The hobby does not have to be expensive

I agree with you.   There are plenty of bargains out there.   Not all of us can afford the prices asked by the manufacturers today.

David, you got some great looking cars at a fair price. That’s one of the best parts of this hobby that any budget can participate and enjoy great satisfaction!! 

I always loved those early MPC Hi-Cube box cars. 

"Lets see your great buys"

Always looking on "the bay," got the caboose for $10, got the boxcar for $12, I will repaint and decal the caboose and give my hockey son the boxcar for Christmas.

Those early hi cubes from Lionel were really nice and I have everyone. There were 10 cars 9600-9609. They did some later on but the first ones were the ones I liked. 

Btw you can still buy them today for almost the same price I paid for them in 1976-77. 

With some of today's cars reaching $100 it's nice to know there are other alternatives. 

Dave

9610 was the yellow Ship it on the Frisco (available in a set)

The additional Hy Cubes, produced in the mid 80s had plastic trucks, couplers and wheels

Your layout should be featured in the OGR series O Gauge in a Small Space! 

The best part of all those deals is the ability to acquire a multitude of consists which can easily be changed out for whatever your 'flavor of the day' happens to be.

-Greg

You are absolutely right, the hobby can be as expensive or inexpensive as you choose. If you buy new Locomotives, yes, a little pricy, however if your like me, you’ll find the secondary market to be just right. The OGR FORUM. The only time I go for new is on limited edition runs, like Lionel’s Brass/Hybrid Models.  Even the BTO pricing is higher than the secondary market. Great thread, Happy Railroading.

EMD posted:

9610 was the yellow Ship it on the Frisco (available in a set)

The additional Hy Cubes, produced in the mid 80s had plastic trucks, couplers and wheels

Yes the Frisco was the only one to be in a set but the car was easy to get usually at a premium, today not so much. 

The trucks and couplers were plastic but the wheels are metal. 

Dave

I'm just getting back into model railroading and I buy virtually everything used. I started out on E-Bay because I didn't know any better and then joined this forum. I have bought a lot of stuff here when the prices were reasonable. I cannot afford to spend $1,000 plus on a locomotive so used is my option. So I agree it can be kept reasonable. Besides I like the older stuff I can work on and repair myself. You save a lot of money that way.       

If one does not have to have new or scale trains, post WW II Lionel and Marx trains can be had at reasonable prices.  During the post war period these trains were owned by many and millions were made and many are still available. Fixer up cars and engines are even less expensive.  I find TCA, other train clubs, large train shows and the OGR Buy/sell forum to be less expensive than eBay although the selection is better on the bay.

For operators, Marx 027 switches are inexpensive.  Plasticville building and scratch built building will save lots of money too.  1950s type layout construction techniques also will save money.

Check out my OGR Post linked below, on my 1950s 027 gauge type layout with a $10 scratch built turntable and 27 Marx switches if interested.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ra-027-layout?page=1

Charlie

The have been a number of locos I wanted to add to the collection but alas, poor Yorick, desire outruns money. But, I try.

Dick

There was a Pennsylvania Hi-Cube box car made for LOTS back in the eighties. I believe they were custom painted by the Newburgh brothers. I'm not sure about the spelling. I believe they were at the LOTS Train Show held at New Stanton PA. 

Dave, with all that money you’re saving you can start expanding your layout into those seldom used areas you have!

I have a boxful of train stuff in my house I no longer use.  I either give it away to some friends kids or sell it cheap.  I'll never use it so if I get a few bucks out of it I'm happy and a hair richer without charging a ton.  The people that get something from me gets a great deal and I get some room in my house.  I always like to sell low so I can pass along the hobby to those who might not be able to afford todays prices.  

Agreed. A lot of good postwar 'iron' still out there at reasonable prices. Even better bargains if you have some fix-'em up skills. Most of my collection is like this, a few new items, but nothing crazy. I'm happy.

Marty, I am 5 months into the hobby and slowly acquiring stuff. I am focused just about exclusively on Postwar Lionel O Gauge, because that's what we had as kids in the early 50s. My aim is to buy distressed locos, cars, motors, parts, tracks, switches, etc. at modest cost, get rid of the rust, clean them up, and figure out how to repair them, and make working sets for my grandchildren.

I don't know what you have in your magic box of train stuff. If you would email me off this board with a description of your treasures I would probably see a bunch of things I need and pay whatever price you think would be fair.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program:

I have bought cheaply a lot of "junk" on EBay on purpose, and I'm sure the sellers were happy to get something for the stuff. This junk is teaching me to turn sows ears into silk purses. I do not buy "good stuff" on EBay because I believe they charge too much, and it annoys me when sellers juice up the price with fantasy "handling and postage" charges. I have gone to a number of garage sales and estate sales. Most of the time I lose out to the dealers who get in earlier than advertised. Often, garage sale sellers think the word "Lionel" is written in gold, and you just have to be willing to walk away from a bad price. Sometimes you pay good money for a loco or a whistle tender that looks OK but is dead internally. Occasionally, you find a decent locomotive that has been neglected for over half a century with no guarantee that it runs or will ever run again, but at a decent price. That happened to me last Friday.

On Friday I drove an hour to an "estate sale" in NJ based on online photos of an old Lionel set. On close inspection, most of the stuff was rusty or broken. The tracks and switches were rusty and pitted, but this 2056 steamer looked pretty good.

I paid the seller more than he asked for but not a lot because it hadn't run  since Eisenhower was president, and there was no guarantee it was anything more than a paperweight. When I got it home and touched its roller with a red clip and placed a ground, its wheels turned like a champion...a lot of friction but it worked. So when this project gets its turn I will take it apart, clean it, lube and oil it, and maybe replace the side rods and drive rods if they don't shine up well.

So it is possible to engage in this wonderful hobby at modest cost if you are disciplined and patient for the right purchase, and if you take great pleasure, as I do, in taking old broken things and making them work like new. If I can do it (and I have ZERO technical training) anyone can.

One way to reduce expense is to curb one's enthusiasm for making new acquisitions, which may entail staying off the web (specifically, venues offering trains for sale and forums like this where sponsors entice us with the latest deliveries and hobbyists brag about their latest purchases).  

What, me worry?

Not sure why the general perception seems to be that not buying brand-new equipment means running nothing but postwar and 027.  I run 3rs, but I've never bought any new Lionel.  It's always been the secondary market, at train shows or online, some of it NIB.  New Lionel is well outside this retiree's pocketbook.