I don’t think the cost of the hobby is the problem so much as the buy-in cost it requires before you even know if you are going to like the hobby. For $100-$150 or so, you can buy enough heavily used O scale equipment to put a circle under the tree… but that probably isn’t enough to give you a feel for how much you would enjoy trains as an actual hobby. By the time you have built a table, added switches, a few buildings, a grass mat, basic scenery, signs, people and some extra track you are in it for $500-$1,000 easily. That is a steep figure to spend on yourself if you don’t end up liking it… that is an enormous amount to spend on a kid if it does not hold their attention.
Very Interesting. I will definitely be watching.
How do you reach the trains on the wall shelves?
The area under the rocket gantry lifts off and you can walk on the layout.
I don’t think the cost of the hobby is the problem so much as the buy-in cost it requires before you even know if you are going to like the hobby.
For $100-$150 or so, you can buy enough heavily used O scale equipment to put a circle under the tree… but that probably isn’t enough to give you a feel for how much you would enjoy trains as an actual hobby.
By the time you have built a table, added switches, a few buildings, a grass mat, basic scenery, signs, people and some extra track you are in it for $500-$1,000 easily. That is a steep figure to spend on yourself if you don’t end up liking it… that is an enormous amount to spend on a kid if it does not hold their attention.