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

[tomparryharry]

Model trains are expensive.....

 

However, the real thing costs a whole lot more.....

 

Ian

[DavidLong]

I could build and stock a new DCC sound TMD exhibition layout for what on-road and off-road cycling costs me in a year.

 

Never really understood why you need all that stuff to go on a bike ride. My old dad used to ride a bike to work and the only special equipment he had was one of those all-over capes to keep the Southport rain out. Then, in 1956, when he was forty he got a car and he didn't ride a bike again. Still lived 'til he was eighty four, mind.

 

David

[OnTheBranchline]

My female friend has a £700 handbag...now that's crazy , but Apprantly more socially acceptable than model trains

 

And worth more to Spanish pick-pocketers...

Edited March 1, 2013 by OnTheBranchline

[TheSignalEngineer]

Never really understood why you need all that stuff to go on a bike ride. My old dad used to ride a bike to work and the only special equipment he had was one of those all-over capes to keep the Southport rain out. Then, in 1956, when he was forty he got a car and he didn't ride a bike again. Still lived 'til he was eighty four, mind.

 

David

But would his bike stand up to going downhill at 40mph on an unsurfaced forest track without the wheels going out of shape, let alone stop before that tree at the bottom? You don't really need brakes in Southport let alone hydraulic discs.

And have you seen the price of decent cross-country bike tyres recently? Some cost nearly as much as for a car.

[newbryford]

But would his bike stand up to going downhill at 40mph on an unsurfaced forest track without the wheels going out of shape, let alone stop before that tree at the bottom? You don't really need brakes in Southport let alone hydraulic discs.

And have you seen the price of decent cross-country bike tyres recently? Some cost nearly as much as for a car.

 

£15 for brake pads for mine (if I want to save 30g). Otherwise still £9.....     Can't yet track down after-market resin pads for SLX brakes.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Mod5]

As well as a really useful cement mixer the current Mrs. Shakespeare brought 

 

Shylock Shakespeare

  Was that like a dowry then?  

[Jason T]

Mountain biking is a money pit and the more you get into it, the worse it becomes. Thing is, if you were to buy a 'mountain bike' for £150 from the likes of Halfords, it is a false economy because it really won't be up for going off-road, at least not on anything more demanding than a Sustrans path. Front suspension is the same; you can get some cheap forks that will go up and down but notin a very controlled manner and you'd be better off with rigid forks. A lot of it depends on where you want to ride really, but I want to ride down nasty, steep rocky things from the top of mountains to the bottom (Helvellyn, down Dollywaggon and then to Glenridding, for example) and yer average Halfords bike would disintegrate after about 30 yards of Dollywaggon.

 

I admit that I am bad with it though. Got a Strange Alpine Five frame last year and put some 20mm bolt-thru Rock Shox Revs on it (cost me around £500) Three rides in and they felt too spindly and flexy so I bought some 36 TALAS for a grand. The Rev are still in the shed. Apologies to the non MTBers out there, but two of the above posters will know exactly what I am on about

Edited March 2, 2013 by Sandside

[Tim V]

So you are one of those "people" who throw themselves down mountains, oblivious to others "quiet enjoyment" of the countryside?

[Jason T]

If you tar all mountain bikers with the same brush or if you think that the countryside should be reserved for walkers only then yes.

 

In reality though, I would not ride down a well used trail at a time that I knew it was going to be busy, and I always give way to walkers (although many will happily stand aside and let me pass). I find that the vast majority of walkers are happy to share the mountains with us and when out, spend half the day chatting to people about the hobby, the landscape, you name it. Yes, we ride such places for the challenge but a large part of it is also to appreciate the beauty and serenity of the mountains and countryside.

 

I love England and it's NIMBY attitude

[Hippo]

I mostly get left alone with what i spend on model railways, as my wife is a season ticket holder at Tottenham. The ticket alone cost about £900, plus travelling, cup games, programes, home and away shirts etc.

 

Owen

[TheSignalEngineer]

I usually reserve the fast downhills for dedicated routes which are signposted as no walkers, as I don't want one stepping out in front of me at 30mph. Yes, it's dangerous for them but moreso for me as I will probably miss them and do myself serious damage by hitting a tree or rock head first in the process.

On shared routes I don't usually go any faster than a runner when there are other users about.

 

 

So you are one of those "people" who throw themselves down mountains, oblivious to others "quiet enjoyment" of the countryside?

Along with those people who ride motorbikes along Bridleways and drive 4x4s over moorlands. I have also taken part in repairing and signposting footpaths, clear vegetation from overgrown Rights of Way and clearing litter left by walkers.

[sixteen 12by 10s]

Model trains are expensive.....

 

However, the real thing costs a whole lot more.....

 

Ian

yes, just trying to find 10 grand for two sets of batteries for my real toys

[DavidLong]

But would his bike stand up to going downhill at 40mph on an unsurfaced forest track without the wheels going out of shape, let alone stop before that tree at the bottom? You don't really need brakes in Southport let alone hydraulic discs.

And have you seen the price of decent cross-country bike tyres recently? Some cost nearly as much as for a car.

 

My dad's bike didn't need to go down forest tracks at 40 mph 'cos it was a form of transport and not an expensive hobby. When he wanted to do 40 mph he bought a car which he drove to forest tracks and walked down them. The mass of people didn't have expensive hobbies in the 1950s and model railways was no exception. Unless your name was Norris and he was an exception due to him having disposable income. 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

[Guest 40-something]

My friend races a 1972 MG Midget, and thats a money pit!!!  He spent 5 figures on the engine alone!  However he saves money by being able to do all the mechanical and oily work himself and his car is also road legal so he can drive it to more local events.  On top of the general running and repair costs, he has race entry fees, license renewal etc etc.  

 

Its his main hobby, he works hard and plays hard!

[bluebottle]

So you are one of those "people" who throw themselves down mountains, oblivious to others "quiet enjoyment" of the countryside?

 

I'm not a mountain biker, nor am I one of those people who characterise other individuals as "one of those people".

 

Edit for grammar

Edited March 2, 2013 by bluebottle

[tomparryharry]

yes, just trying to find 10 grand for two sets of batteries for my real toys

40 grand on a boiler.....

[flapland]

My other hobby can get very expensive. Audiophile/Vinyl collector. My hifi kit is worth about £7k list and I hate to think of the cost of replacing my 1000+ LPs. Also a cartridge(needle) for the turntable can easily cost £300 and upwards.

[newbryford]

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.

 

Insert whatever you want in the bold highlight - particularly anything sport/exercise related.

 

I've met golfers who think the latest/most expensive kit will make them into the next Rory McIlroy, or bikers who thinks spending a couple of grand on a bike will make them Bradley Wiggins or Sam Hill (go look him up). Radio control car racers who spent £50 on an electronic speed controller to go faster when I could beat them with a £3.50 Mardave resistor mat controller.

 

Yes - there are times when expensive kit is worth the investement, but be prepared to train more or take instruction courses to use it properly.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Guest Natalie Graham]

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".

You don't have to go back to 1950's methods to scratchbuild cheaply. Especially in the smaller scales. You can get a good few 2mm scale locos out of a couple of sheets of Nickel Silver. Those of us who model in scales such as 2mm FS, 3mm or S Gauge are quite used to building pretty much everything ourselves. As to time, well it depends what you want from the hobby. If you want to have an elaborate layout running lots of trains and the building of it is just a means to an end then that approach is probably not for you, but if you enjoy spending a few hours now and again carefully working on a model for its own sake regardless of whether it ever becomes a part of some larger scheme then you can enjoy the hobby very cheaply and time isn't an issue. It is rather like cycling that has been mentioned. If your objective is to cycle around the world then that is going to take a lot of time but if you are just happy to enjoy riding for a couple of hours on the local roads or trails then how much you can do in a given time isn't a factor.

[Gavvy2]

Last year was expensive for me with the Blue Pullman and going digital but that's nothing like what my next door neighbour spent on freezing through the winter at Goodison! At least my railway room is warm and dry.

 

Gavin

[James]

So you are one of those "people" who throw themselves down mountains, oblivious to others "quiet enjoyment" of the countryside?

Sounds like the lycra-clad, middle aged men who tear through my village at the weekend!

[Captain Kernow]

Sounds like the lycra-clad, middle aged men who tear through my village at the weekend!

I hope they are also very earnest... 

 

I'm going to nail my colours to the mast here and say that I sympathise with Tim V, although this has to be in a theoretical sense only, in that I'm too bone idle / knackered by the end of the week / aged / unadventureous / cautious / remote from really high mountains ** to have been up or down any steep gradients recently to have observed any mountain bikers ascending or descending them....

 

** Delete at will...

 

The last time I went for a country walk up a high mountain, to enjoy the solitude and all, some thoughtless bug*er went and drove a loud and noisy rack-driven steam train past me!!

 

CTMK has an expensive hobby, it's called a Ford Focus...

[MJI]

Hmm hobby costs

 

I wanted to try motorsport - well too much money - didn't get past the booklet. Also too many mods required for car below.

 

Car modification, 22 years ago, cam, twin carbs, rally exhaust, wide wheels, forest springs, forest shocks, rolling road setup, on a 15 or so year old Sunbeam. Also I did raid the scrap yards for better trim parts.

 

Current car, well I have put Xenon headlamps on it, stiffer springs, air shocks, better hifi, lumpier cams (4).

 

How about home cinema, well I just HAVE to have things so was the first person I know to get DVD player £500 (I skipped Vhs), widescreen flatscreen digital TV £1400 - used for 10 years, AV receiver £500, speakers, total cost about £800 bought over quite a few years, of course I HAD to go Blu Ray and with liking games that meant PS3 (near £400), then a HDTV (£1700). I spent £800 on a Beta VCR!

 

That said TVs are used until worn out, DVD player wore out, amp still in use, speakers still in use, current car had over 7 years, I buy as future proof as possible, and use until worn out. Only hd 3 video cameras in 25 years.

 

I just don't like cheap TVs, not when I can see a better one making me want it, I bought the current one on picture quality!

 

Quite a few people would know who I am from this.

 

BTW I have too much model railway stuff as well!

 

Good job I don't like football!

[Guest Natalie Graham]

 I bought the current one on picture quality!

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

[298]

My friend races a 1972 MG Midget, and thats a money pit!!!  He spent 5 figures on the engine alone!  However he saves money by being able to do all the mechanical and oily work himself and his car is also road legal so he can drive it to more local events.  On top of the general running and repair costs, he has race entry fees, license renewal etc etc.  

 

Its his main hobby, he works hard and plays hard!

 

The same used to be said about flying- if you don't drink or smoke then it was affordable on an average wage, but I'm not sure at what level (or how many fags you smoked a day or gallons you drunk...).

 

It's not the cost of a hobby that I think is worthy of comparison, but the time involved too- take the usual example of a season ticket to the Football and you're looking at a full afternoon or evening every week throughout 9 months the year, plus the easy to reach away games or maybe overnight trips and popping out to the booking office to buy said tickets, and you're now up to a significant amount of time with nothing to really show for it. There's also the added problem of perhaps having to book time off work to use your expensive investment in the season ticket, which means less opportunities throughout the rest of the year for quality family time. 

 

And to think Railway Enthusiasts are called obsessive...