Is Model Railroading getting out of hand with things


Back in the early 70's, right after I got out of the service, I was living in south Florida when I was finally able to get back into Model Railroading. Living in an apartment, I had to start with a small N scale layout. There was a great hobby shop in the Miami area, Orange Blossom Hobbies. It was great to be able to walk into a shop and have most everything you wanted. Nothing like that up here in Montana. Guess I got spoiled back then.
 
I will have to agree with GenSet completely. When I started in N scale in the early 70's, the quality of the locomotives were what I would call in the stone ages compared to what is available today. The N scale equipment today is fantastic compared to what was available when I started in the 70's. I changed to HO scale because of this in the late 70's and early 80's.

Even in HO scale back then, I ended up to have to do a lot of custom painting to get locomotives with the road names that I wanted. Many had to be re-motored to make them run at todays standards. Look at what we have now available on the market. What a difference. Locomotives run so much better. Also, the availability of structure kits, detail parts and other necessities are a light years ahead of what was available a couple of decades ago. Like day and night!

With this, prices go up. I don't like this part of the situation, but it is something we will have to live with. I can see why local hobby shops are going out of business. I had run a dealership out of my home in the 80's, and pretty well sold at just about wholesale to the small number of modelers we have here just so I could get what I needed for my layout and a good friends layout, but with the recession in the late 90's, I got laid off when the company I worked for downsized and closed the plant where I worked, and I had to quit selling. Fortunately, I did make a plan for my layout, which I stuck to and had quite a lot of what I needed to keep working on the layout until about 5 or 6 years ago. Then things came to a grinding halt. Not much later on, e-retailers come on the scene. Many of them don't even have a physical hobby shop, though some do, such as MB Klein. I was amazed at what had come on the market. So many new and higher quality items.

I am fortunate enough to have the time and money now to travel and will always stop in a physical hobby shop when ever possible. With so many products now on the market, it is almost impossible for any hobby shop to stock everything. With overhead costs and keeping so many items in stock, this can be a costly endeavor.
 
If you scale prices that you used to pay, with the weekly pay you expected to make, perhaps not much has changed. How many hours does it take to earn a Proto 2000 SD40 compared to a 1970s blue box loco of the same type. And wouldn't you prefer the model of today?
 
You have a very good point Charles. When I started into HO after leaving N scale, I did have a few blue box locomotives. After painting and detailing them, almost all of them were re-motored to get them running at todays standards. The choice of road manes in the 70's and into the 80's was rather limited and I had to custon paint a detail the locomotives. This cost additional monry and time. Look at the locomotives available today. They have exceptional detail right out of the box, and they for the most part run like a gem.
 
I have to agree with you Chet, in that the locomotives offered today cover a larger variety of prototypes, that in the 1960's and 70's were unheard of.

My own prototype of choice is a very good example. Back then, there were exactly 5 brass locos, and 1 plastic loco offered for the Southern and only 2 freight cars.

The locos were, a Ps-4 4-6-2, a USRA light Mike, 2-8-2, a light USRA Santa Fe 2-10-2, a USRA 0-8-0, and lastly a USRA light Mountain 4-8-2. The USRA's had to have detail changed and added to make them true SRR engines, plus all needed painting and decaling.

The one plastic loco? The Athearn SW whatever. It was painted solid black with silver lettering, a paint scheme the SRR never had. It needed repainting and decaling as well.

Now there are plastic versions out of the locos I mentioned and several new brass locomotives. Its a lot easier to model the SRR now than then.

I didn't even mention all the correctly painted and detailed diesels that have been offered since then either, nor the various NS engines as well.
 
G'day..This is another interesting topic...I'm a huge fan of Bachmann , not because I use a lot of the power units these days..I will be using the DCC stuff I have of theirs though..very reliable...but as the whole package , especially as a start point , no-one does value for money like Bachmann in HO and N especially...It's the perfect way to get the younger ones going too , without having to spend big dollars...so the hobby only started getting more expensive for me when I started wanting my Athearn Genesis stuff at about $300 each for my locos..I only buy now when I REALLY need something..and can afford it...Re Atlas track...No problems there for me but switches were hard to get mid last year..Something to do with new tooling in China or something..but okay again now..I just bought three No8s..only a few weeks ago for $29 each..switch motors are about $8.....On pricing and HO Bachmann...Have a look at Silver series Bachmann rolling stock..all metal wheels...I defy anyone to tell me anyone does nice detail at such good prices , most can be bought for well less than $20 each...and sale price ie MB Klien...for not much more than $10...metal wheels for that and good detailing is ridiculous but great...Cheers Rod...
 
Hey Rodney,

You make some great points and I have to agree with you about Bachmann being a good value especially for the beginning model railroader. The silver series is especially appealing to me because it reminds me of the rolling stock of the 70s and the prices are fantastic! I only wish I had discovered the Bachmann silver series rolling stock before buying so much old stuff on eBay. Its actually cheaper to buy the new silver series then it is to buy old stuff, pay for shipping, make minor repairs and replace trucks and or couplers.

Recently discovered the Walthers Trainline and it too looks like a good value for the price, but I'll have to get back to you about that after my Conrail GP9 arrives and I run it around my test track.

I should also add that I have an Athearn 2004 Coke a Cola Christmas train set that I used every Christmas for 8 years. Even though I treated the poor thing like a rented mule never doing anything to it other then to have my son set it up and run it. The train was reliable and trouble free every Christmas! I have since replace it under my Christmas tree with Lionel O gauge trains and Lionel is as close to fool proof as you can get!

There are some very good bargains available today and of course there are some extremely expense things too, but I really believe there is something for everyone.
 
G'day Louis and fellow forum-ers...Thanks...Yes, thank goodness for Bachmann and some of the more affordable brands..The 'economy' brands probably started most if not all of us off in the first place...so as does Walthers Trainline..as you correctly mention as another very affordable brand... Kids are the future of this incredible hands on hobby that captivates millions upon millions of us all round the planet. Go to any train show and the best part is the sons with their dads , occasionally a little girl or two enjoying the displays. Same thing around the Christmas tree and this is what makes model or toy trains the enduring pastime it is....So it's great to have the high end $6-700 plus , some way more than that , but the $150 starter set or the $100 DCC ready or on board ones are just as important...if not more so... Silver series Bachmann rolling stock is the main reason I could afford (without too much compromise on detail ) to really get a nice broad selection of cars to get going...We MUST cater for all,. as this great thread suggests might not always happen....Cheers Rod...
 
Bruette said:
Once again Jim you have hit the nail on the head! Trying to recapture those carefree days of my youth is an essential part of my railroads. The times I played with my trains and the time I worked as a coal sampler jumping from hopper to hopper gathering samples. I am trying to recreate those in my railroads.

Another factor for me was when I was a boy I looked at the Lionel Christmas trains in the windows of the nice houses in Baltimore where I delivered news papers and I wished I could afford those Lionel Trains. Don't get me wrong I was happy with my Tyco trains, but I really wanted those big Lionel Trains! I had not thought of that for many years, but when my daughter gave me a Lionel Polar Express for my Christmas tree it brought that memory back.
Click to expand...

For me it was Christmas time when all the department stores in L.A. had HUGE American Flyer and or Lionel layouts. Reginald Denny's had HO and Marklin and the local club The Highland Park Model Railroad Society pretended their back door wasn't open for us little tykes, those old guys were gruff and mean most of the year, all thought they were Santa at Christmas. I'm almost crying just typing this. I so remember the awe and marvel I saw in the turnouts, wonderous. Once a year or so there were trips to the live steam at Griffith Park Traintown, still there, growing. My kids and their Mom and I, and sometimes friends were there all year, in the summer sometimes twice a month. I better shut up.
 
Thanks for sharing your memories Jim.

I grew up in a small suburb of Baltimore, no big department stores and I never went downtown. We had some 5 and dimes, but they did not have train displays. Thanks to the internet I have now seen some of those great department store and other layouts.

The internet is opening up the hobby to everyone. I believe the future of model railroading is brighter then ever!
 
rodney mcgiveron said:
Have a look at Silver series Bachmann rolling stock..all metal wheels...I defy anyone to tell me anyone does nice detail at such good prices , most can be bought for well less than $20 each...and sale price ie MB Klien...for not much more than $10...metal wheels for that and good detailing is ridiculous but great...Cheers Rod...
Click to expand...

You are right on with these observations. If you want to go over the top with detail, not only does the product defy any sort of handling; but one practically needs a magnifying glass to notice.

It could be a function of my age, but if it looks good at 4' to 10' distance, what is the difference? I still rely on ebay, however, for unavailable/discontinued stock or parts. Unless you are into painting all your own rolling stock, which I am not, it is the only place I can find a bunch of stuff I want on my layout.

Another novel idea which will make the experts cringe-- mixing EZ track electric turnouts with ATLAS flex track for an automated railway; with DC power. We are purchasing a home and that is what I am considering for my new layout (v. 3.0) I had 7 of the Bachman EZ track turnouts on my first layout and I just stood by the controls and pressed the buttons, everything worked like a top. I had to tinker with one by adding a small shim, but I could trace that back to an uneven platform.

Don't spread rumors about what you heard. This is my actual experience, and I am not a salesman.

and remember, HAVE FUN lasm
 
You have a good point there. The old eyeballs aren't as good as they used to be. I was doing some detail work on a locomotive that would have take me about 20 minutes years ago, but turned into a few hours to do the same work. I will continue to detail everything, but not quite to the point I used to.
 
Sometimes just bringing back the memories is enough. There is a train ride / entertainment / BBQ just West of the big tunnel entrance to Yosimite park, two different years my little family Me, my wife and two kids rode on "log" cares behind a vintage Heisler (std. gauge) to the end of that line where we all at the best BBQ dinner I've ever had, I think. It was all so good.
 
I think that up front it's important to realize that the dollar is not worth what it once was It's also worthy of note that sometimes people do things for the wrong reasons. In the Rolex watch business, the $8,000.00 dollar watch is dead in the water but the $250,000.00 dollar watch is backordered. I would imagine that the 8K one is keeping time reasonably well so the remaining $242,000 must be to impress someone or so I surmise.

I think that the quest for realism can get pretty silly. If you want to keep up with those guys who will dismiss you because your pike has some trivial "back to the future" issue, you're going to get humiliated every time. If you want to run your trains because you love trains and can only afford to go so far, I'm totally in. I want realism on my railroad and I do work at it to try to make it look really good but I prefer any day to put together a craftsman's kit or to scratchbuild a car from decades ago. I only have DCC sound in a few engines since I get overwhelmed by the noise. I do have DCC in everything else since I love the challenge of avoiding cornfield meets.

I think your issue with flex track is very real and ongoing and Atlas failing to make it to meet demand is a serious shot accross the bow of the hobby. Even so, it can be had on ebay for a fair price if you watch and wait. After that? I've started to make turnouts using fastracks and it's actually a lot of fun to put together your own switch. These days I lay my own track in the front areas whre my cat can really appreciate that craftsmanship. The cat is actually the only one that ever sees it.

I had thought that the kids were not really doing this until I went down to Amhearst in January and loved seeing the dad's moms and grandparents taking their kids into that show. The hobby is alive and well and 25,000 people braving that wind and cold confirmed it for me.
 
The good news, in a funny kind of way, is that for every hobbyist that builds a layout, there's a bunch more that collect stuff that winds up in closets and garage shelves. So looking for things in those sources can be rewarding and enjoyable too. I picked up some nice models that way. Some needed some repairs and others needed putting together -- but I was always happy to buy the items.
 
well, that's certainly true. I pay on average about $11.00 for craftsmans kits from the 50's and 60's. You just can't let yourself get carried away.
 
After looking for several months, I found the Intermountain/Red Caboose Woodside ice-bunker PFE Reefers I've been searching around for. I found them at Becker's Model RR supply in MN. http://beckersmodelrailroadsupply.com/bmrshome.htm


These have been out of stock everywhere else for a couple of years. Minnesota isn't exactly PFE territory. Maybe that's why I found them waiting on the virtual-shelf. Boy, was I thrilled. He had six and I bought them all -- thinking this shouldn't be the moment to shrink from victory! Little things like this make the "hunt" and even the expense worth it. If these had been something I could just pick up at Walmart any time I wanted, it would make the hobby less rewarding somehow.
 
I don't have deep pockets and it helps me to be pretty handy. I have had great success buying parts and repair lots on ebay. I get my keepers, sell some of the others, put together parts and junk lots with the other stuff and auction them off. I save the parts that I commonly use on the things I buy for future repairs. In a lot of these I have acquired track and detail and scenery items that are useful. The best value I have found engine'wise has been the old Mantua stuff. It looks good and just seems to work, you can add details and whatnot also. I have bought several of these not running and with a little cleaning and a few drops of oil they are back on the tracks. Lots of rolling stock are cheap, I just cherrypick the stuff I want and auction the rest back off. Just some thoughts to keep cost down and keep our hobby alive. Mike.
 
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