Is Trainz a Threat to the Traditional Model Railroad Business Model?
- Thread starter dricketts
- Start date
Lots of different points of view, here is mine. I planned to build a model railway when I retired.
i spent a lot of time at hobby shops looking and planning. Now, for some reason, all the hobby shops in my area have closed, and the annual train shows have been cancelled. I have tried shopping on the internet, but it is not the same as
wandering around a train show, or hobby shop, and actually holding the models.....
i spent a lot of time at hobby shops looking and planning. Now, for some reason, all the hobby shops in my area have closed, and the annual train shows have been cancelled. I have tried shopping on the internet, but it is not the same as
wandering around a train show, or hobby shop, and actually holding the models.....
Of course you also have to factor in the cost of buying the hardware to run "V-scale" but these days most households will have a computer anyway.
I last looked at prices a few years ago and decided for the UK market at least, modelling in OO or N even ready to run was obscene. Add to that finding space and the fact you are working on your own in a distant part of the house. Whereas building a route on the laptop I can be in the same room as the wife, half watch whatever she's viewing on TV, etc.
I just wish I'd kept all my locos and stock from years ago as I could have made a killing in the secondhand market, instead of virtually giving away when there was a glut of the stuff.
If I ever won the lottery then I would love to do an outdoor model railway but that remains a fantasy.
I last looked at prices a few years ago and decided for the UK market at least, modelling in OO or N even ready to run was obscene. Add to that finding space and the fact you are working on your own in a distant part of the house. Whereas building a route on the laptop I can be in the same room as the wife, half watch whatever she's viewing on TV, etc.
I just wish I'd kept all my locos and stock from years ago as I could have made a killing in the secondhand market, instead of virtually giving away when there was a glut of the stuff.
If I ever won the lottery then I would love to do an outdoor model railway but that remains a fantasy.
I think V railroading is a large threat if for no other reason then cost. Most folks have a computer of some sort so only the cost of whichever version of Trainz or (gasp) one of the others is the only additional cost.
To show what I mean look on page 11 of the Jan/Feb issue or page 83 of the Mar/Apr issue of Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette. There is an ad for a HO scale building kit for $869.00. That is not a typo. Both really say $869.00. Yes - its a nice kit and fairly large but I can't see where any kit even a craftsman quality kit in O scale can or should cost the better part of a thousand dollars. Not even a loco kit.
Talk about discouraging to the hobby - sheesh.
Ben
To show what I mean look on page 11 of the Jan/Feb issue or page 83 of the Mar/Apr issue of Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette. There is an ad for a HO scale building kit for $869.00. That is not a typo. Both really say $869.00. Yes - its a nice kit and fairly large but I can't see where any kit even a craftsman quality kit in O scale can or should cost the better part of a thousand dollars. Not even a loco kit.
Talk about discouraging to the hobby - sheesh.
Ben
cascaderailroad
New member
I was a CASE constructor for audio visual electronics components, and I packed up my HO and N scale equipment's in foam and box's ... I will have to check on them after decades of degrading of the Polythene foam, as it can adhere and decompose back to its oil base, and adhere to especially to brass models ... which is extremely hard to desolve and remove
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Last year steamboateng and I were out in North Adams for the Old Peppersass exhibit where we showed off his virtual Hoosac Tunnel route that will eventually be on display at the museum. While we were there, we found out that some rich architect, with a sponsorship of the city, is taking over the old B&M freight house which holds the museum, and is building a gigantic HO model railroad depicting the same area. His plan, whether that has gone through as of now, is to empty the exhibit space by throwing away actual artifacts, and replacing everything with the big layout meant to fill the building with the help of some local college students.
At first we were alarmed and disappointed then the guys at the museum, Mike and I started discussing and thinking that this project will probably see light of day, to be of anything decent anyway, in about a decade or more. There will most likely be miles of spiral loops, hidden track, and many, many more empty baseboards than scenicked with cardboard signs with "Coming Soon(tm) on them for many places needed on the layout. Sadly the reality is many of the volunteers at the museum may never see the completion of the project as they are now in their mid-70s themselves.
When the route is completed we wondered, who is going to maintain these miles of track? This alone will be nearly a fulltime job, and the interest in this aspect is generally nil when it comes to model railroading since it's more than just running around that bright-bar to clean the track. What about the miles, upon miles, of points and motors which once existed in the North Adams yard, or how about the countless animated objects with their wire mechanisms and motors which will need a bit more than a lick and a promise once a month?
In the end I see this as the physical hobby attempting to compete with the virtual world. As Mike said earlier in this thread, we were able to bring the guys right up to the top of Mount Greylock and overlook Adams and the surrounding towns. While up on the top, they pointed out various features which we never knew existed, and something that could never be created physically even at 0.012th of actual size. The mountain alone would still be about 42 feet in HO scale, which is what the guy is using.
It's great when you have the money to burn on an expensive hobby, I can barely imagine the cost in parts, not counting wages for the team to build this layout, even with big manufacturer's and supplier discounts.
In some ways too the V-scale is the direction things are going as has been said here due to the mobile workforce, and due to the fact that many people do not live in big houses, though HGTV makes you wonder sometimes with their 12 x 26 bathrooms! The music industry is going through the same flux with its digital instruments much like the hobby industry is going through with the virtual world. The big piano companies are seeing shrinking sales left and right as people are purchasing digital pianos instead of grands and uprights. I too have more or less given up my grand, an expensive one at that, for a rather expensive high-end Roland LX-17. This digital piano has many of the virtues of a real piano, yet has the advantages of being able to be played at 2:00 am, not taking up as much space, and for all intent and purposes looks like a console upright so it fits right into the décor of any room. Sure at close to $6,000 USD it's not a cheap keyboard, but these digital pianos are beating up the sales of the real deal. Granted like the difference between real models with their feel, smell, and appearance, the digital isn't quite the same, but at the same time it fits the needs of many musicians who live in situations where having a real piano is bothersome to those around them.
The v-scale modeling too has the same advantage as well. Living in a home shared with 4 other adults is difficult enough. Living in a home surrounded by 25 other families is worse in an apartment or condo complex. When building a real layout, we're faced with not just the expense, but chemicals, smell, noise, and landlord issues. Yes, landlord issues as there maybe contractual issues with using certain chemicals, glues, paints, etc. while in their apartment buildings. And yes, that noise. Hammering and sawing can only occur during certain hours, and many neighbors complain about things because they can. With our virtual railroading, we can sneak up to our computers, put on the headphones, and drive our trains all without making a peep to the outside world.
Is this hobby competing with the real deal? Yes and no. Yes for the younger generation it is the way to go due to many of the reasons mentioned above such as cost and space. We still get that wonderful MicroMark catalog with all kinds of hobby stuff, tools, kits, and other things. My bro uses them for some tools and casting materials, but anyway the kits in that catalog start in the hundreds. Yes, $100 or more for a building kit. How about a DCC locomotive? $120 and up. This isn't something that some kid delivering newspapers (if they still do that), or working part-time can afford unlike the old ways when we could get a high-end locomotive for around $35 and freight cars going for $2.00 each. At $120 and up this is a rich man's world I'm afraid.
At first we were alarmed and disappointed then the guys at the museum, Mike and I started discussing and thinking that this project will probably see light of day, to be of anything decent anyway, in about a decade or more. There will most likely be miles of spiral loops, hidden track, and many, many more empty baseboards than scenicked with cardboard signs with "Coming Soon(tm) on them for many places needed on the layout. Sadly the reality is many of the volunteers at the museum may never see the completion of the project as they are now in their mid-70s themselves.
When the route is completed we wondered, who is going to maintain these miles of track? This alone will be nearly a fulltime job, and the interest in this aspect is generally nil when it comes to model railroading since it's more than just running around that bright-bar to clean the track. What about the miles, upon miles, of points and motors which once existed in the North Adams yard, or how about the countless animated objects with their wire mechanisms and motors which will need a bit more than a lick and a promise once a month?
In the end I see this as the physical hobby attempting to compete with the virtual world. As Mike said earlier in this thread, we were able to bring the guys right up to the top of Mount Greylock and overlook Adams and the surrounding towns. While up on the top, they pointed out various features which we never knew existed, and something that could never be created physically even at 0.012th of actual size. The mountain alone would still be about 42 feet in HO scale, which is what the guy is using.
It's great when you have the money to burn on an expensive hobby, I can barely imagine the cost in parts, not counting wages for the team to build this layout, even with big manufacturer's and supplier discounts.
In some ways too the V-scale is the direction things are going as has been said here due to the mobile workforce, and due to the fact that many people do not live in big houses, though HGTV makes you wonder sometimes with their 12 x 26 bathrooms! The music industry is going through the same flux with its digital instruments much like the hobby industry is going through with the virtual world. The big piano companies are seeing shrinking sales left and right as people are purchasing digital pianos instead of grands and uprights. I too have more or less given up my grand, an expensive one at that, for a rather expensive high-end Roland LX-17. This digital piano has many of the virtues of a real piano, yet has the advantages of being able to be played at 2:00 am, not taking up as much space, and for all intent and purposes looks like a console upright so it fits right into the décor of any room. Sure at close to $6,000 USD it's not a cheap keyboard, but these digital pianos are beating up the sales of the real deal. Granted like the difference between real models with their feel, smell, and appearance, the digital isn't quite the same, but at the same time it fits the needs of many musicians who live in situations where having a real piano is bothersome to those around them.
The v-scale modeling too has the same advantage as well. Living in a home shared with 4 other adults is difficult enough. Living in a home surrounded by 25 other families is worse in an apartment or condo complex. When building a real layout, we're faced with not just the expense, but chemicals, smell, noise, and landlord issues. Yes, landlord issues as there maybe contractual issues with using certain chemicals, glues, paints, etc. while in their apartment buildings. And yes, that noise. Hammering and sawing can only occur during certain hours, and many neighbors complain about things because they can. With our virtual railroading, we can sneak up to our computers, put on the headphones, and drive our trains all without making a peep to the outside world.
Is this hobby competing with the real deal? Yes and no. Yes for the younger generation it is the way to go due to many of the reasons mentioned above such as cost and space. We still get that wonderful MicroMark catalog with all kinds of hobby stuff, tools, kits, and other things. My bro uses them for some tools and casting materials, but anyway the kits in that catalog start in the hundreds. Yes, $100 or more for a building kit. How about a DCC locomotive? $120 and up. This isn't something that some kid delivering newspapers (if they still do that), or working part-time can afford unlike the old ways when we could get a high-end locomotive for around $35 and freight cars going for $2.00 each. At $120 and up this is a rich man's world I'm afraid.
Sadly thats why Ive been struggling to buy more stuff for my O Scale layout. My grandpa remembers the days when a Lionel Train set would only be in prices well below $100 and he said once modeling railroad companies started to add in more realistic features to their stuff, the hobby started to go from a hobby were nearly every kid on the block was building a model railroad in their basement to today where only like 1 person on block is building a model railroad. My grandpa thinks that if model railroad companies are going to continue to go down the path where just buying 1 engine that cost more than what you would pay for a car payment, then they are digging their own graves for this hobby unless they decided to go back and lower some of the prices so stuff can be a bit more affordable, because thats model railroad was so successful back then because everyone could afford to buy stuff at decent prices. While yes he understands the amount of hours it takes to make this high detail models today, he still thinks to pay something that cost more than $500 dollars for just a engine is what going to be cause of slow death in modeling railroading if they don't start lowering the prices soon. Heck he said to buy a engine today at a price of $700 now would had gotten him over a ton of of train sets back in the day if he had that type of money.One look at this, and you can see why MRing is a rich-man's hobby:
How much "V-scale" can you purchase for $1,250? Er, just about everything, I'd say...
Basically he thinks model railroading is only for the faint of heart if your incredibly rich now.
Back when I was a young lad (when dinosaurs ruled the earth) I saw a Max Grey Brass import 4-8-8-4 in O scale for sale in a local hobby shop. It went for $324. I thought that was the national debt as I mowed lawns at $2 each to get model RR money. Can you imagine what that same loco would run today? $3000 and up (potentially way up). I have a HOn3 0-6-0T that went for $495. K36's and K-37's for close (very close) to $1000 each. Double that in On3. The hobby is pricing itself out the range of its potential most ardent fans (the young). Look at most issues of MR Magazine and you will see a gigantic exquisitely detailed layout but who other then the extremely well heeled can afford one. There are even ads by groups who will build your "dream layout" - just keep the $$$ coming.
I had a 14 ft 6 in by 40 ft HOn3 layout which I had been working on for 15 years. I had to quit. I couldn't afford it any more. To me the hobby has changed and not for the good either.
Ben
I had a 14 ft 6 in by 40 ft HOn3 layout which I had been working on for 15 years. I had to quit. I couldn't afford it any more. To me the hobby has changed and not for the good either.
Ben
Exactly it cost money just to add about anything to model railroad these days and the problem is stuff is not as cheap as it use to be. While model railroading has gone to incredible lengths to bring more realism to model railroading, the sad thing is everything that is coming on the market these days are incredibly expensive. My grandpa remembers building model railroads was easy to build and expand upon because everything was reasonably price so as long as you had the space for it, it did not cost you a lot of money to add news things to your layouts. My grandpa also says when model railroad companies started to add computer chips into model trains, the prices really skyrocketed from there.
ray_whiley
Active member
Today, at least her in the UK, almost anything can be bought ready-to-run or at least in an (expensive) kit. I would suggest that model railways/railroads were much more "fun" and gave greater pleasure when scratch-building was the norm - again here in the UK, this would to my mind be the late fifties/early sixties when materials were scarce and one made use of whatever was available. A lot could be done with a steel rule, a sharp knife, a piece of reasonable card, some glue, paint and that invaluable solution of shellac in methylated spirit (to harden the card).
Yes, I'm talking about my early model railway days! My first coaches were made using such materials, fully panelled gluing on countless strips of narrow card or paper, balsa wood roofs carved to shape, etc. - and I really enjoyed making them and what is more they gave me a great feeling of satisfaction. Even when I used a newly introduced glue, coated the finished coach bodies in shellac/meths to harden them and found that the meths dissolved the glue! So off it was find another sheet of card ...
My first attempts at making track were using hardened card sleepers with brass tacks inserted into a cork tile base, and the rails soldered to them using a soldering iron heated in the coke stove which heated the bungalow's hot water - a very slow task.
Perhaps surprisingly, I find that making (for example) virtual model buildings for Trainz has many similarities to making them from card in those far-off days - a matter of cutting holes, joining pieces together, and colouring them - but without all the mess!
Ray
Yes, I'm talking about my early model railway days! My first coaches were made using such materials, fully panelled gluing on countless strips of narrow card or paper, balsa wood roofs carved to shape, etc. - and I really enjoyed making them and what is more they gave me a great feeling of satisfaction. Even when I used a newly introduced glue, coated the finished coach bodies in shellac/meths to harden them and found that the meths dissolved the glue! So off it was find another sheet of card ...
My first attempts at making track were using hardened card sleepers with brass tacks inserted into a cork tile base, and the rails soldered to them using a soldering iron heated in the coke stove which heated the bungalow's hot water - a very slow task.
Perhaps surprisingly, I find that making (for example) virtual model buildings for Trainz has many similarities to making them from card in those far-off days - a matter of cutting holes, joining pieces together, and colouring them - but without all the mess!
Ray
Most kids I know today consider the following a kit: Shake box twice, open lid, roll out completed item. Patience seems to have evaporated from our instant gratification based society.
Simple kits used to take a week or two. Labelle and Ambroid 1 of 5000 kits close to a month (to do right). Most everything else you scratch built or did without.
Even my kids think I'm nuts for sitting here hour after hour making "unreal" (according to them) things for my fellow Trainzers and (gasp) for free.
Ben
Simple kits used to take a week or two. Labelle and Ambroid 1 of 5000 kits close to a month (to do right). Most everything else you scratch built or did without.
Even my kids think I'm nuts for sitting here hour after hour making "unreal" (according to them) things for my fellow Trainzers and (gasp) for free.
Ben
I guess I'll dip my oar in these waters. I think there are a number of factors for the decline of tangible model railroading, but I think that there is a bigger picture that many have overlooked. First, money. Yes, model railroading in plastic, plaster, and metal is expensive, but it has always been thus. We remember with some fondness the days when a couple of hundred dollars would get you a brass locomotive, but we tend to overlook some of the other parts of the equation. Those were the days when minimum wage was $1.25 per hour. When I was earning that amount of money, a couple of hundred dollars for a brass locomotive was out of reach for me. Yes, prices are high, but I personally know people who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on movies on CD,, and video games, and the consoles upon which to play them.
Then there is the problem with acquiring the skill set. I had wood shop in sixth and seventh grade, but I am unaware of any of the middle schools in my area that have what we used to call "shop classes", because on the one hand, there is the liability issue if a student happens to get injured, and chisels and marking knives are sharp instruments. Then, too, I suspect that there is little demand for the courses, anyway, so that even if they were offered, I'm not sure how many students would be interested in mastering woodworking.
Then there's the exposure to real railroads in general. Drive around any larger municipality, and if you look closely at your surroundings, you will see large numbers of buildings which one time had rail service, as evidenced by the still extant freight doors, in some buildings, and in others, by the obvious places where the brickwork shows that a freight door used to be there, but has been removed and bricked over. Odds are, many of these buildings are occupied by customers who still get freight by rail, but where in the olden days, it was transported in a box car, and delivered to the customer's freight door, today it rides in a container, and is delivered on a chassis pulled by a truck tractor. Add to this the tendency to replace grade crossings with grade separations, or just to close smaller crossings all together, and there is less opportunity for the average young (and older) person to interact with the trains. When you're 100 yards away from the train, it's hard to get the attention of the engineer to blow the horn for you, if the engineer would take the risk of violating a noise ordinance to do so.
I haven't been directly involved—that is, buying and assembling kits—with tangible model railroading for a long time, and although I own a nearly complete run of Mainline Modeler, it's been several years since I saw a copy of MR. It used to be that I knew of several news stands where I could go in and purchase, or at least browse through a copy. Now, if I want to look at one, I have to seek out a hobby store. By the way, I first learned of Trainz by reading a review in MR. But I think that in the not too distant future, there may be a resurgence in plastic models, although you won't go to the store and buy a kit; rather, one will purchase and download plans from the internet, and print out the model on a 3D printer, and assemble it.
Finally, in my case, I'm less enchanted with tangible model railroading than I once was, because I just can't model the type of railroading I want to in any available scale. It is (at least theoretically) possible in Trainz to put myself in the engineers seat and take the controller of several thousands of horsepower of locomotive, and hook up to a 110 car unit train consist, and highball to the next crew change point. The largest model railroad I know of at the moment has an HO scale layout that is situated in a room 1.1 scale miles long, by about 1/4 scale mile wide. Not quite conducive to the kind of railroading I want to model.
So, from my perspective, while the Model Railroad business model may be under threat, it's not because of Train simulators.
ns
Then there is the problem with acquiring the skill set. I had wood shop in sixth and seventh grade, but I am unaware of any of the middle schools in my area that have what we used to call "shop classes", because on the one hand, there is the liability issue if a student happens to get injured, and chisels and marking knives are sharp instruments. Then, too, I suspect that there is little demand for the courses, anyway, so that even if they were offered, I'm not sure how many students would be interested in mastering woodworking.
Then there's the exposure to real railroads in general. Drive around any larger municipality, and if you look closely at your surroundings, you will see large numbers of buildings which one time had rail service, as evidenced by the still extant freight doors, in some buildings, and in others, by the obvious places where the brickwork shows that a freight door used to be there, but has been removed and bricked over. Odds are, many of these buildings are occupied by customers who still get freight by rail, but where in the olden days, it was transported in a box car, and delivered to the customer's freight door, today it rides in a container, and is delivered on a chassis pulled by a truck tractor. Add to this the tendency to replace grade crossings with grade separations, or just to close smaller crossings all together, and there is less opportunity for the average young (and older) person to interact with the trains. When you're 100 yards away from the train, it's hard to get the attention of the engineer to blow the horn for you, if the engineer would take the risk of violating a noise ordinance to do so.
I haven't been directly involved—that is, buying and assembling kits—with tangible model railroading for a long time, and although I own a nearly complete run of Mainline Modeler, it's been several years since I saw a copy of MR. It used to be that I knew of several news stands where I could go in and purchase, or at least browse through a copy. Now, if I want to look at one, I have to seek out a hobby store. By the way, I first learned of Trainz by reading a review in MR. But I think that in the not too distant future, there may be a resurgence in plastic models, although you won't go to the store and buy a kit; rather, one will purchase and download plans from the internet, and print out the model on a 3D printer, and assemble it.
Finally, in my case, I'm less enchanted with tangible model railroading than I once was, because I just can't model the type of railroading I want to in any available scale. It is (at least theoretically) possible in Trainz to put myself in the engineers seat and take the controller of several thousands of horsepower of locomotive, and hook up to a 110 car unit train consist, and highball to the next crew change point. The largest model railroad I know of at the moment has an HO scale layout that is situated in a room 1.1 scale miles long, by about 1/4 scale mile wide. Not quite conducive to the kind of railroading I want to model.
So, from my perspective, while the Model Railroad business model may be under threat, it's not because of Train simulators.
ns
cascaderailroad
New member
I went to a Model RR Convention and I overheard vendors saying: " I paid $125 per table set up ... Yesterday I made a few sales, Today I made Zero sales, everybody came and looked, picked things up, and put them back down, fingerprint smudged them, broke them, and shoplifted when I wasn't looking, the Model Railroad market is dead"
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I will echo that with one hobby I did have, for a while at least, during my childhood. Stamp collecting. I had albums full of stamps from all over the world - all of them collected off envelopes by relatives, my parents and their friends and business colleagues. Who collects stamps today? Who posts letters today? The postal mail business has been killed off by the internet and "virtual mail".
For those who haven't seen this documentary, it is quite interesting, and right on topic:
Conclusions: Model Railroading has always been a rich-man's hobby, made affordable to the rest of us through mass production, but still providing bragging rights to only those willing to shell out the beaucoup bucks for it!
Conclusions: Model Railroading has always been a rich-man's hobby, made affordable to the rest of us through mass production, but still providing bragging rights to only those willing to shell out the beaucoup bucks for it!
My take is model railroads is for the uber-riche while the rest of us are given "toys" to play with. With V-railroading though this is now stepping on the toes of those that cater to the upper class, which explains the fear we see when we mention v-scale and v-railroading projects.
As we intrude into the world of the elite, when we acquire better-looking locomotives and build far more realistic worlds than what they can buy and build, they chase us away and condemn what we have. After all we're not supposed to go there and be part of that elite world in the same as us walking into a fancy restaurant and ordering a hamburger while the rest of the clientele are eating lobster-tails with fancy greens at $200 a plate.
As we intrude into the world of the elite, when we acquire better-looking locomotives and build far more realistic worlds than what they can buy and build, they chase us away and condemn what we have. After all we're not supposed to go there and be part of that elite world in the same as us walking into a fancy restaurant and ordering a hamburger while the rest of the clientele are eating lobster-tails with fancy greens at $200 a plate.
Uh, of course, with all respect due to the many members of our erudite community that utterly enjoy the pursuit of both virtual trainzing and model railroading...
In that I have made the same point, I will balance it with this: men (especially) will sink fortunes into their hobbies. After all, what separates the men from the boys? The cost of their toys. At least that's what my wife told me...
davidakridge
Session Creator
Absolutely,
An analogy would be golfing. Traditional golfing with it's expense and time consumption is on a decline, especially among millennials. If you look at Disk Golf that is a relatively inexpensive sport and takes less than an hour to play a typical 18 holes, it's popularity is skyrocketing. Traditional rail layouts are way too time consuming, expensive, and space dependent so that many of us just can't do it. My HO scale items have been in a box for 15 years. There will always be a few who dare to build the huge layout, but as Virtual Railroading because more immersive and realistic, traditional modeling will not have a chance.
David
An analogy would be golfing. Traditional golfing with it's expense and time consumption is on a decline, especially among millennials. If you look at Disk Golf that is a relatively inexpensive sport and takes less than an hour to play a typical 18 holes, it's popularity is skyrocketing. Traditional rail layouts are way too time consuming, expensive, and space dependent so that many of us just can't do it. My HO scale items have been in a box for 15 years. There will always be a few who dare to build the huge layout, but as Virtual Railroading because more immersive and realistic, traditional modeling will not have a chance.
David
Uh, of course, with all respect due to the many members of our erudite community that utterly enjoy the pursuit of both virtual trainzing and model railroading...
In that I have made the same point, I will balance it with this: men (especially) will sink fortunes into their hobbies. After all, what separates the men from the boys? The cost of their toys. At least that's what my wife told me...
True there are those that balance well between both worlds, which I consider adopters and adapters of the v-scale world.
However, like the piano industry decent instruments got priced well out and beyond what the rest of us could afford. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, you could pick up a used Steinway Model D (9' 11-3/4" concert grand) for about $5,000 in excellent shape. The same piano today, on the used market in excellent condition is $50,000-plus because it's a Steinway. The same thing happened with baseball cards, wine, and now model trains. A former piano teacher and I were talking about this one day. He too is a model train guy too and had a basement backroom full of HO trains which he and his dad used to operate. It was a beautiful layout too, which his dad continued to work when he retired.
And yes, we do have our hobbies. My ex-girlfriend went nuts when I went on a storm-chasing trip or mentioned trains. She would giggle and say I spent too much money on that stuff, though she faired pretty well too. So what did she have for hobbies? Coloring pictures and craft stuff. You know that craft stuff can get expensive too! She'd spend a few hundred at a pop at those trade shows!