ecd15 posted:But, that's the whole point. I don't buy brass as an investment. I buy brass because it is of a prototype I like and want. As many have said before me, trains are not investments.
True, but we all know people who bought them for an investment anyway, not realizing that the hobby was gonna have to morph in the future.
I recently talked with a visitor to my layout and he was totally blown away when I explained how few (4 total) locomotives I bought. I explained that part of it is the discipline of not buying excess stuff, another part is modeling a RR that had few locos and no interchange and yet another was only wanting stuff I could justify running on my layout at all (for example, I will never buy a D&GRW K-36, even though I love how they look). He was one of those guy who'd buy what he thought was cool, whether it made sense or not (for example, he just bought a brass Milwaukee Road Little Joe, though his layout has no overhead wires and is a Northeast prototype). He considered such purchases to be 'investments' and I brought this subject up, how brass has tanked in value and how much people take a hit when they try to sell anything used at a train show. I said, "I bought all my rolling stock and locos to run, not to sit around and be a burden for my wife to get rid of if I step out in front of a bus tomorrow."
