>The cheapness of the Burlington in its heyday is exceeded only by the
>stinginess of its devotees. Now, I have 100R>
>Bohemian genes and have been known to straighten a bent nail for future
>reuse myself, but some people seem to have
>blinders on when it comes to the cost of the Hobby.
Charlie, I agree with you to a certain extent, but I also disagree (no, I'm
not a polititian).
I'm certainly not stingy, when it comes to things that I like or feel that I
need. I can't imagine what I've spent over the past several years on both
RR modeling stuff and CB&Q stuff. Let's put it this way...most likely I
could have been cruising on a nice skiff in the lake with what I've
frittered on this hobby.
But by the same token, most of my expenses were not "frivolous". I value
what *I feel* something is worth, and if it doesn't match up to my ideal of
what I should be paying, I'm not gonna pay it. I may live in NC, but my
heart is from Missouri, and I'll be darned if I'm going to give someone one
red cent more than my "appraisal" system feels it's worth.
I'm not making any examples from our list per say...in fact, I'm not quite
sure what book was being referred to. I DO know, though, that while
inflation may be increasing, there comes a time when some people say "NO"!
Maybe the person selling it really feels that it is worth that much. Maybe
just to make costs with a limited run they have to increase the costs to
make a tiny profit. Then again, like many things I find on eBay, maybe they
are just trying to make a quick buck at the expense of someone who likes
railroading.
The other day I bought a collection of 500 railroad photos for $20. I
consider that a great deal. At the same time, someone else was selling 130
CB&Q negatives for a minimum bid of $700. I consider that highway robbery,
and while I can't stop someone else from making a fool out of themselves
(and catering to the greed of the seller), I can decide not to do so myself.
Sure, I'd love to have a nice brass CB&Q shovelnose for $1200. I think they
are great models, and if I could win the lottery (maybe I need to buy a
ticket?), I'd certainly grab one. But when it comes down in an overall cost
with everything else I have to look at, I can't do it. I could add quite a
bit to my layout, buy the rest of the Mike Spoor collection, more photos,
cars or P2K locos for that amount, all spread out over time.
So, what I'm saying is that you are attacking some of us for being stingy,
and I don't think so. You may have the money to go out and do that, I
don't. How does that make me stingy?
As far as the CB&Q comment (vs other railroads), the CB&Q (unfortunately)
will never be as popular as SF or NYC or so on. It was just never given the
"glamour" status that those other railroads were for some unknown
reason...probably because of being situated mostly in the midwest and
northwest. So, that means that venders that choose to cater to CB&Q are
always going to suffer more than others...we can't do anything about that.
I'll support them the best that I can and then some, but I'm not going to go
on a splurge spree to support someone else's supper plate...I've got my own
to consider.
Thanks for your time.
Cheers!
Jan
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