If I can't run it I don't need it! I can't afford a $2000 or $5000 dollar dust collector.

I would not buy an engine that I was concerned about running, regardless of cost.  

 

And it would the cost of repair, not the cost of buying it in the first place, that would usually be the bigger concern.  But even here I would run it.   Suppose I had a loco that was so expensive to repair that I could not afford it - or say it could not be repaired, period - say replacement quantum krypton center pickup springs are no longer available.  It'd still run it, versus leaving it on the shelf - it can sit on a shelf after its broken!

 

If I am too paranoiac to run what I bought, either I am in over my head, too attached to material objects or a control freak. How many times have we bought lemons that end up as shelf queen collectables? What of the future..what will a engine loaded with obsolete electronics be worth if original condition and fabric remains chief criteria for a collector of the future? Anyone care for a used Proto 1 retrofitted with a Proto 13 in the future? How about a Marx 999 with flywheels and cruise control?  Life is too short, we cannot take it with us and if someone requires a inherited windfall from me in terms of toys, they need a psychiatric evaluation. Personal museums are not my cup of tea. For others, I have no problem with whatever someone else chooses to do as there can never be a hard and fast edict on this.

I like to play with my trains, when they come home they get taken out of the box and on the track they go. When we have our club layout set up for the public to see, you can find most any train, PW to Modern, all size and price ranges, trains are to be played with, they are toys, granted some very expensive toys, but still toys. We allow children to handle our legacy controllers and teach them to run the trains. I see the horrified look on some adults faces when I hand a legacy controller to a 5 year old but that little guy will remember this experience. If he drops it - Oh well my bad, guess I will have to fix it or buy a new one.

I haven't bought one yet that was too expensive to run. Heck, I haven't bought one yet that was too expensive to let an 8-year old run at the club.

Yep.  Me too.  My dad's original 763e set from late pre war days gets regular run time on my layout.   The same with all my post ward trains and accessories.They were made as toys, they still get played with as toys.

 

This is the same attitude I have about my modern stuff.  I never buy a train with concern for what it's resale value will be. 

 

If i can afford an item, and I want it, I'll get it.  If it costs $1, 000 or $5,000+, I buy them to run/play with them.

 

This doesn't mean I'm careless with anything, but they all reside on my layout, or a "staging" wall display, ready to run.

I am not going to damage any train I run and I am not going to own any train of much value to keep me from running it from fear of reducing its value.

 

Charlie

I don't run anything I own!

 

Still working on getting the layout ready.

 

But as soon as I am able to start drawing off of the $10 million left to me [undislosed recipient] by an ancestor (I didn't know I had) in a Nigerian bank then I'll finish that layout.

 

I might even buy something I'll never run.

i am an operator.  i buy them to run them.

I have heard"If you got em, smoke em." I say "if you got em, run em." I ,like many of you have purchased MIB items from someone who bought them years ago and never opened the box. Somehow the look of an unopened box does not compare to a model train charging down the track! Fred

If I but it, I will run it.

Larry

... anything you want.  You can even use it to strip insulation!

 

http://www.randallknives.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Made_Knives

I have always been the same way as most of you have said here.....I paid for it so I am going to run it! Sadly, I will not get the chance to run this $5,000 set because my wife would change the locks if I bought it! One day I will get this set, though! I promise! And when I do the video of it on my track will go up immediately!

The prototype at Steamtown Railfest 2012.  That's some set.  If I had it I would definitely run it but unfortunately I won't have it!

 

 

I am more of a collector than operator, but I insist that all my engines run.  And they do get run, with just 2 exceptions due to age and fragility. 
There's also one newer loco that's down with a slipping traction tire., but that's going to get fixed as soon as I can locate some place that carries RTV. 

Anything I buy will be run. That's what they were made to do.

After some overnight consideration of this thread I would like to add an exception, and that is the gold plated Y2K series of items produced by Lionel & MTH. Remarkably, given today's $1.6K/oz gold, items in that series did not sell for much more than their d/c  comparables.  Those remain not only NIB but inaccessibly so.

There's most likely less then half a grain of gold in that loco. With todays spot price that makes a gold value of $1.83 for half a grain,

I have a nice 2245 TX SP that I run every so often.  It is good to run this stuff at least once a year after a good lube so the gears and stuff do not freeze up.  A consideration in Houston's swampy humidity!

I do have one guilt trip:My Century Club 1 stuff has not been run. The only thing from the CC I run is the Hudson, never had one like that...and to think these are all made in the USA!

I think the Century Club 1 NYC F3's are some fine looking engines. I just found the "B" unit still sealed in the master box. When the next layout is built I guess I'll get it out of the box.

 

Paul

Hello guys and gals..........

 

I would say about 1800 dollars then the fear sets in so i avoid buying any engines over 1300 plus tax.  Any engine more than that is not worth the worrying over.

 

the woman who loves the S.F.#5021

Tiffany

When it comes to the high dollar stuff I naturally hesitate to run it over new track.

I know that there is a risk every time I run it that there could be problems. Last time I pulled my CC2 out, two screws dropped out of the gear box and locked up the whole forward truck assembly. Took me 2 hours to reassemble. I naturally hesitate to run it. Primarily because I know it would difficult to replace and not easy to fix.