@Prr7688 posted:Unfortunately for me, I fall into the category of "young folks getting into the hobby". Most of the engines that I am interested in were made between 5-10 years ago when I was too young (still in school/ had no expendable income) to buy. These (Legacy PRR K4, M1a, Visionline GG1, the 2012 catalog N&W J) are extremely hard to find on the second hand market so it seems like the only way for me to get my hands on them is for Lionel to re-issue them.
I'm somewhat in the same boat.
I started into O around 2002-2003 after college but my collection was limited to just a Williams New Haven Alco PA ABA set and some streamliners. I didn't start expanding my collection until 2010 or so, but it was mostly just a piece of rolling stock here or there. I had gotten an MTH SD70Ace and a cheap RailKing set, both with ProtoSound 2.0 by then as well.
Around 2017 I really started aggressively buying locomotives I wanted to collect once I had saved up and established myself a little more. There are still things I really want that haven't been made in awhile and most were done before Legacy.
My advice is to learn to repair them and buy broken ones. As long as the drivetrain is intact, the electronics are replaceable. That or find older ones that others can upgrade for you.
