What value on a Model Railway?

[Walkingthedog]

As I said above Paulo:
It is very difficult to put a value on a layout we haven’t seen. What you may consider to be good some of us might consider to be rubbish or absolutely incredible. Picture please

Bit like me saying to you how much is my car worth.

[yelrow]

The way i valued the N gauge layout i bought was to work out the cost of the track, the points, the buildings, wiring, and how many hours it would take me to replicate. I then offered him 60% of his asking price, plus cost of transporting. In my case, the buildings/ station, had been very costly for him to buy. and i had none of these. The DCC, elements, were worthless, as i scrapped them, on receipt. I used a similar formula, when purchasing my 7 tier helix. I must say, however, that the greatest enjoyment, i get, is not with running my layouts, which i find, pretty boring, but with the constant design/ layout changes, i make, almost every time i go to run my layouts. All mine are roundy roundy. End to end ones, and of course, it takes all sorts, leave me confused, as to how one can stay amused. I feel sure i must be missing something. One final point, why is the guy, parting with it. Short of a change of gauge, or moving house, all can be altered/ updated.

[Tallpaul70]

Sorry, but I don't own a picture of the layout, so I cant oblige.

But more important than the details is the method!

What factors do you take into consideration when valuing a layout?

For instance:-
I could list the cost of:-
a) the track elements and buffer stops
b) the points
c) the switches
d) add a couple of miles of wire
e) the buildings and platforms
f) the street furniture
g) the figures
h) the timber
I) the surfacing
j) the legs
k) add 20% for contingency/ items I cannot identify

Then assume a discount for being second hand and assume this equates to a notional cost of building the layout

Then the valuation is the total cost of the elements above?

Is this realistic, if not why not?

Cheers
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

The way i valued the N gauge layout i bought was to work out the cost of the track, the points, the buildings, wiring, and how many hours it would take me to replicate. I then offered him 60% of his asking price, plus cost of transporting. In my case, the buildings/ station, had been very costly for him to buy. and i had none of these. The DCC, elements, were worthless, as i scrapped them, on receipt. I used a similar formula, when purchasing my 7 tier helix. I must say, however, that the greatest enjoyment, i get, is not with running my layouts, which i find, pretty boring, but with the constant design/ layout changes, i make, almost every time i go to run my layouts. All mine are roundy roundy. End to end ones, and of course, it takes all sorts, leave me confused, as to how one can stay amused. I feel sure i must be missing something. One final point, why is the guy, parting with it. Short of a change of gauge, or moving house, all can be altered/ updated.

What you suggest ties in with my thoughts, so thanks for that.

The idea of buying this layout started as a ready to go item that would fill the gap in time while others are building my roundy roundy layout for life!

I had come to the conclusion that it was too expensive/ required too much work, but I needed other peoples input before I opted out!

I prefer operation to building as the only building work I am any good at or enjoy is the scenic side. But operation.

But the layout, long term, has to have considerable operating potential, which my roundy roundy will have. I agree that many end to ends only have operating potential if you run a unprototypically intense timetable!

Many thanks
Best regards
Paul

[Brian]

My take is it is impossible to put a price on something that is already built.
The main two items in my thought on such are....
Is it going to be value for money (Worth it)?
Will it do all I want for the outlay?
Yes to both, then pay up. You may even be able to negotiate the price down?
No to one or both or a May be, then don't purchase.

[brian1951]

I take it that the layout in question is " Earls Court " ? if so you could build three for that price.

[teedoubleudee]

I take it that the layout in question is " Earls Court " ? if so you could build three for that price.

Crikey! That IS a lot of money

[yelrow]

Instant hobby for someone with more money than modelling skills. All power to seller, should he find such a person. Bound to be someone.