New RTR releases - is your purchase really necessary?

[The Stationmaster]

No - but that Brighton H1 is incredibly pretty and irresistible. 

[PM47079]

I preordered one for the same reasons!

[OnTheBranchline]

Just heard from Hattons that their estimated price of ca. £95 has been revised, following Bachmann's confirmation, to £212.46. That's too expensive for a nice-to-have. 

 

Sometimes it's better when those situations happen, then the decision is made for you and you don't have to antagonize over it for days and days.

[Ruston]

The whole buying RTR items more or less passes me by.

 

Because I am interested in industrial railways, and have been for a long time, I am used to having to build kits and scratchbuild things and I actually enjoy building things. Even if I don't use the model on a layout I have enjoyed building it and it gives great satisfaction to sit back and look at a finished model and be able to say "I built that"..

 

I look at the RTR stuff on the shelves in my local model shop and they do look very nice but I'm not going to buy any of them unless I have a use for them on a layout as there's no joy in wasting money and there's no satisfaction in opening a box.

 

That's a post I made earlier in this topic. At the moment I'm spending a silly amount of time scratchbuilding  building a tiny little obscure saddletank but i could be about to at least partly take back those comments and make a completely pointless RTR purchase. I have just been reading this month's Railway Modeller and there is a picture of a forthcoming LB&SCR Class H1 Atlantic, from Bachmann. I have no interest in the LB&SCR and have, and will never have, any layout suitable for it to run on but I just want one because I've always liked the look of these engines. I guess it will just be an ornament in my display cabinet.

 

And the same article in RM says there is going to be a GNR Class C1 Atlantic available, so I'll have to have one of those too, just for comparison, you understand.

[Oldddudders]

That's a post I made earlier in this topic. At the moment I'm spending a silly amount of time scratchbuilding  building a tiny little obscure saddletank but i could be about to at least partly take back those comments and make a completely pointless RTR purchase. I have just been reading this month's Railway Modeller and there is a picture of a forthcoming LB&SCR Class H1 Atlantic, from Bachmann. I have no interest in the LB&SCR and have, and will never have, any layout suitable for it to run on but I just want one because I've always liked the look of these engines. I guess it will just be an ornament in my display cabinet.

 

And the same article in RM says there is going to be a GNR Class C1 Atlantic available, so I'll have to have one of those too, just for comparison, you understand.

 

I don't want to worry you, but Bachmann are about to unleash on a vulnerable market place (i.e. you and me) both H1 and H2 LBSCR Atlantics. D E Marsh had worked at Doncaster before getting the job at Brighton, so he knew what worked. If you have a weakness for Atlantics you are in for a tough time.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

 ... a GNR Class C1 Atlantic...

...is already available from the NRM, which commissioned the tooling.

[Kelly]

Only RTR items I've bought recently have been a Hornby H in black, late emblem (smart little model) and a pair of SLW Class 24s (these are still on a payment plan however, so yet to physically recieve them). Finances have precluded buying much else, so focus has been on kits and so on for the most part instead.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

 

Been a couple of years since I bought anything new in RTR, there's absolutely 'Nothing' that have been any 'real' use, in the Kings Cross area, a J50, and that's it and they did'n't get there 'till 1939, I know we've got a C1 coming, but where are the D1-2-3-4's, J1-2-3-4-5-6's. ???????

 

manna 

[woodenhead]

Been having a think about this thread and having done in 4mm what I did in 2mm and promised to myself I wouldn't do, last year I purchased a load of SR electric units on the basis I really like SR electric units and soon they will be a ridiculous price.

 

These same units are now boxed back up to go on EBay, I should be able to get back almost what I paid for them but I have to learn a bargain isn't a bargain unless it was something you actually needed.

 

Interestingly, I don't regret any steam locomotive purchases not even the C class that would not have been seen in the Southwest.

 

At least now I can concentrate on scenic space for my layout that is purely steam based and I can put in a turntable without it looking odd next to an EMU.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Been a couple of years since I bought anything new in RTR, there's absolutely 'Nothing' that have been any 'real' use, in the Kings Cross area, a J50, and that's it and they did'n't get there 'till 1939, I know we've got a C1 coming, but where are the D1-2-3-4's, J1-2-3-4-5-6's?

 I'll be reaching for my hat and attempting to digest it if we see only the most probable from that list offered RTR, which I consider to be the J6! If I were guessing, the K2 feels like a more likely candidate from the fairly long list of GNR classes which did significant service in LNER ownership. You'll have to award yourself an N7 as a consolation prize...

[Lu4472ke]

Because I model a preserved railway, I have the freedom run what I want, (and its a preserved railway for that reason) so I buy with my heart and not my head, if I want something, I will buy it, If I don't, I won't, I don't think I have yet bought a loco because it was ''necessary''.

[The Stationmaster]

I don't want to worry you, but Bachmann are about to unleash on a vulnerable market place (i.e. you and me) both H1 and H2 LBSCR Atlantics. D E Marsh had worked at Doncaster before getting the job at Brighton, so he knew what worked. If you have a weakness for Atlantics you are in for a tough time.

 

And the worrying bit about the H2 as far as I'm concerned is that one actually worked over an ex GWR branchline secondary route in its final years.

[eastglosmog]

Well, I can honestly state that my latest RTR purchases - the Bachmann WW1 D class wagons and covered vans are absolutely necessary for my layout, as the whole idea of the narrow gauge part was that the Buscot estate re-equipped with ex WW1 equipment.  Other stuff, however takes a bit of explaining, and quite what a Class 101 DMU is doing in the upper Thames Valley in 1946/7 is beyond me!  I bought it purely for nostalgic reasons and memories of riding in them for many miles line bashing in the north east.  Think I will have to have a multi epoch railway with the line becoming Preserved to explain it away.

[Oldddudders]

Well, I can honestly state that my latest RTR purchases - the Bachmann WW1 D class wagons and covered vans are absolutely necessary for my layout, as the whole idea of the narrow gauge part was that the Buscot estate re-equipped with ex WW1 equipment.  Other stuff, however takes a bit of explaining, and quite what a Class 101 DMU is doing in the upper Thames Valley in 1946/7 is beyond me!  I bought it purely for nostalgic reasons and memories of riding in them for many miles line bashing in the north east.  Think I will have to have a multi epoch railway with the line becoming Preserved to explain it away.

 

We should never imagine that all the wonderfully "complete" layouts we see on RMweb and the printed page do not have, lurking in a cupboard nearby, items out of period, out of region, out of this world. The fact that the proud owner is crafty enough not to show them in front of a camera does not mean they do not exist. Relax. 

[tomparryharry]

Is my purchase necessary? Well, it could be....

 

I do like scale perspective trains. So, a nice little Taff Vale 01 (Wills Finecast) hauling about 50 on is just fine by me. However, no-one makes a Powell Duffryn wagon in RTR, so it's a different colliery company at the moment.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[Mad McCann]

This year, for probably the first time in a good while my answer is 'yes', given that Barclays, J36s, gunpowder vans and HUOs are all very, very useful and relevant to my modelling interests. If the often spoken of NBL Type 2 from Dapol does in fact materialise this year then Central Scotland, 1966 has had an absolutely vintage year. And there is the possibility of further interesting announcements this weekend!

 

D4  

[SimonMW]

No, the recent model purchases are not strictly necessary (he says, looking at the Dean Goods from Locomotion National Railway Museum that the ParcelForce man just delivered this morning) - but given where most of us on this site are at in life, likely with a little disposable income, does it matter? All of my (small) childhood railway collection given away by parents in a move has been since replaced in adulthood (no hard feelings there, honest); my collection of predominantly GWR (aspirational) and BR (blue / grey, what I actually travelled on as a young person) is all about 'because I can'. The things still really missing that I will snap up when a decent RTR appears are a GWR Saint, Bird / Flower, small County... and maybe some more panniers... always room for more panniers... and prairies... and moguls... and who can have too many Cities? 

 

My railway is for the enjoyment of primarily me. There is always my grandkids, and anyone else who takes an interest... haha. 

 

And hey - there are a lot worse habits I could be spending my money on!!

[Edwardian]

All purchases are made with a definite project in mind. As such, purchases, whether RTR or kits, tend to form groups of items that go together.  Yes, there are many such groups, together representing more projects than I am likely to achieve, but, in the meantime, I have no fear or shame in running anything on my layout (once operational). 

 

Simply put, I expect that much of time the layout will be run as intended, with stock representing a country branch line in Norfolk in the mid-Edwardian period. But interspersed with that, I fully intend to run everything else I have, unless and until a dedicated line for it can be built.  So, everything is bought to run.   

 

The layout is not intended to be exhibited.  If it was, at an exhibition I would only run appropriate stock.  But in private?  Well, what goes on in the shed, stays in the shed ... unless I post it here, of course!

[gc4946]

How many of us buy stuff because you're hoping a manufacturer will eventually produce what you really want?

 

I pre-ordered a Hornby J36 because it was the first time they produced an indigenous Scottish super-detailed loco, as I'm hoping it'll generate enough sales for them to consider a Glen 4-4-0 class, which is what I have been wanting all along.

[SimonMW]

How many of us buy stuff because you're hoping a manufacturer will eventually produce what you really want?

 

I pre-ordered a Hornby J36 because it was the first time they produced an indigenous Scottish super-detailed loco, as I'm hoping it'll generate enough sales for them to consider a Glen 4-4-0 class, which is what I have been wanting all along.

Hmmm... I'll have to try that reasoning. Seems a little of a stretch though!    

[Andy Hayter]

How many of us buy stuff because you're hoping a manufacturer will eventually produce what you really want?

 

I pre-ordered a Hornby J36 because it was the first time they produced an indigenous Scottish super-detailed loco, as I'm hoping it'll generate enough sales for them to consider a Glen 4-4-0 class, which is what I have been wanting all along.

 

Well not quite the same but I do buy things hoping they will produce complementary items.

 

I bought a Bachmann Wainwright C class hoping they would produce a 1900 version brake van

- although I know I can use it with the birdcage coaches as well.

I bought a Locomotion LYR radial tank hoping they would produce some coaches.

I bought a GCR J11 again hoping for a GCR brake van.

 

But when they don't I build my own.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Well not quite the same but I do buy things hoping they will produce complementary items.

 

I bought a Bachmann Wainwright C class hoping they would produce a 1900 version brake van

- although I know I can use it with the birdcage coaches as well.

I bought a Locomotion LYR radial tank hoping they would produce some coaches.

I bought a GCR J11 again hoping for a GCR brake van.

 

But when they don't I build my own.

But how long do you wait?

[jjb1970]

Why is it necessary to justify a purchase? If you like it and you can afford it then I see no further need to justify buying a model.

[Captain Kernow]

Why is it necessary to justify a purchase? If you like it and you can afford it then I see no further need to justify buying a model.

As the OP of this thread, I never intended that anyone should feel they have to justify any purchase, much less list on here what has been bought and why, etc.

 

It's occurred to me quite a lot of late, though, that so many of those 'nice to have' purchases I've made over the last decade and a half or so are never going to get used on a layout and would, in all likelihood, just remain in their boxes, in some cases with the lubrication oil gently leaking out onto the bodywork as the years go by.

 

As such, I've just sent my third package off to a large retailer who buys 'pre-used' items, having been (just) satisfied with what they were offering. Virtually all my stuff that's going to that shop, though, is in boxed, mint, unused condition. In some cases, it's going back to the retailer that supplied them in the first place.

 

I do like pretty, colourful locos and I was slightly regretful at sending my SE&CR 'C' class back, together with a nice red Midland Compound, but what I have written above applies, what's the point in keeping something I am hardly ever going to see, let alone use, in the forseeable future.

 

Anything that fits with current and future layout plans, however, is being retained.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Captain Kernow

[woodenhead]

Interesting you are using a large retailer to offload your exces, my thoughts are I could get more through EBay despite the costs.

 

Edit : ok so I just looked again at my quote from a large retailer for my SR stock. I think I can still get a couple of hundred more than their offer after fees.

Edited February 25, 2018 by woodenhead