For those interested in this subject (model cost, availability and
production), I would strongly recommend reading Jason Shron's (of Rapido
Trains) column in the August 2020 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. He
associates the cost of models being produced to the cost of lunch at the
location they are produced.
Bill Hirt
On 7/31/2020 9:53 AM, William Barber wrote:
Nolan,
You have to keep things in prospective. When I worked in the local
hobby shop in the late 1950s, we had PFM United USRA 2-8-2s, 4-6-2s
and NKP 2-8-4s that sold for $49.95. At that time, I was making 85 or
90 cents an hour! Even after graduating from college in 1966, my
starting salary at Electro-Motive Division of GM was $625.00 per
month. You could buy a decent new automobile for $2000 - 3000. My wife
an I purchased our first home in 1968 for $28500.00. It was a brand
new 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in the Chicago suburbs. Wages and prices
usually go hand in hand. The big change is technology. As someone else
noted, those $50 PFM models looked nice, ran ok, but had no
electronics, flywheels or even lights. They were strictly DC open
frame motors and didn’t even come with couplers, just a mounting pad.
Today’s models maybe brass or other materials that have been
developed, have DCC control, sound, sometimes smoke , all kinds of
controllable lights, highly detailed, road specific and run
beautifully. So, while today’s HO models cost from $150 - 600 or more,
the modeler gets a lot more right out of the box. Proportionally,
today’s models probably don’t really cost much more, but you do get a
lot more and kit bashing isn’t as necessary.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group.
View/Reply Online (#60064): https://groups.io/g/CBQ/message/60064
Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/75421780/703214
Group Owner: CBQ+owner@groups.io
Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/CBQ/leave/1544929/691670059/xyzzy
[archives@nauer.org]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|