Your latest acquisition

[Walkingthedog]

I don’t think you can compare with when we were young. The models had no detail and were very unrealistic. My Princess Elizabeth was shorter than the modern Black 5. It’s like saying for a shilling you could go to the pictures, have fish and chips and still get change. Maybe so but a shilling was a lot of money.
Saying you could get a Jinty train set for 4 quid doesn’t mean that was cheap, £4 was a lot.

£4 in 1958 is equivalent to about £90 now.

A lot of the Railroad stuff is great value. Locos for about 30 quid, 3 wagons for 22, not bad by modern standards.

[footplate1947]

My question was, how much do average kids (not talking rich kids) get for pocket money now days. I am 71 so out of touch with things like that.

[Walkingthedog]

I'm just short of 70 so not much difference there.


Not sure about pocket money, I get about a fiver a week. Kids don’t go without much today so a £300 phone would buy a train set, but they’d prefer the phone.


My old mum used to keep on about how much better things were when she was young. I used to say between two world wars, must have been wonderful.

[footplate1947]

Not everybody are as well off as us with our pensions and life style.. They are the ones I was thinking of who probably think our hobby is expensive and out of reach. But never mind was only chatting. If you think things are OK that's your opinion. I just think Hornby and others could offer some cheaper stuff for all pockets even if they are from older mouldings and discontinued ranges.

[Walkingthedog]

I can’t afford new expensive cars so buy second hand. Huge amounts of model railway bargains at toy fairs that will fit most pockets.

[footplate1947]

You are right Brian it is me not being able to keep up with the times. ..........John

[Mountain Goat]

I don’t think you can compare with when we were young. The models had no detail and were very unrealistic. My Princess Elizabeth was shorter than the modern Black 5. It’s like saying for a shilling you could go to the pictures, have fish and chips and still get change. Maybe so but a shilling was a lot of money.
Saying you could get a Jinty train set for 4 quid doesn’t mean that was cheap, £4 was a lot.

£4 in 1958 is equivalent to about £90 now.

A lot of the Railroad stuff is great value. Locos for about 30 quid, 3 wagons for 22, not bad by modern standards.

Some seems reasonable but some does not. The beautiful 0-4-0's are mostly £34.99. About £5 more then I expected them to be but OK. It is the max retail price one expects to see.. Now I looked at the range and near the back was the most popular selling 0-4-0, Smokey Joe. It is basically identical except for its colour. How much? £40.99. If that isn't taking advantage of its popularity then nothing is!
I do value these to be higher then the older Chinese and Margate examples as they not only run better but have a lower top speed. But they tend to be more then one expects them to be. About three or four years ago there was a pack wit an 0-4-0 loco with three wagons for the same price and that was a RRP price.
However, they are still just about within the realms of budget. What puzzles me with Hornby is they go and add slightly less detailed versions of their top of the range models at slightly lower prices into their Railroad range where they are not within the realms of what moist of us would understand by the concept of what Railroad was originally intended to be. I believe both options of the models should be advertised within the standard range and here is why. With some adult modellers there is a pride thing where they won't buy Railroad as it is considered a toy. Now most of us can see past this, but now look at it from a child's point of view. They are not really suitable for children, as even with the reduced detail they are still intricate and I am doubtful they would survive a child's younger brother or sister grabbing it and throwing it across the room. The 0-4-0's will survive such treatment and so will some of the ex Lima and older designs of Hornby. Also, I don't think parents would consider the high prices of those better models to be within the Railroad price range. They want something cheap that keeps their railway mad little youngsters happy. (And as an ex railway mad youngster, most of what kept me happy were trains that ran well and would survive my frequent handling, and the occasional opening them up to get them to run again if they stopped (Which I was quite good at by the age of 8 onwards)).
I can see the logic of the older models fitted with TTS sound decoders. If their parents can afford them they will love these (Assuming that they have a dad or elder brother into DCC where they can run them on his layout).
Regarding the general prices, another opportunity has been missed. Adult modellers who would want to buy wagons that have less detail will want to buy in bulk to get a rake of wagons at a reasonable price. They tend to buy 10 to 20 in one go. The packs are ideal for them. A child will want to go to the shop and buy a single wagon as this is the limit of his weeks pocket money (More likely two or three weeks where I live). If they don't sell the budget wagons singularly (And I'm not really talking about the more expensive bogie wagons) then they will not buy as by the time they have enough for a pack of three, they see a different toy and buy that.

[footplate1947]

Thank you MG you do understand the points I was trying to make earlier. You get it spot on and are better at explaining it than I was.

To sum it up in my words. The RR range was a brilliant idea from Hornby but it did not keep on track to serve the market it was intended to. A railway range for the beginners young and older ones alike. They were way layed and the greater detail won brigade won the prize. In stead of keeping the 2 ranges separate. Thanks for the support MG

[Mountain Goat]

It is something close to my heart when I used to work for the railway and chatted to the public. This was before the prices went up. I would share the pages of the model railway magazines ad show a loco I'd just purchased and so many times I would have great interest but hear the words "I would love to have a model railway but I just can't aford it". This was often said by men in their 40's and also of mums who wanted to buy them for their children but the prices put them off. It was always about the cost of the hobby. I didn't actually hear the "I haven't got the room" reply.
Since those days the prices doubled and then doubled again. The rises didn't come gradually in line with inflation, but came in giant leaps and jumps.

[brian1951]

Over 12 mths ago i was asked to value two large loco collection for probate, one was all Brass O gauge and the other all new fleischmann n gauge locos. Well today i received a call to say i could have first refusal on the lot.