Money versus Train Layout

Join a modular train club. Lionel has their new FasTrack deal going. Don't know where you are. Our club in the Richmond Va has memberships open. You could go nutz building one of our 32x48" modules and not break the bank.

I agree.  Join a local club.  The dues are usually modest and you can run trains.  

 

Another way to is to build a modest layout.  Use inexpensive tubular track, scrap wood, scratch build buildings, and buy fixer up stuff at train shows, etc.  Many of the hobbies best known modelers started this way.  This hobby can be very affordable even for people on a budget.

 

Good luck on your layout.

 

Joe

Are there any salvage companies in your area. Many times they have 2x4s and other wood. Also just you plaster of paris for your mountains. You really don't need Hydrocal. You can get large cheap bags of plaster at Home Depot. I would look on E-bay for used track. I'm in your boat in a way. I building my layout but not buying any new trains. We are being audited yet again for the fourth time in five years. The other audits cost us thousands in accountant fees and we didn't owe the government a penny. We are just holding off tell we see how this one will come out. Good luck and I hope you find a good job soon. Don

How big of a layout are you wanting to build?  What type of budget are you working with? I also had a limited budget when I started. 

 

Bob

I like the modular club idea. Are there lists of ones? Also I've been in the same boat. Been putting $ towards equipment. I was really excited about the Lionel modules until I started figuring out the cost for a single one. The kits at Lionel are not complete- you still need to get the top. Last time I checked, trainworx hadn't posted prices. Plus how HEAVY are these? I got a kalmbach highrail book that gave me some ideas. It mainly used foam for the tops, which should cut cost and weight. Been looking at a biscuit Joiner (under 100 ) and 1x4 and 1x2 stock to make frames. I think the electrical and connections the Lionel modules was well thought out and am planning on following them. My other question with the Lionel modules is staging. I haven't seen anything to allow a yard to be put in the middle of the layout. If you are at a show, you don't want this out in the crowd.

hello guys and gals.........

 

I am doing the same thing by making a Island type layout where you don't need alot of track or buildings as that would save me quiet a bit.  Forum member AGHRMatt made a good Island type layout and posted in the forums.   I will have only 7 car passenger train going on 0-72 track.  I am always impressed with SMALL layouts than monster size layouts as there are many of us living in apts these days. 

 

the woman who loves the S.F.#5021

Tiffany

Just added mine up. NOT counting the physical trains themselves, I am under 400 bucks on my 6x18 train garden. That's benchwork, platform, track, wiring, scenery and buildings. The key is train shows. I buy nearly everything used. Shop craigslist. Its out there and can be found for good deals. I made my bridges and trestle. Used seedum for trees, used aqaurium gravel for ballast, rags and plaster for my mountain and tunnel, old ceiling tiles for granite walls...... it goes on and on and on. You don't have to spend a lot of money to build a nice train garden. Big spending comes into play when you make a scale "correct" train layout. Lots of things about my train garden are easily identified as "toyish" and not realistic but mine is a garden, a toy, a hobby...... you only have to spend as much as you want.

Forgot to post my link and the mobile forum has no "edit" button......   my 6x18 train garden to give you an idea of what you can do with a few bucks and a lot of scrap.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SC5QXbRgpc4

Lots of good suggestions here. I am in the same boat but don't have space too. My wife suggested shelves near the ceiling, so I am going to do it in a small room. Minimal cost in shelves, and I can even add some building fronts and some trees in the back. Happy model railroading Mark Boyce Butler, Pennsylvania

Throw down a shelf and stack track, scenery on it. Run a engine and few cars.

 

Right now I am literally just 10 coal cars, one engine 6 passenger and 12 freight. Everything else has been disposed of.

 

Track? Sure, switches? Certainly when finances allow. Buildings? Well... we will see.

 

It does NOT take much more than a few hundred to a thousand to have a pike up and running with a train.

 

I didn't have a financial dilemma when I built my layout in 2008, but I am frugal so I set out to get bench building materials at the least cost.

 

Home Depot gets many lumber products on banded wood skids, and they throwaway the skid lumber. Go to the department manager and ask for the lumber free of charge.

Home Depot also sells remnant pieces of lumber for 50 cents apiece. 

 

Home Depot sells Oops Paint for 50 cents a jar. Collect shades of green, brown, red and yellow.

 

Lowes sells a gallon of white glue for $10. My layout is 60 feet of 3 foot wide benches and it has consumed 1.5 gallons of white glue so far.

 

Appliance box cardboard is ideal for sound deadening the bench top, and construction projects. The good news is this cardboard is usually free at appliance stores and at the curb on rubbish collection day. Collect the cardboard with one and two layers of corrugations. The two-layer stuff is typically 1/8" thick.

 

Keep cereal boxes as they make good skeletons for card-stock buildings.

 

Card-stock building kits are available from Gary Johnson and others and they usually cost $10 or less. Gary posts his kits on eBay, Search for "Card buildings." Gary's address is PO Box 157, Mt. Dora, Florida 32756-0157.

 

Card-stock is free from file folders and cereal boxes. A package of colored paper from a dollar store is useful for building structure roofs.

 

Dollar stores have lots of useful layout scenery tools such as squirt bottles, spatulas, measuring cups, plastic storage bags, etc.

 

Saw dust is an excellent ground cover material and it's free at middle and high schools with industrial arts curriculum. Sprinkle the saw dust into place, shape it, and secure it with a mixture of white glue, water and Oops latex paint. 

 

Wood coffee stirrers cost me $2 per box of 1000 at a local deli. There have been many coffee stirrer projects posted on this forum. Do a search.

 

Here's a link to a model railroader who makes trees from low cost common materials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...&feature=related

 

Network with some folks in the building trades to some wire. An elevator mechanic gave me bundles of wire being scrapped from elevator maintenance projects.

 

If you have the will to build it, you will find the ways and means to make an affordable layout. There are many on this forum who will guide you, so get started.

 

 

If you're looking for benchwork ideas, try old pallots.  a lot of time you can get them for nothing.  also, check with local lumber stores and builders for scrap drywall and plywood.  pallots can be ripped down.  nails are cheap.  with my layout, i built a frame using 1"x4"'s.  i ran supports across every couple of feet.  then i "dropped" in 2" foam.  nothing says you can't use drywall for the top either.  lumber stores probably have all kinds of broken foam that nobody wants.  trainsrme had other good ideas. 

Brian...  what do you currently have and what do you feel you need to buy?  What is your budget like?

 

Before I built my layout table, I had a loop of tubular track on my basement floor.  Every time I had some spare $$ I'd buy a couple of pieces of track and make the loop bigger.

 

I'm also in the process of following Jim's idea of weeding out items I no longer want.  This can really help a limited budget.

Bob, planning on a 3'x5' layout

I have a set from '89 by Lionel. Have a post-war pensy but cant run,(not enough juice). So a better tranformer is needed. My "layout" is on a drafting table in the shed that is connected to my apartment.

 

My budget is very limited. I might have a little extra at each month. Wife and I are not doing christmas, only for our baby girl.

The nice thing about those sets is that you can usually at least run a loop on the floor.  As I said above, a piece of track here and a switch there and pretty soon you have a pretty big collection of track.

 

3x5 is small, but there is a lot you can do with that amount of space.  I believe it was last year there was a "layout on a door" contest.  You should check those layouts out.  They were literally the size of a door (or smaller).

 

In addition to the many fine low budget suggestions above, I'd add a financial suggestion. My wife and I have found it beneficial to each have an amount each month that we can spend any way we want except that it is not to be spent on anything that is "necessary" or should be a budget item.  For example, adding it to the grocery envelope is a no-no.  To be fair, the amount I get is always exactly the same as what my wife gets.  It doesn't have to be a lot either.  I usually end up having to save several months for a purchase.

 

I hope this helps.

Money and space are my two biggest problems but I still wanted a layout. If you can settle on O-27 tubular track you can get a lot of action in a small area. I have a two track main and few small spurs on a 36" hollow core door slab. Added a 2x2 on each of the long edges for a total layout size of 39" x 80"

Track was all bought used (I picked through the bin at a local train shop), but the switches were bought new on sale. The switches are manual to save even more money. Power comes from  Lionel 1033 and a 4090, both bought used in the $30 to $40 range.

 

 

Hi

We have a modular club in Sellersvill pa.

We are aways looking for new members If we are in your airia look us up.

 our link you can get form Henningstrains.com our link is there.

 We meet on every sundays and mondays.nights from 7:00 pm till we get tired and reddy to go.

 We welcom all new people that have intrest in the hobbie.small or large new or old.

  We like to learn new thing and ideas as well as giving help.

Ok took advice on geting from wood from companies in the area.. Was successfull!!

First picture is what pallets I got. I got a total of five. Second picture is how much wood I gor out of it.

Final picture, I split the 2x4s into 1x4 and built the table. Only thing I bought was the clips for foldable saw horse legs.

Thanks for your advice!!! Really Thank you!!!

Those were some handsome looking pallets.  My concern would be how straight the lumber is, but it looks like they made some nice benchwork modules!

Happy Model Railroading,

Mark Boyce

Butler, Pennsylvania

If you don't like the modular club idea, you could join a permanent club if you have one within driving distance

If the hobby looks too expensive, you just need to build progressively with a modest start. As mentioned previously, it's possible to pick up some great deals at train shows if you aren't in too much of a hurry to buy. I have acquired most of my postwar O-gauge items at train shows. It does take some time and patience to find the better deals, and elbow grease to repair bargains.

 

I'm currently working on an inexpensive second layout in this post:

 

https://ogrforum.com/d...0673242762760/page/1

There are many ways to save on model trains and layouts.

Its a process that dosent need be done at once.

The biggest way I save money is to go to hardware/home improvement stores first and work and design from the materials there, while I support my LHS with train and electrical stuff I try to get all building and scenery stuff, plaster paint, even thin hobby wood and wire from Menards or Home Depot.   

I have sourced track and switches on eBay, or here, found a local guy making foam roadbed at decent savings, you get the idea.

On the plus side, start the layout and it will grow with you. Bad times pass.

Years from now you will look at your train layout and will remember the lean time and the tough time as a thing you got through, and remember it with accomplishment and pride. Good Luck 

  

Nice job on the table. Post some pictures later of your layout. I always enjoy seeing what others do. Make it fun.

If anybody is building or remodeling a house, ask if they have scrap lumber or foam that can be used to build the benchwork and scenery contours.

 

Andrew