Sure railway modelling is expensive, but compared to other hobbies...

[MJI]

Try buying them on programme quality. It doesn't matter how much you spend, the programmes don't get any better.

Actually sticking to BBC HD and BBC 1 HD there are still some decent ones

[TheSignalEngineer]

....................... Otherwise it tended to be all ex-RAF bomber switches, LMS 4Fs made from recycled soup tins, cardboard buildings covered with Merco brick papers and stuck together with Seccotine. If your name was Denny then of course you still managed to produce masterpieces and made your own switches from bits of wood and brass without recourse to those fangled RAF bomber things. He went all consumerist in the the 1960s when he bought a couple of Triang clerestories and converted them into something Great Central looking. Sold out if you ask me

This also prompts a question about quite how, with all the 21st century advantages, many people can spend inordinate amounts of money on a craft hobby and still make a complete dog's breakfast of it.

 

David

My best layout for running was fully sectioned with two second hand H&M controllers from the 1950s. The sections were switched between the controllers with two of those 10-way telephone switch boxes of the kind that sat under an old office telephones bought for £1 in Birmingham Rag Market. Buildings were mostly card, but I did venture into extruded and textured plastics for a canal transhipment shed. Some rolling stock had wooden bodies on Peco chassis, and one freelance loco consisted of a City of Truro boiler and card Collett cab on a Gaiety Tank chassis. Although the layout is long since gone the H&M controllers are still used when I get out the Dublo collection.

[station cat]

 

Apart from emulating Imelda Marcos, I can think of a number of hobbies which are far, far more expensive than model railways, such as:

• Sailing
• Any kind of motor sport (participating, certainly; watching? possibly)
• Flying (e.g. getting a private pilot licence)
• Anything involving horses!
• Antiques and Art collecting

 

I think horses are about as bad as it gets. At least model railways don't break their legs when you leave them in their stables.

[PatB]

A few years ago I started looking at doing regular motorcycle track days. Not real racing mark you but half a dozen loosely supervised ten minute sessions on a track, along with some nominal tuition on high speed riding techniques using participants own road bikes.  Given that I already owned a (nt very suitable) bike my capital costs were a set of track legal leathers, gloves and boots and a spine protector.  Much Ebay trawling got me that for $1000 but if I wanted top of the line gear I could easily spend several times that.  I sprang for a new helmet too but didn't count it as my old one was in need of replacement anyway.

 

Must spends for running costs amounted to ~$200 a time entry fee for the day itself, roughly $30 per day for fuel, $50 per day for an oil change with decent oil.  Decent tyres for the bike i used were about $350 for a set and would, I estimate, be knackered after 6-7 days so say $50 a day.  A modern with fat radials could easily double that. Other consumables such as chains and brake pads would see vastly accelerated wear over what would be seen on the road.  Being trashed by a novice isn't kind to a bike either and would certainly lead to longevity issues if sustained, not to mention the effect on resale value if a potential buyer finds out that a bike has a track history.

 

Then there are the incidentals.  Again, being ridden hard increases the possibility of major mechanical failure.  A broken con-rod will saw an engine in half leaving the owner up for anything north of $1000 for a used engine, up to many times that, depending on the exoticness, desirability or rarity of their chosen mount .  Crashing will be uninsured and, although it is unusual to completely destroy a machine, scraping all the cosmetic plastic off something modern will cost squillions, even using the cheap aftermarket stuff that the Chinese are now selling.  Crashing also raises the possibility of writing off $300-1000 worth of helmet and damaging the rest of one's gear, which can usually be repaired but, again, costs money.  Then there is the possibility of hurting oneself.  With modern protective gear and in the controlled environment of the track serious injuries are relatively rare but if it does happen there is loss of income due to time off work to consider.

 

So say $350 plus travel costs and food for a day's entertainment if all goes well, up to the value of the bike if it doesn't and utter physical and financial ruin if the very worst happens.

 

That said, it was great fun as an occasional steam release.  I just couldn't justify the ongoing expense to make a regular thing of it.

[Guest Belgian]

Actually sticking to BBC HD and BBC 1 HD there are still some decent ones

 Occasionally.

[37114]

The annual bill for my Land Rover worked out cheaper than Railway modelling one year (when I bought a few locos etc), I don't include fuel as it generally gets used on trips that would have been in another car anyway (eg tip runs)

Tax - £180

MOT - £65  (Including a couple of bits required to pass)

Insurance - £108

Oil etc - £25

 

Total £378

[Allegheny1600]

All this talk of how expensive other hobbies are, - I'm glad I don't have any other hobbies!

Model (& real) railways are my only hobby and so I feel quite justified in spending whatever I want to on it.

I don't drink anymore and have given up smoking too, the mtb is out of use, I have a reasonable car but it is just a car.

The wifes hobby is now our business but her other 'hobby' is travel abroad - that isn't cheap though!!!

I guess I'm "boring", so what!?!

Cheers,

John E.

[RhBBob]

Welcome to the club, John E !

 

Being boring is simply enjoying something which others scoff at.....okay so I'm a railway modeller - or am I ?  The rolling stock has to live in three suitcases which, because of the value, have to live indoors - cue joke about 'ready to move out'.  The remainder of the rolling stock (oh yes, there's more) lives at the top of the wardrobe or in the garage cabinets inherited from Daughter as she visits the 'blue and yellow' store fairly frequently.

 

With an exhibition layout stored and unable to be played with between outings, and parts of a future home layout still lurking in the vastly overcrowded garage, I have come to the conclusion that it ain't a hobby, I am simply a collector 

 

Other 'hobby' is a Strat XII - but then as the guitar and amp etc., are all paid for and cost but a little electricity, that is like calling your TV set a hobby, isn't it ?

[Barry Ten]

I think horses are about as bad as it gets. At least model railways don't break their legs when you leave them in their stables.

 

That said, and it can be a bloody expensive pasttime, the rewards are well worth it. I've had the sh*ttiest day of my life, got on a horse and within 5 minutes all was well with the world - and the "high" lasts for days. My wife and I have both had our share of trips to hospital courtesy of horses - she's broken a few ribs, I've been bitten to the bone through three layers of clothing as well has having a permanently dislocated collar bone - but we keep coming back to it. Oddly enough when I'm riding in an indoor arena I keep thinking what a great space it would make for a 7mm layout...

[Ron Ron Ron]

Actually sticking to BBC HD and BBC 1 HD there are still some decent ones

 

 Occasionally.

 

Not for much longer.

BBC HD goes off the air for good on March 26th (BBC2 takes over that HD channel on that date).

 

 

 

 

.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Ron Ron Ron

[Jol Wilkinson]

"Expensive" is a relative term but compared with some of the hobbies described, railway modelling doesn't seem so.

 

However it depends on a number of factors, including disposable income, etc. as well as an individual's perception.

 

All my modelling is kit and scratch build based, because I choose to model a pre-group railway. The items that I buy are more expensive that RTR and RTP products, but because my requirements for locos, stock, etc. are probably less than most people would have in their collection, then to me my hobby isn't expensive.

 

For example, a 4mm loco kit, with wheels, etc. is probably around £150 -£180, much more than most RTR locos. However, I have eleven finished locos and another eight kits still to build. That is enough to run my layout and as I started about twenty five years ago the cost has been spread over a long time. I have had a lot of satisfaction from building my models, so for me they have also been good value for money.

 

This hobby is like any other, it is as expensive as you choose to make it.

 

Jol

 

 

[MJI]

Not for much longer.

BBC HD goes off the air for good on March 26th (BBC2 takes over that HD channel on that date).

 

 

 

 

.

Damn, no more HiDef BBC4 documentries

[49395]

I think horses are about as bad as it gets. At least model railways don't break their legs when you leave them in their stables.

 

Or eat timber buildings and fences, knock walls down, escape, turn fields into a decent recreation of the Somme.....

 

I suppose its not all bad though

 

Mike

[iL Dottore]

...I suppose its not all bad though...

Indeed, they do make a decent Lasagna

iD

 

sorry, poor taste, I know, but I just couldn't resist

Edited March 4, 2013 by iL Dottore

[M.Riddell]

The potential cost of simple plastic kit building can be pretty high as well.

 

For example, a Japanese kit producer called Tamiya have several 1/32 Spitfires in their range, here's the Mk VIII as an example: http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/TA60320

 

So £140 for the kit, you can then add the cost of any aftermarket items that you wish to add to it, i.e:http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?adv=1&product_category_id=&product_division_id=&manufacturer_id=&product_type_id=all_aircraft_accessories&code=&scale_id=953&keyword_search=spitfire&setPerPage=100&sort=0&search_direction=asc&save_search_name=&save_search= (sorry for the length of the link!)

 

Each item may not cost a lot individually, but add them together you could easily spend well over £250 on the project.

 

Once you've built it you then have the problem of where to put it!

 

Another Asian company are producing a 1/32 Lancaster bomber which will probably cost the proverbial arm and a leg with an even worse storage problem!!

 

Mike.

[station cat]

Indeed, they do make a decent Lasagna

iD

 

sorry, poor taste, I know, but I just couldn't resist

 

The scrap value does tend to be higher

Edited March 4, 2013 by station cat

[PhilJ W]

Once you've built it you then have the problem of where to put it!

 

Another Asian company are producing a 1/32 Lancaster bomber which will probably cost the proverbial arm and a leg with an even worse storage problem!!

 

Mike.

There was a 1/32 Avro Vulcan kit available a year or two back.

[Glorious NSE]

I think TheQ's post does underline an important point, that nearly all hobbies can be as inexpensive or as expensive as the participant cares to make it. However, if you critically look at railway modelling and compare it with other hobbies, it is a hobby that can be done very, very, cheaply. If one was to go "retro", with one's modelling (and do what was done in the 50s and 60s) using very inexpensive cardboard, card, glues, pieces of wood offcuts, shellac, recycled teddy bears and paint, one could assemble a decent layout (including rolling stock) with very few items needing to be purchased (wheels, motors, track, screws and nails). As a rough guesstimate, using 50s modelling skills and making nearly everything "in house", I think you could build a reasonably sized layout for about £150 - £200 in total. Whereas, for example, it'd be hard to go sailing in a cardboard yacht, or renovate a house using recycled teddy bear fur and wood off cuts. Mind you, to do such modelling, you'd have to be very, very "Time Rich".

 

I don't think you neccesarily have to go all 'sackcloth and ashes' to participate in this hobby cheaply - lots of it is 'state of mind' stuff, making the most of the money you do have, and buying what you need to make it work, and at the right quality to not waste money, but ignoring the call of the latest shiny-shiny new thing.

 

I.e. Do you actually need item X at £300 to take part in this hobby? Probably not.

 

I was discussing with a friend who's part of a modular club, taking part there would mean their monthly fee (£10) when you attend. We figured you'd also probably want a loco to drive as well, plus if you're doing that you'd want a DCC throttle to drive it with. We reckoned that some reasonably careful ebaying could get you an old Android phone for about £20, a very good quality diesel for £60 or less, and chip that for under another £20, so a one-off £100 plus £10 per month could get you up and having fun running trains regularly within a friendly group.

 

And no whittling baked bean tins in sight!

[JZ]

A friend of mine collects coins. Privately to me he admitted to it becoming an addiction, he'd spent an estimated £250K. That was 5 years ago. He has now started dealing to help pay for it.

[Philip Jackson]

I've just aquired a 160l Fish tank with stand for a bargain eur90.00, then you need to buy gravel, stones, plants, filters, lights, co2 kit, water treatment chemicals. I'm on eur300 so far and no where near putting in any fish. When i do I'm looking at over eur200.00 for the stock i want.

 

I must devote a bit more time to my model railways when this is over, my wallett cannot take this kind of battering

[Poggy1165]

I would submit that railway modelling is as much an investment as a hobby, given that most items (if kept in good order) can be sold on, and some may even have added value - for example a well-made kit. You will certainly get something for an old model railway. See how much you get for a used season ticket book for football, for example.

 

I gave up football a long while back because even then the admission prices were getting stupid - for the price of a ticket to watch a Premier League club you can easily buy an O Gauge wagon kit. (An O gauge loco kit if you attend away matches at the other end of the country.) That's how I justify it (to myself) and I reckon the pleasure of building it will last more than 90 minutes, while unless I chuck it in the dustbin it will still be in use (or saleable) long after the match would be forgotten. Railway modelling is a bargain!

[Barry Ten]

One of the things I come back to is not so much to do with expense but the investment of time in a hobby. The other main "sink" on my spare time is playing guitar, which is very much a case of only getting out as much as you put into it. If I spend, say, 300 hours on guitar over a year, I've probably got a bit better over that 12 months. But if I slack off on my practice, it's easy to fall back and lose some or all of that investment. But for every hour I put into the layout, there's usually something tangible at the end of it. It might be tiny - just a bit of ballasting, or a painted figure or something, or it might be a major box ticked, such as a new junction or a totally finished piece of rolling stock, or even a finished layout. The main thing is, though, I've "gained" that achievement for life - even if I don't touch the layout for a year, I won't have lost anything, and if I'm feeling a bit discouraged by progress, I can always draw from something finished earlier on. In that sense, railway modelling is a better use of my time because I've always got a bit more to show for it at the end of the evening. I think for me that is one of the big incentives to go into the train room and get something done.

 

On the other hand - I spend a lot less money on music! I haven't bought a guitar for two years (I only own five which is not many by some standards) and I don't envisage buying another, at least not in the foreseeable future, as I've got all I need. I might buy a new set of strings or a guitar stand occasionally or a bit of electronic gear but it's still a minor expenditure compared to trains. Even the tenner a week I pay my guitar tutor is relatively small beer compared to my yearly expenditure on toys - probably less than the cost of two sound equipped engines over a year.

[Horsetan]

 

Apart from emulating Imelda Marcos, I can think of a number of hobbies which are far, far more expensive than model railways, such as:

• Sailing
• Any kind of motor sport (participating, certainly; watching? possibly)
• Flying (e.g. getting a private pilot licence)
• Anything involving horses!
• Antiques and Art collecting

In that case, I probably have fairly expensive interests. I run a 30-year-old car that can still run on leaded petrol. And as for the money I've spent over the last 26 years on horses and hunting, don't even go there. But, y'know, I've had terrific fun, and I wouldn't change a thing.

 

"Of all the money that e'er I spent

I've spent it in good company

And all the harm that ever I did

Alas it was to none but me,

And all I've done for want of wit

To memory now I can't recall

So fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all."

Edited March 21, 2013 by Horsetan

[OnTheBranchline]

At least with model railways, theft of the product is less than other industries. Compared to say illegal downloading of movies & music which is affecting the movie & music distribution industries right now.

[Nimbus]

At least with model railways, theft of the product is less than other industries. Compared to say illegal downloading of movies & music which is affecting the movie & music distribution industries right now.

 

Yeah, they should have stuck with vinyl!

 

The Nim.