When will you know you have enough train stuff?

That is one nice model. 

I know I too much train stuff when I bought something an misplaced it under the layout and cannot find it!  

My wife has already told me, and she's right, of course!

 

Bill in FtL

I'm not one normally to think music lyrics contain any wisdom, but I try to live by this:

It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got

-from 'Soak up the sun' by Cheryl Crow

I see it this way; if I don't like what I have, then what's the point? You can always want something new or different here or there, but there has to come a point where you stop and smile and think, "yes, this is it." If you never feel that, no matter how far along things are or what cool toys you have, I strongly suggest taking up something cheaper and requiring less work and money. I've gotten to that point with other things I've done with my spare time, and I've dropped each as soon as I realized it. And in no such case have I ever regretted doing so!

The issue isn't how much you spend, what you have, how you run it, or anything along those lines.

I've seen people running stuff out of the box that could only be described as the Indy 500 with flanged wheels, on bare plywood (or the floor). And they're as happy as new puppy with a chew toy while their human pal is scratching them behind the ears.

I've also seen layouts that have been in the big magazines, and some of their owners are as happy as a hot tub salesman in a recession.

You gotta want what you got, or you'll NEVER be happy.

There's a discipline that comes with it, but I'd rather have 3-4 really cool things than 20-30 'meh' ones. So many hobbyists (both in and out of the model train hobby) can see that.

Just ask someone who's looking at the end of their road and trying to find where to get rid of their stuff. Most people in those cases don't appreciate having 20 of everything at a time like that. There comes a point when it becomes a burden and the stuff owns you.

In one sense, I have enough for any future layout I may build.  In another, I don't have enough because I enjoy the thrill of the hunt for stuff I want and stuff I don't yet know I want.

 

Andy

In my case, when I realized I had too much!

For most of us, the fun of our hobby is to be continuously on the hunt. The hunt may be direct, something we are really looking for, or indirect when we see something that we like that was not necessarily on the radar screen.

 

A good example would be the announcement last spring of a model of the GM Futureliner. Most of us who ordered it once announced never had this on our acquisition list. But we liked it enough to order this piece. So much for being "done".

When my wife says, "one more and I'm leaving".

I'll leave that one to Mrs. Hoppy.  She's much more objective on that subject, LOL!

 

     Hoppy

P51 - I like your thinking!  Yes its too easy to get caught up in the not being satisfied with what we already have.  Its great to be hungry for quality time with the layout  ... 'wanting what we got' .... and deeply appreciating what we got ... and having a rich experience with what we got.   I've got to the point that I really crave for the time to get into my layout room and imagine, create, play, and just have fun with what I already got

 

Thanks for your comments on this topic  Much appreciated!

Frank,

    Are you feeling shakey or something, a man can never have to many good Double Guns, Bamboo Fly Rods, Gun Dogs or O gauge Train stuff, you must not be feeling well to even ask a question like this.

PCRR/Dave

When I can't find anything I don't already have.

I am at the point I have "Enough" for my current layout building, but hope I "NEVER" stop looking for something to ADD.

 

That Weinermobile has me scratching my head with wonder as to WHY I never looked for one, it is on the horizon.

FrankM When I am dead and cant buy anything else! Choo Choo Kenny

NEVER.

Passed enough quite a wile ago and sold off those items that I weeded out of the inventory.  Probably will continue to do that yearly.  I try rather hard to only buy items that actually fit my modeling era and layout appropriately...and generally succeed.  

 

Then, I go and build cars and buildings in numbers beyond what I sell and stuff is just piled about........

 

More needs to go so that I can build more......  Somewhat Sisyphusian with a significant helping of OCD.........

I've really slowed down Frank. I'm worried that I may have over bought the layout's capacity, which in some ways is a monumental achievement.

 

I stopped with ebay and train shows, and have limited my purchases to current catalogs from Lionel, MTH and Atlas and only very specific rolling stock, no locomotives.

I guess you could say I will be through buying/collecting model train stuff when they close the lid on my casket.  My wife already knows this.

When I run outta walls to display them on.

Seriously though, need to weed out some things and stick to some "choice" pieces and say enough is enough. As soon as I do, Atlas, Lionel, or 3rd Rail announces something that I "HAVE TO" have in my collection.

When you run out of space in your train room for anything more unless you get rid of something.

I'm new to the hobby 3-4 years and have rolling stock that has been on the shelf for some time but I still like to buy L&N, all of it is running.

 

Read, watched a video by M Reagan on how to and what is needed to run conventional with the legacy remote, my next project.

Brent

I'll know when I get there !!!

I should know in the next couple of years. We are in the process of buying a new house with the lower level for mostly trains. Its not as big as I hoped but lots of other great characteristics of the new place. Once I get the layout underway and display shelves up, I'll know. I think I already have enough and will sell some and continue to sell and buy more to keep it fresh. 

 

 

I know I have too much when I buy trains I already own, because I forgot I had them.

I have sold hundreds of trains and It barely makes a dent in my storage area.

I have a Filemaker based inventory system on my computer, but I sometimes forget to update it.

I shopped for tender for a newly purchased Engine missing one, and later found several in my own storage that would work.

I finally get repair parts I need, now I can find the engine I ordered them for ?

 

There might be something in a future catalog that I cant live without.

Mikey

You'll know when they toss in that last shovel full on top of the casket. Until then keep on looking and buying...buying and looking...
Ray.

Not going to happen.

 

Larry

When your wife builds your own little house out of Lionel boxes next to the dog house.

I'll be honest, I'm almost at this point already. I had specific items I wanted from the postwar period, I have a lot of them, and my online searches are decreasing as a result. I'm sure I'll occasionally find something different I don't have and then buy it, but I'm becoming satisfied already.

I don't spend a huge amount of money on trains nowadays, and I'm not selling much right now, so my collection has been pretty static. I have bought a few N scale items, but not much else.

 

My interests shift every so often, so I'm much more reluctant to sell--there have been too many occasions when I've sold something only to buy the same item again a year later.

 

My plan over the next few years is to build more and buy less, especially in the larger scales, as the ready built large scale stuff is usually out of my financial comfort zone.

 

Jeff C

 

 

For me, a bit like I cannot see "the forest for the trees." I finally discovered the forest, do not need all the toy trains ever created and produced. One good glass of Guinness is far better than any case of Bud.

 

enjoy your trains...

 

 

 

I think I have enough.  I have significantly limited my purchases over the past several years.  I find myself purchasing less and less as there is just not much new stuff that interests me as my interests are more toy train and tinplate.

 

Jeff Davis

I thought I had reached that point a few years ago but I still keep looking & buying. That d_m Menard's isn't helping any.

When you run out of places to put newly acquired items.
Or when you run out of money that can be responsibly spent on trains.

I've already run out of space for my trains

I've got trains I never run

I'm very happy with my collection but am still looking for a couple of pieces I'm missing

I guess I'll stop when I die - - - Maybe

---

 

My wife told me if I buy one more train she is going to divorce me.

Boy am i gonna miss her! 

It's not the amount that bothers me, as much as the variety sometimes. I have so much non-integrated train stuff that it gets distracting as to which direction my ideas go!

I have varying amounts of:

-Old Standard Gauge

-Old O tinplate; Marx, American Flyer

-A bunch of S Flyer locomotives and a test loop for them, and alo some East German Stadtilm track that the Flyer almost runs on.

-70s O scale plastic; AHM/Rivarossi type.

-British O scale plastic 

- Some G scale items.

-Some Modern MTH & Lionel (The actual layout stuff!)

When I think about it, there's a lot of impulse buys in the bunch too......must concentrate.......

 

 

Truth be told, I have enough trains to enjoy running them. I just need to set up a layout and wear them out having fun running them. I can stay occupied with maintenance on what I have, but I am sure I will identify a few layout details I need to purchase when I get into it. It sure makes me happy, though, to buy something new (or new to me) that I find interesting and can use on a layout. Just like being a kid!

"Frank,

    Are you feeling shakey or something, a man can never have to many good Double Guns, Bamboo Fly Rods, Gun Dogs or O gauge Train stuff, you must not be feeling well to even ask a question like this."

 

Thanks PCRR/Dave for a good chuckle to start my day! 

Candidly, I've used the excuse of running out of space to review the stuff I've collected over the years - and earlier this summer, I unloaded most of it (It was very fun to give away a transformer, track and a train to lots of younger kids in my life).

 

I usually follow a layout theme anyway - which has always clarified my 'acquisition policy.'

Lately I can't find anything "must have" in the catalogs OR in the secondary market.  In the half-dozen other hobbies I've been engaged with over the years, that's usually a sign of me being ready to get out and move on to something else.

 

I do enjoy the trains quite a bit, so stepping back and taking a break may be a good plan for me.

Fortunately one of my best friends is an undertaker who loves trains. He will be prominent in my will. That makes it a lot easier to buy that one minor thing we want but don't need.

 

Robert might need it.