AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a new post on a new blog I started to try to connect with others interested in model railroading. I am utilizing the mother blog, Joe’s Musings since it has a much larger audience in hopes of reaching new readers. The new blog can be found here: Alpine & Clinchport Railroad.
Hello if you are a returning visitor to this Model Train hobbyist blog. Welcome if you are just discovering my chronicle of the adventure I began with the start of 2016. For both persuasions I intend to document the process and learning curve involved in this new hobby. My hope is to connect with other railroad modeling hobbyists and those interested in the hobby.
This is a continuation of the idea I began in the first post of this series entitled . . . wait for it! Funding the new hobby. As you know if you have looked at the hobby it is not a cheap undertaking . . . unless you do your homework. UGH, homework, I know the feeling.
But if you come out on the other side of homework with something to show for it it really doesn’t seem all that bad. Here is a confession for you, when you first strike out to buy an engine, track, controller and rail cars you really have no idea what is a good price. Buying without knowing how to gauge the value is like diving into an unknown depth river from a high tree limb.
Luckily I did not break my neck when I did it. All in all when I look over my purchase price I feel fairly confident I made wise choices. But it was the next purchase that really put me on a great path forward. To return to the reason for the post, I must restate that i am trying to finance this new hobby by selling leftovers from old hobbies. So far I have not sold anything from those identified old hobbies. In fact the only items sold thus far are pieces from my second train purchase, which was a large collection for sale at a local flea market that was bought within an estate sale.
I was really just trying to kill time one Saturday and went to this large indoor flea market for “kicks and giggles’ as my daughter and I put it. I thought there might be occasion to find something model train related, but had no idea what that might be. As a matter of fact I came across some old Lionel engines and cars that likely would have been O scale or perhaps S scale, meaning they were in the 1:48 or 1:64 size. I chose HO which is 1:87 due to the prevalence of products available.
When I came upon the collection I ultimately purchased I had to control the expression on my face. I mean you know how the people trying to sell at a flea market try to judge the amount of your interest. You don’t want to come off as so enamored you will just pay anything. The sheer scope of this collection was mind boggling. There was three engines, at least two dozen cars, 100 pieces of track, a power controller, twelve plastic assembled buildings, and another fifteen or so complementing parts.
Keep in mind my layout at his time is only a humble piece of 4 ft x 8ft plywood. It is fair to say all the buildings fill it up. But that is okay because I have identified the pieces I want to keep and the pieces I want to part with to pay for the investment. Four items sold as of February 11th have netted nearly $100 of my initial investment. I have many more in place on eBay where the interest in such is quite high. I also found a Yahoo Group for selling and buying HO Scale items, so the possibility is high I will do well.
You always hear the phrase “Patience is a virtue”. Why is it all good virtues equal waiting for a period of time? Oh well, it goes pretty fast when you are tinkering a bit here and there. Thanks for reading and leave me a comment please.
Joe's Musings 