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Home recording isn't the only expensive hobby.


Shane_B.

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Around Christmas I dug out my old trains from when I was a kid. First time I had even looked at them in over 35 years maybe more. There was an old Lionel that I don't even remember in the the box but one piece of track was missing so I couldn't complete a simple circle to test it. On the back of each piece of track it had a price tag of .97 cents. So I throw on my mask and go to a local hobby store to pick up a piece of 0 scale track. $6 bucks each. I couldn't believe it. Looking online it's going for $5 each. $40 for a single switch track.

Then I went down the rabbit hole of looking at new Lionel trains. $80 and more a boxcar. Hundreds up to thousands for an engine. Seems the best deal is to buy a set that comes with an engine, a few boxcars, and a simple oval of track. The sets start at $300 so I imagine they are lacking in quality and/or detail. My dad and I had a big very detailed layout when I was a kid and we were poor. I mean poor. It would cost thousands now to have a layout like I did when I was a kid.

What's odd is, most of this stuff doesn't seem to keep it's value. My Lionel engine is from the late 60's and it's going for $20 bucks on eBay. I don't see how they are getting these prices now.

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Lionel in the 50's and into the early 60's was top toy company by sales in USA. So there were plenty trains made. Most were run of the mill. Just  a heads up, O gauge track is discontinued so get it while you can. Otherwise you have to go to new Fastrack system.

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15 minutes ago, InstrEd said:

Lionel in the 50's and into the early 60's was top toy company by sales in USA. So there were plenty trains made. Most were run of the mill. Just  a heads up, O gauge track is discontinued so get it while you can. Otherwise you have to go to new Fastrack system.

I have a late 60's Nickel Plate Road engine and coal car. I figured it would at least be worth $100. Not even close.

There is a Home Depot type chain here in the midwest called Menard's.  It's like Lowe's and HD combined, only on steroids. They have a pretty big train section of all things, at a lumber yard. They sell a generic O scale tube track that looks almost identical to the old Lionel stuff. They even sell a transition piece that goes from the old tube style to Fastrack. Check out Menard's train stuff. They have an O scale lighted and animated UFO abducting cows. It's unreal. LOL!

My wife bought me a Lionel Christmas train set from Amazon for Christmas but it hasn't showed up yet. It will be here Thursday. I just checked and it's in stock again and you can't get it anywhere for this price. You could turn around and sell it on ebay and make $75 bucks. Here's a link to it. They are selling on eBay right now for $300 plus $35 shipping. Amazon has them for $234.

I also bought 2 boxcars dirt cheap. One at Kohl's of all places and the other was a returned item on Amazon.

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We pull out the trains every year at Christmas. We set up a Christmas Village under the tree. This year we used the Mickey Mouse engine and cars from wife's set (it was her dad's back in the late 70s). Most everything train related we have is at least 25 years old. The transformer is over 50 years old (still have the train set that went with the transformer that my father got for me in 1966 - and it still runs).

I must admit I do prefer the Fastrack over the older stuff. Although it is way too expensive for what you get. Its the main reason we only have one loop running.

Here's a few shots from our village this year

 

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1 hour ago, Mandolin Picker said:

We pull out the trains every year at Christmas. 

I must admit I do prefer the Fastrack over the older stuff. Although it is way too expensive for what you get. Its the main reason we only have one loop running.

Very nice layout! We're going to put my old Nickel Plate Road one under the tree next year but put the new one in our dining room up against a wall. I'll have to buy some 031 radius because it's a tight spot. The set comes with 036.

Is the Fastrack forgiving at all? I designed a layout using Anyrail and it shows that the track doesn't meet by an 1/8 inch maybe a bit more. Is Fastrack flexible or forgiving in any way? It seems to be pretty rigid from the pics I've seen.

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9 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

There is a Home Depot type chain here in the midwest called Menard's.  It's like Lowe's and HD combined, only on steroids. They have a pretty big train section of all things, at a lumber yard. They sell a generic O scale tube track that looks almost identical to the old Lionel stuff.

Not even close!  Buy some and use it for a little while. The frickin plating rubs off and rust really easily.   Trust me on this one.  I know Menard's very well . Tonight they will take some more of my money. I need magnetic catches for cabinet and Menard's has them in stock and Home Depot which is half the distance is only online for little parts for the most part.

 

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28 minutes ago, InstrEd said:

Not even close!  Buy some and use it for a little while. The frickin plating rubs off and rust really easily.   Trust me on this one.  I know Menard's very well . Tonight they will take some more of my money. I need magnetic catches for cabinet and Menard's has them in stock and Home Depot which is half the distance is only online for little parts for the most part.

 

I didn't know that. I just saw it for the first time this year. I haven't actually used it but was thinking of getting a piece of the transition. I wonder if there's some way you can coat it with a light oil or something. I tried to use a Magic Eraser on my old track but it didn't even put a dent in it. Ended up using 220 grit.

I see Menard's has cheap boxcars. I've seen video's of people using tiny airbrushes to detail them. I was really in to this when I was a kid but man, there is no way I can get back in to it like I was then. My wife would never allow it, and rightfully so. It reminds me of Harley's in a way. Only the old rich guys can afford this stuff now.

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15 minutes ago, 57Gregy said:

Tell me about it!
You wouldn't believe how much hookersnblow is going for these days.

That's more of an occasional thing rather than a hobby, I would hope. 😁 Although, I can totally see how it would become a lovely hobby. I was on some very restricted type pain killers when I recently had surgery. I didn't think it had an effect on me until I stopped. I really missed how calm and stress free it made me feel. I totally see how people get so hooked on it so easily.

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29 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

I didn't know that. I just saw it for the first time this year. I haven't actually used it but was thinking of getting a piece of the transition. I wonder if there's some way you can coat it with a light oil or something. I tried to use a Magic Eraser on my old track but it didn't even put a dent in it. Ended up using 220 grit.

I see Menard's has cheap boxcars. I've seen video's of people using tiny airbrushes to detail them. I was really in to this when I was a kid but man, there is no way I can get back in to it like I was then. My wife would never allow it, and rightfully so. It reminds me of Harley's in a way. Only the old rich guys can afford this stuff now.

It cost me more money to fix the Menard's box-car coupler then the car cost. They are for the most part very cheaply made. 

Now your 220 grit is a very bad idea.  Use a Scotch-brite green pad and plenty of elbow grease.  The problem with the paper is it will put some divots in the track and you will start to get arc-welding between the power pick up and metal wheels on the trains. This caused more pits in the train and the track as the train is running.  If you have any switches in working order those are what you want to do your best and clean up as they are expensive now. 

The trains are expensive as most hobbies are now. My wife is into scrapbooking big time and the cost is not cheap.  Of course she has been doing it for years and slowly brought new punches etc....

 My brothers and I had an extensive collection when we were young and made big Christmas displays too. We would always got the comments must of cost you a fortune.  We mowed lawns and shoveled the snow for money.  We were lucky as neighbors wanted us to do side jobs for them for $.  People saw the layouts and thought we brought it all at one time.  Nope! Three of  spending over time.  I will say we learned a lot tinkering with the train hobby.

Peace :)

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6 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

One of the most expensive hobbies I can think of is simulation stuff. The software is expensive and the more involved simulators cost tens of thousands of bucks.

That's my life you're talking about! 😜

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