Model Railway Forum

i started this hobby approx 10 yrs back what with the cost of rolling stock, timber etc etc . I had some joinery work done and the man that came to do it was telling about the prices today. But it basically put up or shut up in this day and age

I am glad I got out of 00 gauge when I did! One needs to be a bit daft to pay todays prices for what at the end of the day is just a little bit of plastic and a blob of metal reformed to make a model. (Not denying the proess wasn't clever but that is what one is paying for at a percentage from the raw material cost to the final product cost that has to be one of the highest differences known).

Think of a single piece of track. Two thin peices of metal with two tiny metal pieces folded on the end, which are fixed into a jig where plastic moulded sleepers are added and the result is a BIG profit. Cost pennies in materials and sells for pounds each piece!
Just 30 years ago I was cycling (Or being driven if parents came) up to a certain model railway shop who specialized in H0, and though I was into 00, He was selling track pieces such as Lima or Rivarossi straights or curves for ten pence each, and yes, they were steel (Hornby track was steel as was some of Peco track back then though most Peco sold was nickel silver) but as a rough guide, other makes could be found at 35p each per piece.
Look today! Look at the prices! Work out the inflation difference and yet todays prices are a good four times more for the same items and that accounts for inflation.

Hornby 0-4-0 when I started into the hobby and went to buy one back in the year 1980 was £2.50. GWR No.101. The same loco today retails somewhere around £50 or not too far off that price. Now when I tried working out what they should
cost by adding inflation to get to todays prices (I did this about a year or two ago) and I got a figure of £25. Now don't forget that the production costs are cheaper in China than they were here and one puzzles why the price is so high?

Do I complain about prices? Not really. I just refuse to buy until they come back down to what I feel offers me reasonable value. If it does not happen then I just scratchbuild instead and save myself cash.