Your Model Railroad Hobby
is a Good Investment in Leisure Time.
What's a few hours of fun worth to you?
At first glance you'd expect a model railroad hobby to be an expensive proposition.
Let's make some comparisons.
A random check on E-Bay (2008) tells me someone will sell me a full set of Taylor Made golf clubs including irons, bag and putter for $608.64.
I can buy a Digital Command Control Digitrax Starter set, the premium Super Chief set (5 amps), for $449.99.
A check of golf clubs in my area tells me a round of golf averages $65 if I walk the course, more if I take a cart.
That's an average of $3.61 per hole and 11.66 minutes per hole for a 3 1/2 hour round of 18 holes. Seldom do I manage to play a round in that time.
My annual train club dues are $60. We meet 48 Mondays a year for 3 1/2 hours each time. You do the math.
Or how about a pair of skis and boots? E-Bay tells me right this moment I can buy a pair of Rossignol Bandit B74 skis and Axium bindings from someone for $373.68. A pair of Nordica Beast ski boots will cost me $399.99.
I can buy an A-B set of Canadian pacific FP9s with DCC/sound from Canadian Model Trains (CMT) for $344.98.
So much for the new ski boots.
My model railroad hobby cost is looking better and better.
The Walthers catalog lists a Freight Runner train set by Life-Like Trains for $109.99. I'd get a GP-38-2 diesel, sliding door box car, two-bay hopper, tank car, Thrall door box car, stock car and caboose. The set includes a stock yard with pigs, cows and people, a snap-together passenger and freight station, working crossing gates, three trees, two automobiles, a truck and over 100 signs.
If I don't buy the skis, I'll have about $300 left. With this I can buy a sheet of plywood, some 1" X 3" lumber, 2 sheets of 2" insulating foam and build the benchwork. I'll need 4 packages of Kadee #5 couplers and a basic DCC decoder (no sound). There's probably money left for a couple of plastic building kits and some Woodland Scenics landscaping material. Maybe I'll buy their Scenery Kit for $59.98 so I can practice. It makes a 10" X 18" diorama where I can display my trains and take pictures.
Oh, I forgot. I can't go skiing unless I buy a season's pass. The early bird price is $159.
On second thought, I could just buy the Woodland Scenics 4' X 8' Grand Valley HO scale Lightweight Layout kit for $498 and forget about skiing. Spend the winter in my basement.
All tongue in cheek, naturally. I haven't even considered the cost of buying a snowmobile. Even a half-decent bicycle will set you back $150 these days if you include the safety helmet. I know. I just bought one at Canadian Tire.
The main point is that when it comes to cost we all find the money for the things we enjoy or find a way to do them without breaking the bank.
Set yourself an annual budget to cover your model railroad hobby cost. Putting together a craftsman-type freight car can take a few evenings. A semi-difficult building like a Campbell wooden model can take weeks. A Bar Mills or Finescale structure can take months by the time you paint all the details.
Or you can join a local model railroad hobby club. Learn some techniques. Get your questions answered. Make some new friends. Have fun running trains. Probably won't cost you more than $10 a week and a cup of coffee.
That's my fifty cents on cost.
What's enjoying a great hobby worth to you?
Here's a site by another "SBIer" you should know about in order to stretch your hobby dollar.
(For an explanation of SBIer, read about SBI in the right column)
This Rollin Sawyer Chemicals kit by Finescale was built over a period of 4 months.
This Finescale maintenance shed kit had been sitting on my shelf for years. It is about to be "planted" in Underhill North yard.
If you're excited about planning a great railroad,
there's no better place to start than
in your favorite easy chair with this book by John Armstrong.
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