Model Railway Forum

Budget? Model railway?

If you find out how that works, my bank manager will be delighted!

mine has written to me, asking if i have given up my hobby, as no purchase in last 18 months.

Surely budgeting for a model railway is like budgeting for anything. There is no particular way of doing it.

Best thing to do is superglue your bank card into your wallet.

What works for me may not be ideal for everyone. I changed scale to 7mm narrow gauge as though certain things may cost slightly more, overall, my total modelling budget has been massively reduced, even considering the occasional purchase of something special to assist in modelling like mini power tools.
I would say that if it wasn't for making the change from 00 to 0-16.5, I don't think I would have made much progress.
The problem is that in 00 you see lots of lovely things but they all are outside ones budget. But in 0-16.5, if I see someting I like I make the thing, which vastly reduces costs and adds to the fun of modelling. For an exapmple, I can make a waggon for not a lot more then the price of the wheels. (00 gauge wheels... 10.5 or 12.5mm... 10.5mm preferred).
But if I was starting afresh and didn't know much, and just wanted to run trains, I have to say with prices the way they are, I would concentrate on one of these.... Triang, Wrenn, Hornby Dublo 2 rail or even Hornby Dublo 3 rail, as they are quality built items at prices that I have never seen so low. Hornby Dublo (2 or 3 rail) and Wrenn are exceptionally well made items and are built to last years. Triang maybe slightly cruder (Some later Triang is actully excellent and almost to modern standards), but it is so cheap and such a future collecters item, that how can one not buy now while the prices are rediculously low? Working locos starting from £15 each... Mint boxed examples from about £35 which have rarely ever been run...
And going back to HD and Wrenn... Think heavy cast metal bodies and tinplate rolling stock... Ok, later HD 2 rail and some Wrenn used plastic bodies, but even those were nice and solid. Wrenn was basically a company who bought up the old HD moulds and continued mking them until about 1995. The last few Wrenn locos sold (They never were cheap but prices more then doubled when Wrenn ceased producing them) were fetching £550, where today the same locos can be found for £50 to £150... (Very rare to see them fetch much higher). Grab a bargain while it can be found!

MG, as far as i can see, you are now a designated modeller/ builder, as opposed to most of us who play trains. By so doing, you have restricted your budget, by design. I dont think that was posters actual question, as he wants also, to play trains. In my case, with hands like pork sausages, and Bionic thumbs, this option, does not exist. I dont do any landscapes, ballasting, buildings or owt like that. I just buy what i like, from 0 gauge to Z, when/ if funds allow. Tis the enjoyment of what suits, dont you know.

Maybe the Triang/Wrenn/HD2rail route would be an idea?

When I had my own house I did want to have a bit of everything. Different scales and gauges etc... It aas a nice idea, but it would seemingly take forever with cleaning track and wheels etc!

How do i budget, quite simple really, only spend what you can afford too.

Regarding the making of kits, if you have made Airfix kits in the past then you will be OK with Dapol and Parkside/Wills/Ratio. Nowadays these go together using liquid polystyrene rather than the gel type glue which is far less messy. I have made hundreds of these plastic wagon kits over the years and am reasonably happy with the result.

I chose a simple track plan with a few points, made my baseboard from both new and recycled timber, bought a simple controller and one loco then once everything was running the main expense was over. From then on I made use of stuff I recycled (or found in builders skips), scratchbuilt what I could and read 'how to do it cheaply' in both magazines and on web sites such as this one. As with any hobby, you can make it as expensive as you like - but for me, modelling with odds and ends is part of the challenge and pleasure.