OK, I know you can't build an entire layout for $100 unless you're crazy lucky or have super generous friends or relatives. But what about $100 a month for 12 months? I know $1200 is a lot of money for a lot of people (me included) but split up over 12 months maybe it's not so bad. What got me thinking about it was reading the comments about the new Lionel catalog on the O Gauge forum. Lots of comments on the new Lionel catalog specifically and the cost of the hobby in general, but the comments that most caught my attention fell into two categories. On one hand, some people love expensive trains (and they like flaunting the fact they can afford them). OTOH some (lots) of people have either lost their jobs or are working for less pay, fewer hours, etc.
I'm not into class warfare or envy so I'll leave the politics to others (just please not here) but I got to thinking... are toy trains affordable? If you can't afford the "latest and greatest" can you still get quality or do you have to settle for junk? I want to explore this...
So my goal for the next 8 months is to see if I can build a nice model
toy railroad on $100 per month. I bought a really nice K-Line locomotive with 4 freight cars and a caboose for less than $100 last month, so I think it's probably doable. It will cost me about $100 to build a 4x8 table and probably $300 for track and transformer. That leaves me with $700 for buildings, scenery, and maybe a second train.
Think I can do it?
2 comments:
Ken,
I would rather invest those $700 in more wood and track as a 4x8 layout in O-gauge is not much real estate for a decent train. In general though, I think it is doable, just requires a lot of patience...
I agree 4x8 isn't much room for an O Gauge layout, so some of that $700 may go for a yard extension. Some O Gauge buildings are pretty expensive though, so it might not take to many of them to burn through the $700. I'm also including lighting, people, cars, scenery, etc in the $700. We're finishing up a remodeling project this month but I hope to be able to start on the layout by the middle of may.
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